The future of face-to-face donations

 “Sorry mate, *pats pockets*, no cash.”

This was a commonplace response our volunteers would hear when asking the general public to give generously to The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal. The Appeal is a month long national fundraising campaign, culminating in the Doorknock weekend, where the public is invited to make a one-off donation to The Salvation Army’s social programs. 

Each year, we heard more and more stories of the public carrying less cash and realised that we needed to respond. Communities were still willing to donate cash into our traditional collection tins and buckets, but we needed to connect with the large proportion of the community who no longer carry cash on a daily basis and encourage supporters to give more than their spare silver change.

Our solution: Donation Point Tap technology. Over 500 portable tap and go payment facilities were rolled out across Australia, designed into a red door to pay homage to our iconic Red Shield Doorknock Weekend.

This was a joint effort between technology provider, Quest Payment Systems, funded by Bendigo Bank and Community Sector Banking, and mobilised by our Community Fundraising team. Together, we managed to implement the largest use of ‘tap and go’ donation technology in Australia.

But, now the Red Shield Appeal is over and we’re tallying up the final results, it’s time for us to ask, did all the hard work pay off?

Implementation – How did it happen?

It is always an enormous task to change the thinking and practices of a 100-year-old plus organisation, operating an over 50-year-old campaign. Over the years, we’ve begun to integrate some new technologies, with varying degrees of success (online donation channels, a volunteer management app and EFTPOS machines). As expected in an organisation as large as The Salvation Army, the response to new technology from our on-the-ground staff and volunteers can be mixed.

To implement the rollout, The Salvation Army drove a strategic pilot program and our grassroots community fundraising organisers (broken into geographical zones) put this into action.

Initially, there was a notable gap between the expectations of our community fundraising team and those volunteers in each zone. While our Community Fundraising Directors drove the project and were excited for the possibilities, it took some time for the excitement to filter down.

As Andrew Hill (Community Fundraising Director – Eastern Territory) explains, “Although we had a video explaining the technology, it wasn’t until we presented the physical machines at our meetings, that many of our zones got on board.”

Once our volunteers could visualise how they could use the technology, the enthusiasm grew and grew.

At the same time, however, our community fundraising team were becoming more aware of the limitations.

“Leading into the Doorknock weekend, I was reminded that it still comes down to how we engage the public. Donation Tap Point isn’t going to be ‘the goose that lays the golden egg’ and we needed to manage the expectations of our own people.”

 Results – What did we see over the Doorknock weekend?

• Over 5,500 donors used the devices, more than 350 of our devices received multiple uses and most areas utilised $10 pre-set donation amounts (some between $2–$20).
• Increased donations: By partnering with our generous supporters, Community Sector Banking and Bendigo Bank, the trial was able to raise a profit and make a significant contribution to the Red Shield Appeal.
• Success in unexpected areas: Collection tins at McDonald’s drive-throughs traditionally underperformed over Doorknock weekend, whereas Donation Tap Point facilities were hugely successful. We found the combination of an employee asking for donations when customers were already prepared to pay for their meal, and a demographic that was comfortable with ‘tap and go’ technology, equalled a fourfold increase in donations.
• Genuine enthusiasm from businesses: Many small businesses were eager to showcase a charity partnership and an innovative technology and happily implemented Donation Tap Point terminals at their payment points.
• Positive public response: Comments from donors and the general public were overwhelmingly positive. For many of our volunteers, it was much easier to engage in conversation and connect with our donors, without having to interact with technology to facilitate payments.
• Enthusiasm from our people: Donation Point Taps were a major talking point across all our community fundraisers, corporate partners, employees and Officers (The Salvation Army clergy) involved with the Red Shield Appeal. It reinvigorated pride in representing The Salvation Army that we could present ourselves as a modern and innovative organisation.
• Significant PR and media interest: An interesting, new angle for a traditional appeal generated significant and beneficial media interest and coverage.
• Useful geographic and anecdotal data: The units and reporting system provided useful statistics on significant donation times and locations and successful pre-set donation amounts. (The Salvation Army did not retain any personal or payment details from our donors through the Donation Point Tap trial.)

Assessment – What did we learn and was it worth it?

It wasn’t all smooth sailing and The Salvation Army certainly learnt that communication and training our volunteers is crucial.

Donation Tap Points were most successful when community fundraisers were well trained, enthusiastic and confident. Fundraisers with these attributes are more likely to make a polite, friendly ask to passers-by and will raise more funds. Results from this trial showed us this is true regardless of the technology and payment systems available. We were also pleased with the positive feedback from the media and community members. Our new technology generated genuine, organic enthusiasm and excitement.

As professional fundraisers, we are aware that poor face-to-face fundraising can result in a negative experience for donors, the community and the Not-for-Profit industry. At all times, our goal is to ensure a positive donor experience where our volunteer collector and the donor, share a passion for and a commitment to the work of The Salvation Army. Our community fundraising strategy is and will always be to ensure that our volunteers are trained to act professionally, with integrity and with the donors’ interests at heart.  

Was all the hard work implementing the pilot program worth it? In the words of Andrew Hill: “Absolutely.”

Lookout out for more Donation Tap Points and very enthusiastic Salvation Army fundraisers in 2018.

The Salvation Army wishes to thank Community Sector Banking and Bendigo Bank for their support of the Donation Point Tap pilot program. This support and belief in the initiative gave us the freedom to explore new technologies and take risks, something that charities do not have the power to do.