Fundraising on the Go

You know the feeling. You and your team have spent months planning an event. Your donors are ready to invest in your mission, and you want to be sure it’s easy for them to give.

And the donors are ready, credit cards out! You’re relieved knowing that CharityEngine’s online forms are mobile-optimized for easy giving on the go.

But manually entering credit card information can be cumbersome for you and your donors. And as more and more donors are ready to give, you start to panic that you’ll have to waste time typing in credit card numbers for each donation. Right?

No! It’s much easier than that. 

You can use CharityEngine’s mobile pay app to process donations on-site quickly, enroll monthly donors, and send receipts to your donors! And when you want to up your game, you can add a credit card swiper integrated with the app.

Let’s dive in and see how this looks.

How the Mobile Pay App Works

The first thing you’ll need is a smartphone or tablet. IOS, Android, and Microsoft all work.

You’ll download the app and choose whether you want to process donations (best for events and fundraisers) or set up a kiosk for self-service giving. The latter means you can give your donors access to the app, and they can donate without being present. These two options give you the chance to really maximize the impact of an event!

Once you log in, you can enter the donation. For step-by-step instructions, take a look at this resource from our help center. One of the cool things about this screen is that a toggle button prompts you to ask (or the donor to choose) if they’d like to support your mission with a monthly donation. 

You enter the payment amount and the screen turns green, indicating the payment information is valid. You enter the donor’s information, process the payment, and send a receipt via email. It’s that easy!

Connect to the App With a Swiper

CharityEngine has made it even easier to use the Mobile Pay App with a credit card swiper. This device integrates seamlessly with the app, allowing you to physically swipe credit cards at an event and process payments through the app on a smartphone or tablet.

Once you get the swiper, setup is easy and you can begin accepting donations immediately. For the first-time setup (and setup every time you reconnect the swiper and your phone or tablet), follow these steps:

• Once the swiper is connected to your device, log in and choose an amount.
• Click “next” to access credit card fields and give permission to access the device.
• Click “previous” on that same screen and then “next” on the donation amount screen.
• Then you’re ready to use the swiper! 

There is a cost for the swiper, but there aren’t any extra monthly fees once you have it. And while we currently only offer Android devices, we’re hoping to offer Apple swipers soon.

And now for the fine print:

• Clients often ask if the swiper can read chips, and we’re not quite there yet.
• But it’s great to know that your processing rates aren’t affected! 
• The Mobile Pay swipers will work with any Android smartphone or tablet with a USB-C port (the port you usually use to attach a charger).
• The Android operating system must be 4.4.2 or later.

Fundraising Tools Make Giving Easy

A significant part of what drives our team is making giving easy. With the app and the swiper, you can accept donations any time, anywhere. Donors receive an emailed receipt, and the information is all available in your dashboard. Because CharityEngine is an all-in-one fundraising CRM, data you collect on the go will be in the system, connected to a donor’s record, by the time you get back to the office.

Do you want to add the swiper to your arsenal of fundraising tools? If so, send me an email, and I will get you all set up. If you want to work with us, check out our comprehensive guide.

Happy swiping!