Sacred Heart Flitwick
Ben Widdows
CEO
Sacred Heart Flitwick is a Roman Catholic parish in Bedfordshire with a regular congregation and an active sacramental programme. The parish takes donations by several methods, including cash and standing order, but before COVID, they installed a GWD Donation Station Pro, and that device quickly became a valuable and reliable part of their fundraising.
Hugh Davies has overseen the contactless solution from the start. He is the parish Chair of Finance and previously served as Director of Finance for the Northampton Catholic Diocese. I spoke to Hugh to find out more about why the device has been so successful.
£17,000
raised so far
52%
of donations are Gift Aided
7 years
old and counting
How the device is used
The Donation Station Pro handles three things for Sacred Heart. Sunday donations are the main use, but it also takes payments for baptisms and allows parishioners to buy books linked to the sacramental programme. They use our Causes feature to allow the donor to choose the reason for their transaction, making it easy for Hugh to track.
The numbers
Since installation the income through the Donation Station Pro has been over £17,000, with the record annual income reaching over £5.5k. This has been helped by strong Gift Aid conversion, which averaged 52% across all transactions. Over half of the donors gift aided.
Hugh’s assessment of the return is direct. The device paid for itself within the first year. The hardware has held up across five years of regular use, and the support team has been responsive on the occasions it was needed.
“It’s lasted nearly seven years and has been really stable. Issues have been infrequent, but when they occurred, the GWD support team resolved them very well.”
– Hugh Davies, Chair of Finance, Sacred Heart Flitwick
Gift Aid conversion
For any parish considering contactless giving, Gift Aid conversion is worth examining closely. At Sacred Heart, 52% of contactless donations are Gift Aided, this is a good figure and it’s achieved by how the donor journey is designed.
The Donation Station Pro has a screen and keyboard built specifically for self-service use making it easier for donors to complete the Gift Aid stage, when compared with other interfaces, which often use small keyboards from a tablet device. Reducing friction is key and the Donation Station achieves this through simple screens and not requesting unrequired info.
Why GWD?
Many Roman Catholic parishes already have a contactless solution in place, but Sacred Heart’s experience shows why the GWD Donation Station has been a great choice. The device has performed reliably over a long period. The Gift Aid rate is significantly above average for the industry and expert support is easily available when needed.
In his former position as Director of Finance for the Diocese, Hugh has seen other devices in other churches, and his experience at Sacred Heart is that the Donation Station Pro has delivered where it counts.
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.
