The weeks around Christmas are the most generous of the year. People are thinking of others, gathering at markets and carol services, and more willing than usual to give to a good cause. They are also, more than ever, carrying no cash. A winter appeal that still relies on a bucket and a tin is reaching fewer of those open-hearted givers each year, just when their goodwill is at its height.
Meeting winter giving where it happens
Christmas fundraising spreads across many settings. There are charity Christmas markets and fairs, carol concerts and church services, shopping centres and high streets, and the workplaces where collections do the rounds. A contactless donation point fits all of these, letting a passer-by or a congregation member give in a single tap. A portable CharityStand suits a market stall or a concert foyer, while the compact CharityTab works at a table or counter.
Switching the appeal on
A winter appeal is something you turn on for the season and turn off afterwards. Through Give A Little you set the cause, the wording and the suggested amounts to suit the campaign, then switch it on when you want it live and off once the season has passed. Nothing is tied to fixed dates, so you stay in control, and the same devices that carried your winter appeal will serve the next campaign with a simple change.
Amounts that suit the season
Winter is a moment when donors will often give a little more, so it is worth setting preset amounts that reflect the occasion, and tying them to something tangible where you can. A gift framed around what it provides through the cold months gives more readily than an abstract figure, and a clear ladder of amounts helps a generous giver settle quickly on a meaningful sum.
Gift Aid on the seasonal gift
Where a donor is a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid allows you to reclaim an extra twenty-five per cent from HM Revenue and Customs on their eligible gift at no cost to them. Capturing the declaration at the device adds this automatically across the rush of small gifts a busy Christmas market or carol service can produce, which is income a cash tin would never have collected.
Reliability matters most when footfall is highest. A device that runs unattended, recovers by itself after a power interruption and stays locked to its single task keeps taking gifts through the busiest evening without a volunteer watching over it. A unit with its own mobile connection keeps working at an outdoor market away from any venue network. When the season is over, the reporting shows what each device and each location raised, which makes planning next year's appeal a matter of evidence rather than memory. For the rest of the year's giving moments, our charity fundraising calendar maps the appeals worth planning for.
Planning a winter or Christmas appeal? Read about campaign control on the Give A Little page, compare the portable devices on our comparison chart, or see our guide for charities.