Raise awareness through heritage events
This September, hundreds of heritage sites across England will open their doors to the public, encouraging new visitors by reducing barriers such as cost and offering exciting, exclusive content.
Due to the event being free-entry, we’re encouraging our arts and heritage customers to promote their cause to visitors and encourage donations through existing donation points.
Find out more
Check out this year's community events
Gain more this Heritage Open Day with contactless donations
Offering a range of inclusive collection methods allows visitors to support your cause on their terms. During community-led events, such as Heritage Open Days, you can expect a higher than average footfall and maximising supporter engagement, is therefore key.
Clearly signpost your devices, encourage staff or volunteers to guide visitors to them and make sure your team are able to confidently use your Donation Stations ahead of the event. Visitors often want to support organisations so make it as easy as possible!
A great way to promote your cause
With contactless devices like the Donation Station, you can collect more donations at higher values, through the use of our customisable on-screen journey. But attracting visitors to the device is the first half the battle.
We recommend updating your Attract Loop messaging and visuals to reflect the event and allow passers-by to clearly spot the device and understand it’s purpose.
New visitors will have more of an emotional connection to the Heritage Open Day event, as opposed to other campaigns or restoration projects they have yet to interact with. We also recommend adding a new campaign to the ‘Causes’ screen, specifically for Heritage Open Days, so that you can focus visitor support.
This will increase the likeliness of them supporting your organisation, especially if the device is positioned towards the end of their journey, in return for a lovely day out.
Raise more than cash collection methods
These devices are designed to encourage generous donations through the adaptable on-screen donor journey.
The ‘Donation Amounts’ screen allows you to choose 3 pre-set amounts, alongside an ‘Other Amount’ option. This can be used to your advantage, especially during busy times like the Heritage Open Day events.
We have seen over the past couple of years a general decline in the number of donations made by the public but an increase in generosity, so why not increase your amounts to maximise on donation income and entice visitors to give more in exchange for an enjoyable experience?
This, paired with asking donors for Gift Aid and for the Transaction Fee to be covered, can help boost income further.
No internet needed
We know that many heritage organisations, especially those situated on historical sites, struggle with internet connection. Our Donation Stations are built to work reliably in all environments, online and offline.
Activities hosted outside or in historical buildings with limited internet connection, can benefit from our offline mode. When in offline mode, the device stores the donation transactions, ready to be uploaded at the end of the day, when you are once again connected to internet.
Meaning you won’t miss out on any donations and you can be confident in the devices reliability.
Collect more than just donations
Our devices allow you to collect more than just donation income with optional screens such as the ‘Conversation Starter’ screen enabling you to collect valuable donor data too.
This way you can encourage one-off visitors to engage with your organisation long-term by promoting your membership, newsletter or volunteer programs. Remember: donor retention is a lot more cost effective than actively seeking new supporters!
As well as collecting donor details, you can gain valuable insights into supporter behaviour through our GWD Portal:
- When does the device receive the most engagement?
- Which causes received the most donations?
- What is our average donation amount?
- Does this data differ from our day to day fundraising campaigns?
This way you can prepare for your next event and set up your device for success.
Not registered? Start planning for next year!
The registration deadline for this year’s event has unfortunately passed, but there is plenty of time to get involved in next year’s event, with registration opening on March 8th 2025.
Or you could get involved in one of the other annual heritage events such as the Festival of Archaeology and #HeritageTreasures.
Who are GWD?
We help socially-minded organisations transition to digital systems, building stronger relationships through impactful products and services.
Our experience goes back two decades, with a foundation building and providing critical digital services and products for the financial services and retail industries.
With a long-proven ability to handle challenging projects and a team of trusted experts, we work hard to solve problems and deliver change that helps others.
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