It’s been a year where we’ve had to give a lot up – As well as change the way we give.
We’ve had to change some of the things that come so instinctively – Shaking someone’s hand, giving a friend a hug, dropping loose change in a charity bucket.
We know that contactless payment has been on the rise for a while – But the pandemic has driven the move to a cashless society even further forward at a rapid rate.
Organisations such as the WHO made recommendations for people to use contactless forms of payment instead of cash wherever possible. Shops requested that their customers use credit or debit cards to pay for their goods. Contactless payment limits were increased to make it easier for to pay using the cards or smartphones.
Simple and Safe
Over recent years, charities have started to make the move towards digital donations and ways of receiving money in alternative ways to cash. Contactless payments are so simple, and prior to the pandemic were already making up 21% of UK payments in 2019.
It’s no surprise that Covid-19 further increased this, with people opting for contactless payments with thoughts of safety in mind. We were told that we could stop the spread by using cards instead of cash. Within just a few short weeks of coronavirus hitting Europe, cash payments in shops dropped 10% down from 44%, and dropped 50% here in the UK.
Despite us tentatively coming out of lockdown last August, contactless payments were making up 62% of all debit card payments – People were tapping more and putting in pins less. Mastercard collected statistics on card use with 85% of people believing it was safer to pay using contactless.
A Global Shift
This hasn’t just been a UK thing, or even just Europe-wide. This pandemic has hit all corners of the world, and the shift from cash to contactless has been global. By 2024, it is expected that the number of contactless payments will triple. Currently on $2 trillion, we could be looking at $6 trillion in contactless payments.
With contactless payments becoming more habitual with people all over the globe, it’s logical that charitable giving will also follow this trajectory.
Charities Need to Go Contactless
Not having the digital infrastructure to accept contactless donations has been, and will continue to be a big barrier when it comes to charitable giving.
People are using contactless payments more and more in their day-to-day lives – For reasons of hygiene perhaps, but also for ease. The charitable sector has long relied on donors giving change, but with cash on the decline charities need to bolster their digital efforts.
The pandemic has caused a myriad of issues for people. Although financial security has diminished for many, we’ve also seen an extraordinary willingness of people to still give charitably.
What we’ve also seen is the overwhelming tenacity of charitable organisations to find ways to carry on fundraising amid lockdown restrictions and social distancing.
Digital means of fundraising has been the solution to bring these things together over the past year – A willingness to donate from donors, and the contactless technology to take donations digitally.
Digital to the Rescue
The digital world has been a lifeline in so many ways during 2020 and into 2021. From Zoom making working from home and staying in touch with colleagues possible, to Teams bringing school classrooms into students’ kitchens. We’ve seen our loved ones faces through our screens when we haven’t been able to see or hug them in real life. And we can tap our debit card or smartphone to pay without touching anything.
Covid-19 may have been an unwanted push into the unknown, but for many charities it’s provided an opportunity to embrace digital technology and take an enormous step forward in how they accept donations.
Not only will the return on investment be huge, it will also help to safeguard against any future disruption to more traditional ways of fundraising.
How can Donater Help You Fundraise Digitally?
Here at Donater we are passionate about helping charitable organisations to boost their fundraising with digital technology.
Our aim isn’t to replace cash completely, but to give donors a choice when it comes to making their donation, and many will now opt for contactless methods.
Digital Donation Boxes
Charities have long depended on collection boxes to collect people’s loose change. But how many potential donors have you lost because they ‘don’t have cash’ on them?
Donater Smart Stickers can transform your traditional charity boxes into digital donation boxes. The Smart Sticker gives donors 2 digital ways of donating. If they have NFC enabled on their smartphone, then all they need to do is tap it on the sticker and they will be taken to an online donation page. From here they can choose to pay quickly and easily with Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Alternatively, they can use their smartphone to scan the QR code on the Smart Sticker, which will take them to the donation page as above. Simple and safe!
QR Codes
Our Donater QR codes can also be used separately to the Smart Stickers. They can simply be printed and used almost anywhere!
They don’t need batteries or rely on any sort of power, so the possibilities are endless. From windows, point of sale counters and collection boxes to bake sale tables and fundraising events.
These QR codes provide amazing and straight forward opportunities to fundraise digitally and allow people to make contactless donations.
Branded Donation Pages
Our online donation pages can be branded to your organisation so that donors are confident they’ve landed in the right place to make their donation.
The link to your donation page is easy to share and can be added to all of your marketing and communication efforts to spread the word and reach your audience.
We can also provide a ‘Donate Button’ to your website which will take online visitors directly to your donation page where they can give online using their card details or mobile payment options like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Get in Touch Today
It might feel like a step into the unknown, but that’s where Donater is here to help. Our suite of fundraising tools are the perfect first step into digital fundraising, providing your charitable organisation with a cost-effective, easy to use way of taking contactless donations.
This isn’t just a solution for current challenges, but moves your charity into a digital future providing more ways to take donations online.
For more information, head to our website or give us a call today to see how Donater can be your first digital step into contactless fundraising.