More and more nonprofits are adopting contactless fundraising to keep up with their donors’ expectations. Contactless payment is the norm these days, and it’s important for nonprofits to keep up so they don’t miss out on any donations. In this article, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of contactless fundraising for nonprofits, including what it is and how to do it.
Contactless fundraising has become more common for nonprofits and churches. Many nonprofits were forced to add contactless fundraising to their strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, but many have kept it simply because their donors appreciate the convenience. In this article, we’ll discuss how contactless fundraising can help increase nonprofits’ donations and provide tips to add this tactic to your strategic fundraising plan.
Contactless fundraising is just what it sounds like – collecting donations without physical contact with a donor. This can take place with a donation kiosk, through online giving, via text-to-give, and more.
Nonprofits can offer contactless fundraising during events of any size. Churches can provide this option to their congregation during Sunday services. Other organizations may choose to add a contactless option at their location, such as a lobby or gift shop. As technology advances, contactless fundraising has become easier to use and more convenient and appreciated by many nonprofit supporters.
Donors are finding it more convenient and easier to give digital donations. Here’s how this interest in virtual giving can help your nonprofit grow.
Nonprofit events are filled with exciting activities and opportunities to spend money. The last thing your supporters want is to wait in line. By providing contactless fundraising options like a donation kiosk, people can purchase tickets, give a donation, or buy an auction item on their own.
One of the primary reasons nonprofits have started contactless fundraising is because fewer donors carry cash. Today, 13% of people say they use cash for most purchases. Five years ago, that number was 28%. This number is destined to continue falling, with 64% of people in the U.S. expecting to see a completely cashless society in their lifetime.
Instead of hoping your donors will have enough cash to leave in your donation box, your nonprofit can include different contacless fundraising options to raise more money and win the appreciation of your donors.
Safety is another reason donors love cashless fundraising. While cash and checks can get intercepted, online donations have many features protecting them so they end up exactly where they’re meant to go.
Donorbox helps keep donations safe online thanks to several security features like:
And more!
Nonprofits spend a significant amount of time finding and training volunteers to collect tickets, run auctions, and accept donations. Contactless fundraising lets nonprofits run an event with far fewer staff and volunteers. Because the primary role of fundraising is building relationships, nonprofits can use volunteers and staff for face-to-face contact and save their energy with contactless fundraising.
Nonprofit cashless fundraising is no longer limited to websites. The growth of social media and digital wallets gives organizations and donors more cashless options than ever before.
Here are five tactics to help your organization harness the power of contactless fundraising.
One way to add contactless fundraising to your strategy is with a donation kiosk. Churches and nonprofits can add donation kiosks to their facility or at different locations and events.
A permanent or temporary kiosk at an event gives attendees the chance to donate any amount without the stress of constantly being asked to give. By adding brochures and other informational marketing pieces to your kiosk, you can also provide more information on your organization and turn one-time donors into long-time supporters.
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app helps turn your card reader and tablet into a powerful giving kiosk. You can collect donations with taps, dips, and swipes of credit cards, smartphones, and smartwatches. And it’s available in English, French and Spanish!
Learn how to use your donation kiosk as a point of sale to collect even more payments in this blog.
Another thing donors have gotten used to seeing is QR codes. Nonprofits can easily add QR codes to mailed fundraising appeals and signage for free.
Traditional mailed appeals are still popular with donors, but younger supporters are less likely to mail a check. Adding an email option may capture some of these donors’ gifts, but a QR code provides the immediacy many of these individuals want. A QR code lets donors automatically link to your campaign page and donate online. Many smartphones already have a QR code reader, but if not, there are several online options to download one for free.
Pro tip: Streamline your steps with Donorbox. All of your Donorbox campaigns come with a free, automatically generated QR code that you can easily download and add to your materials. You can also edit the link so your donors get connected with the exact page you want.
The expansion of smartphones has also increased the number of cashless donations given via text. Past text-to-give fundraisers were only successful for larger nonprofits after environmental or man-made disasters. Today, nonprofits and churches can send text appeals anytime and link donors to an online donation page for any campaign. Donors love text-giving because it puts the power back in their hands.
Nonprofits and churches can enable Donorbox Text-to-Give on their campaign in seconds. Create a campaign and share your campaign ID or custom keyword with donors. Donors can text this to the Text-to-Give phone number or shortcode to receive a text back with a link to your online donation form. After they make their donation, they can easily repeat it again via text.
One of the reasons donors love contactless fundraising is how quick and easy it is for them to give – especially when they can use their preferred digital wallets.
Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay store payment and contact information so donors can significantly streamline their checkout process.
Donorbox UltraSwift™ Pay helps donors have a speedy checkout with their preferred digital wallets. In addition to Apple Pay and Google Pay, they can use PayPal Checkout and Venmo to check out in four quick steps –
The easier you make checking out, the more likely you are to have repeat donors!
The best kind of donor is one who gives again and again to sustain your mission. But how do you get donors like that without in-person connections?
Recurring donations allow donors to automatically repeat their gifts at a set donation interval. With Donorbox recurring giving, you can choose up to four of the following donation intervals for your donors: daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. You can also set a default interval and mark you preferred interval with a heart.
Donors can then log in to their own Donorbox donor portal to change or cancel their recurring donation plan at any time. This empowers your donors and builds trust with your organization. From the donor portal, donors can also easily repeat a donation with just one click – no entering their information again. This is a great way to get repeat donations from donors who aren’t ready to commit to a recurring donation!
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app empowers nonprofits to collect more contactless donations through tech they may already have on hand.
Nonprofits and churches can use their existing Android tablet or iPad and pair it with a Stripe M2 (in the U.S.) or WisePad 3 (everywhere else) card reader to form a powerful, portable donation kiosk.
Contactless fundraising with the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk is easy at events like galas and volunteer days, but it’s also great as a stationary fixture in your building. All you need is a stable internet connection and you’re ready to go!
Learn more in this short video –
It’s clear that contactless fundraising isn’t just a fad – it’s here to stay. Donors want more giving options, especially when they’re not carrying cash or checkbooks with them anymore. Adding a donation kiosk, text-to-give campaign, or QR code to your next event or campaign will help you reach a larger audience and raise more funds.
Donorbox has you covered with tons of features that make contactless giving easy and smooth for your donors. With the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, Text-to-Give, free QR codes, recurring donations, QuickDonate™, and UltraSwift™ Pay, you can collect more contactless donations and build lasting relationships with donors.
Ready to get started? Sign up and launch your first contactless campaign in minutes.
Check out our Nonprofit Blog for more cashless fundraising tips. Subscribe to our newsletter for select fundraising blogs delivered to your inbox every month.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor