Press Release: Average contactless donation reaches £6.15 through Tap for Change

Charity payments rise when contactless donation is on offer

Brits give an average of £6.15 to charity, when given the option of making a donation using contactless payment technology, the latest figures from Tap For Change show.

Tap For Change was launched by B2B marketing agency Earnest, after recognising that a reduction in the amount of cash people carry with them was leading to a drop off in charity donations.

After a successful pilot in 2016 with Mary’s Meals and the development of a scalable secure payment platform with charity payment partner LibertyPay, Earnest rolled out Tap For Change earlier this year.

Hundreds of boxes are used by charities and religious organisations across the UK, with hundreds more signed up to offer donors a contactless payment option.

Tap For Change boxes have been used to make 16,250 charitable donations in the last three months alone, with an average donation of £6.15.

The boxes are portable, water resistant and fully PCI compliant. Charities can set them to offer a choice of a series of amounts. The boxes can also be customised to include the charity’s design and logo.

Tap For Change is now preparing to launch a ‘sponsor a box’ option for corporate partners, community groups or individuals who want to support a local charity by gifting them the ability to take contactless donations and receive reports on how much their box has raised.

James Wood, Head of Earnest Labs, which developed Tap For Change, said: “Our idea was to create an effortless way for charities to take contactless donations and, by so doing, help them to increase the number of regular, small donations from the general public. This was about going above and beyond the usual ‘Agency CSR initiatives’ and building something more lasting and more meaningful.

“Neurological research has shown that the frequency of charitable donations increases when the ventral striatum – the part of the brain connected with reward – is engaged, so Tap For Change responds to every successful tap with an audio-visual acknowledgement to thank each person for their donation.

“Tap For Change embeds behavioural science principles into contactless payment technology to deliver a one-stop-shop for any charities both large and small who want to be up and running with contactless donations quickly.”

Royal Trinity Hospice in London has seen a five-fold increase in donations since it replaced static collection tins with 10 Tap For Change terminals in its hospice and across supporting retail partners which have placed a terminal by their tills.

Alessandra Novelli, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Royal Trinity Hospice said:

“Tap For Change has transformed our fundraising. It’s been easy for everyone in our team to manage the boxes and explain to people visiting Trinity how they work.

“It would take years to raise the same amount from people emptying their pockets of loose change, and it would require a logistical army to collect and bank those donations.

“The technology has also allowed us to successfully approach high street partners where customers don’t handle cash, such as travel agents and estate agents. Those partners would have previously been reluctant to host a coin collection box.

“We’ve been really pleased to see how many of our supporters are happy to make contactless donations and would definitely encourage other charities to consider this fundraising platform.”

Tap For Change was launched to help charities combat the funding shortfall caused by a reduction in how much cash people carry with them.

Some 68% of adults carry less cash with them than they did five years ago, according to a poll of 1,050 conducted by Consumer Intelligence. One quarter of those polled admitted to giving less cash to on-the-street charity collectors because they carry fewer notes and coins following the introduction of contactless payment technology.