Sustainable Giving Starts Here: How Contactless Donations Support Unrestricted Income

For many, it’s a new financial year, and charities and places of worship will be looking ahead at how to use their precious budgets wisely while maximising fundraising income. With increasing pressure on resources and rising demand for services, a reliable flow of funds is essential. Sustainable, unrestricted income allows organisations to plan, adapt to change, and respond where the need is greatest, without relying solely on grants, one-off funding or legacy donations.

While grants and more unpredictable funding do provide significant support, it might often come with restrictions or longer lead times. Sustainable fundraising creates a more reliable and adaptable income stream. 

Individual Giving:
Building a strong base of regular donors is key to financial sustainability. A consistent flow of donations, particularly through contactless giving, allows charities and places of worship to cover day-to-day costs and respond quickly to changing needs.

Income from Fundraising Events:
Events offer a valuable opportunity to engage supporters while generating direct income. Whether it’s ticket sales for a community fun run or quiz night, an auction at a gala dinner, a bake sale, or a merchandise stall at a local fair, these in-person or online gatherings help provide a consistent and sustainable stream of support.

These fundraising routes allow for greater flexibility than grants or legacy gifts, which are often designated for specific purposes. Crucially, they support unrestricted income - the kind that charities can spend where it’s needed most, driving sustainability and long-term impact. 

Unrestricted income

As charities are aware, unlike restricted income, which is earmarked for specific projects or purposes, unrestricted funds offer flexibility and freedom. It allows them to use funds where they’re most needed - whether that’s for infrastructure, responding to urgent needs, investing in staff, or developing new services. It allows charities to plan more confidently, adapt to unexpected challenges, and build long-term resilience.

This is where contactless donation devices can make a real impact with long-term financial resilience by providing a steady stream of flexible income. The CollecTin More enables charities and places of worship to build this unrestricted income stream in a way that’s easy to set up, simple to manage, and donor-friendly. It can boost donations by capturing Gift Aid, and with the option to capture marketing preferences and sign-up donors for regular payments, it’s a great way of creating a long-term donor relationship.

The CollecTin More has detailed reporting features, which help organisations understand which campaigns are performing well and adjust strategies accordingly. Plus, with the option of a secure mount for table or wall mounting, the CollecTin can remain in place, plugged in, and always ready to accept donations. 

Contactless giving provides a valuable way to supplement grant income, helping to diversify income streams and demonstrates to funders that your organisation is committed to building sustainable, ongoing income. It can even be included in funding proposals as part of your long-term sustainability strategy.

Our CollecTin More units are pre-installed with Give A Little fundraising software, powering tailored campaigns, collecting Gift Aid, and providing access to detailed reporting to track performance.

Our latest donation data from Give a Little show us that our customers are achieving a return on their investment of their CollecTin More in approximately 4.5 weeks - a strong indication of the impact contactless giving can make.

To learn more about how CollecTin can support your organisation in building sustainable fundraising income, visit www.collectin.com/shop.

Got a friendly corporate partner that might fund you a CollecTin? Talk to us about our e-vouchers.