A great deal of school fundraising happens at events and at the gate. The summer fair, the Christmas market, the quiz night, the sponsored walk and the moment parents gather at pick-up time all bring people together in a giving frame of mind. The trouble is that these are exactly the occasions where cash has all but vanished, and a bucket on a table now reaches only a handful of people.
Where school giving happens
Parent teacher associations and school fundraising committees know that footfall and goodwill peak around events. A contactless donation point placed where families gather, at the entrance to the fair, beside the cake stall, or at the welcome desk on an open evening, captures the gift while the enthusiasm is there. A portable CharityStand suits a busy hall or playground, while the compact CharityTab or CharityDesk works at a table or reception.
Faster than a bucket, and it adds up
A tap is quicker than fishing for change, and preset amounts gently suggest a sum that tends to sit above the loose coins a cash donor would give. Across a busy afternoon, the difference between a device that takes a tap in seconds and a bucket that depends on whoever happens to have cash is considerable. Parents who would have apologised for having nothing on them can give the amount they actually intended.
Gift Aid where the school is a charity
Many school funds and PTAs are registered charities, and where a donor is a UK taxpayer their eligible gift allows a further twenty-five per cent to be reclaimed from HM Revenue and Customs at no cost to them. Capturing the declaration at the device adds this automatically, turning a stream of small event gifts into a larger total without extra paperwork for the volunteers.
Simple enough for volunteers
School fundraising runs on the time of busy parents and staff, so the device has to work without technical know-how. A unit that runs unattended, recovers by itself after a power cut and stays locked to its single task asks nothing beyond switching it on. Through Give A Little the cause and the suggested amounts are set in advance and changed remotely, so the same device serves the summer fair today and the building appeal next term with a simple change, and you switch the right campaign on when you want it live.
One device can carry a school through a whole calendar of events rather than sitting in a cupboard between them. The reporting afterwards shows what each event raised, which helps the committee plan the next one with evidence rather than guesswork, and makes the case to parents that giving has been made as easy as it can be. Further up the age range, the same thinking applies to alumni giving at universities and colleges.
Fundraising for a school or PTA? Compare the devices on our comparison chart, read about the giving software on the Give A Little page, or see our guide for charities.