Choosing a 'contactless collection box.'

FinanciallyPerplexed

Hello.

I work with a small social enterprise which takes donations on a 'pay what you can' basis. We are finding that we now need to be able to take contactless payments because so few of our customers carry cash. I have seen online a few (rather expensive!) contactless collection boxes which allow people to tap to donate, say, £5.

However - we want to be able to take various payments - say, £1, £3 or £5 (or other amount), under the customer's control and without their having to declare to us how much they are donating.

Does anyone know of any digital collection box systems - or regular point of sales systems - which allow the customer to select the amount they want to pay? And/or does anyone else have experience with contactless giving who could steer me through the pitfalls?

Cost is - obviously - a factor for us, as is portability. Something the size and price of a SumUp device would be ideal.

Thanks!

Savvy_Sue

Our church still invites donations by text message, if that's of any interest?

FinanciallyPerplexed

Thanks. That could work. Do you know the name of the system?

glennevis

Our small charity uses the SumUp card reader which we purchased outright so no monthly fee. Works in a very remote location (1.5 signal bars) and the fee is 1.69% I think. Every few days one of us takes a charging 'brick' and USB cable to keep the battery charged (no mains on site).

We're on the Great Glen Way and more and more passers-by (walkers, cyclists, the odd horse rider) no longer carry cash so it's definitely paid for itself.

Savvy_Sue

FinanciallyPerplexed said:

Thanks. That could work. Do you know the name of the system?

I'm afraid I don't, and it will be a few weeks before I see anyone to ask. However google might yield results: quite a few charities use it (back of toilet doors at motorway service stations, anyone?)

What I don't know is how easy it is to give an amount chosen by the donor, so the SumUp might well work better. 

DullGreyGuy

glennevis said:

Our small charity uses the SumUp card reader which we purchased outright so no monthly fee. Works in a very remote location (1.5 signal bars) and the fee is 1.69% I think. Every few days one of us takes a charging 'brick' and USB cable to keep the battery charged (no mains on site).

We're on the Great Glen Way and more and more passers-by (walkers, cyclists, the odd horse rider) no longer carry cash so it's definitely paid for itself.

And users can choose how much they are charged? I know with Zettle you do a set amount for every transaction but cant allow users decide without a more complex setup

Savvy_Sue

https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/text-to-give-fundraising-guide

This popped up randomly, thought it might be of interest.