The Rise of Cashless Giving – How Charities Can Keep Pace with Donor Habits in 2025

At a Glance

With cash donations falling below 12% in the UK, charities risk losing income without digital options. Contactless tools like the KindLink Contactless App increase giving, streamline Gift Aid, reduce admin, and empower volunteers to capture donations instantly at fundraising events.

Changing Donor and Donation Habits

People have embraced digital habits, preferring to tap their phones to pay instead of reaching out for their wallets. You may also notice this at a charity event, where people reach for their phones to donate, instead of their purses. But for a charity raising funds, that tiny pause, searching for change and then moving on, is a lost moment, and also a lost donation.

Every lost moment matters because today, less than 12% of payments are made in cash. In the same vein, charities using contactless donation terminals have the potential to raise about 64% more compared to those relying only on cash. Missing out on a small donation moment may not seem big at first, but it’s still lost income. 

By using free digital tools and contactless donations, charities can make it easier to capture generosity in the moment, whether at a stall, after a speech, or when a volunteer’s chat sparks a connection. Taking such small digital steps, such as using a contactless app, collecting donor details, and sending a thank-you, supports charities in continuing long-standing relationships.

The KindLink Contactless Fundraising App gives charities an easy way to put this into practice, turning any smartphone into a secure tap-to-give point.

In this guide, let’s look at how contactless donation solutions in 2025 are keeping pace with changing donor and donation habits.

What Does Contactless Donations For Charities Look Like?

Suppose you are volunteering at the summer fair, and a passerby hears your non-profit’s story, mission or cause. Instead of fumbling for cash to make a donation, they simply tap their phone, and the donation appears in your account, tagged to that campaign. 

Later, the supporter receives a short email and, if eligible, a Gift Aid is sent automatically. No paper forms and no late-night spreadsheets, just a modern and respectful way of fundraising, without losing the warmth.

It’s not too late if your charity has yet to embrace these digital ways of fundraising.

Try These 4 Practical Shifts to Keep Pace with Donor Habits

1. Make Fundraising Phone-Friendly 

Looking to find a way to implement contactless donation solutions? Start by making fundraising phone-friendly. People prefer to use their phones for practically everything, even making donations. Make phone-friendly giving a simple three-step process:

• Select the campaign
• Choose the amount
• Tap to give

It’s that simple!

It’s important to keep your touchpoint and user journey short, friendly, and human. When volunteers can do this from their own phones, you can turn more engaging conversations into donations.

2. Treat Donor Data Like Gold

Collecting donors’ names and email addresses is not just for courtesy and data-keeping; it’s an invaluable resource. Sending a quick thank-you, emailing a short story about impact, and offering clear giving options help donors feel seen and valued. 

Supplementing your efforts with a CRM solution like KindLink can automatically record Gift Aid, donations received, and hours volunteered, reducing hours of admin work while keeping your stakeholders informed through reports.

3. Link Donations to Campaigns Automatically

Want to cut down on messy spreadsheets? Track every donation by using a CRM designed for fundraisers. This way, impact is visible, reporting is accurate, and funders can see exactly where the money is going. 

You don’t need to make manual entries or chase numbers. KindLink lets campaign data flow automatically within the CRM, which saves time and reduces effort. 

4. Give Volunteers Confidence and Keep Control 

Volunteers are brilliant fundraisers, but they don’t need full access to your database. Give them limited accounts that let them collect data on their own phones, only for the day’s campaign.

Spend a few minutes explaining contactless donations solutions, show them how to open the app, choose the campaign and payment options. Give your volunteers simple scripts and an understanding of the system to build confidence.

Little Wins That Add Up

Try these steps at your next event using the KindLink CRM:

• Use the KindLink Contactless App so a volunteer’s phone becomes a secure Tap to Pay point (no extra kit, no fuss)
• Offer three amounts as options
• Send a thank-you email within 24 hours
• Offer Gift Aid with a checkbox and let the system handle claims
• Reconcile donations to campaigns to show the impact to funders

Follow these steps to see incremental changes that stack into meaningful income.

Are There Any Concerns With Going Contactless?

Security

In terms of security, payments are handled by certified PCI-DSS-compliant gateways and use modern protection like tokenisation, so card details aren’t stored on phones.

Fees

The KindLink Contactless App is free for charities; you only pay standard, minimal Stripe processing fees. We also don’t take a commission, it only passes on the fees from the payment partner. This way, you capture more donations, fewer lost opportunities, and less time spent chasing paperwork.

Complexity

New systems can feel daunting at first, but the best way to go about it is to take it one step at a time. Try with one volunteer, one device or for one campaign. Do a single mock transaction, practise a 20-second script, and run it live. Train volunteers with limited access accounts and create a buddy system to teach other volunteers.

Gift Aid Management

Gift Aid can quickly become an admin headache with missed declarations, gifts not linked to the right campaign, duplicate claims, and volunteer mistakes. But it has the potential to increase income if you make it effortless for donors with a single checkbox in the donation flow. 

KindLink fixes this by capturing the donor’s declaration at the point of gift, auto-tagging each donation to the correct campaign, automating claim workflows and keeping donor data secure with limited-access accounts. This way, you get fewer errors, less paperwork, and faster reclaiming of funds.

Try The KindLink Contactless App For Free

The KindLink Contactless App is the ideal contactless donation solution, turning any smartphone into a secure tap-to-pay donation point. In addition to recording donor details in a CRM and supporting Gift Aid processing, all without extra hassles or multiple tools, this all-in-one digital platform charges no commission, only standard processing fees.

Are you ready to get started with KindLink’s Contactless App?

Set up a free account, run a mock donation, and test it out. Don’t worry if you hit a roadblock; our support team is there to guide you through.

Sign up today and never miss another donation.