With the advent of donation kiosks at major churches becoming the biggest trend in philanthropy, it was only a matter of months before someone converted it into a donation vehicle for animals as well. Could a donation kiosk be in your groups’ future?

Many churches with large congregations have adapted their approach to collecting offerings during their weekly services. Instead of just passing the donation plate, dozens of churches have started a new campaign of giving by providing an ATM in their church lobbies to collect donations. There are no withdraws from the machines, just donations in the form of deposits. With a culture that is highly dependent on credit and debit cards, the churches are seeing a rise in the dollar amount of the offerings thanks to these new donation kiosks. Donors are able to give directly from their debit cards, or through their credit cards, thereby increasing their ability to give in more ways than just cash and check.

The Humane Society of Ventura County (California) has implemented a donation kiosk program. It premiered at the Venture County Fair in August, 2007, with great success. A board member for the group spearheaded the project and funded the first kiosk through his company. For more information on their donation program that also incorporates adoptable animals through the kiosk, read this article from the Ventura County Star.

Should your animal group consider a kiosk? Below are a few points to consider:

• How will we pay for it?- The cost of $5,000 for the kiosk could be covered by a grant that provides fundraising startup money, by a sponsorship from a local bank, through an underwriting program with local businesses, or by a generous donation from a past donor. This could be a perfect memorial or bequest item for donors and their families to consider.
• What other fees would be associated with it?- There will be monthly fees involved for processing the card payments. The kiosk program may have to be ‘endowed’ to make sure those extra costs could be met each month so that the full donation could be given to the charity.
• Where will be place it?- Location will be a vital component in the program. Having good foot traffic is helpful, but make sure the kiosk is located in an area where donors would congregate.
• How will we promote it?- Promotion can be done through your regular contact with donors, a special introduction letter to donors, a feature story and mentions in your regular newsletter, as well as through your media connections in the community.
• What about thanking the donors?- Imaginably, the automated system would be able to give the charity the contact info for the donors and the donation amount so that thank you letters can be sent.
• What other benefits would the kiosk provide?- Donation kiosks would provide a receipt instantly for tax purposes. This would encourage donations and alleviate the on-site need to write receipts for donors.

Whether you choose to use a kiosk or not, be sure that you are giving people ample opportunities to give to your charitable organization in a variety of manners. Provide them with donation reply envelopes in newsletters, pledge cards during an annual campaign, as well as individual sponsorships of animals or funds and information on bequests and memorials.