An event is fundraising at its most concentrated. A run, a gala, a benefit or a community day brings together high attendance and high feeling in one place, for a short time. That combination is precious, and it is easily wasted. The gift that is offered in a burst of enthusiasm and cannot be made on the spot is usually lost for good.
The enemy is friction
At an event, the obstacles to giving are practical. Few guests carry cash. A donation that requires someone to find a form, a pen or a phone signal loses the moment. A queue at a single collection point turns a willing donor into a passer-by. The aim, then, is to make giving as quick and effortless as the impulse that prompts it.
A device that goes where the people are
A free-standing contactless unit can stand at the start line, the finish, the reception or the bar, wherever the energy gathers. The CharityStand is built for exactly this, holding its own in a busy hall or outdoor space, while the versatile CharityTab suits a smaller table or welcome point. A guest taps, gives, and rejoins the event in seconds, with no paperwork and no waiting.
One event, one campaign
Through Give A Little you can set the device to the cause and the amounts that suit the occasion, then switch that campaign on while the event is live and off once it is over. You are in control of when it runs, with nothing tied to fixed dates, so the same device serves one event today and another next month with a simple change.
Capture Gift Aid in the moment
Events draw exactly the kind of spontaneous, in-person gifts that benefit most from Gift Aid. Where a guest is a UK taxpayer, capturing the declaration at the device adds a further twenty-five per cent to their eligible gift at no cost to them, collected in the same quick action rather than chased afterwards.
After the event
When the day is done, the reporting tells you what each device raised and where, which helps you plan the next event with evidence rather than guesswork. A device that travels from event to event, capturing gifts at the peak of enthusiasm each time, quickly proves its worth across a year of activity. If the venue is a sports club that fundraises all year round, our guide to contactless donations for sports clubs picks up there.
Make sure it works where the event is
Events rarely happen in tidy indoor spaces with reliable wifi. A start line in a park, a marquee on a field or a hall with patchy coverage will defeat any device that depends on the venue's network. A unit that carries its own mobile connection sidesteps this, staying online wherever the crowd gathers, and that single detail is often what separates a device that keeps taking gifts from one that sits idle at the worst possible moment. It is also worth taking more than one device to a larger event. Two or three giving points at the entrance, the bar and the finish spread the load, remove the queue that turns donors away, and let the reporting afterwards show you which spot earned its place.
Planning an event? Look at the portable CharityStand and CharityTab, compare the full range on our comparison chart, or read about campaign control on the Give A Little page.