Fundraise Up app for in-person donations

Each mode fits a different way of collecting donations.

• Tap to Donate is for donations that a member of your team collects. A staff member or volunteer holds a phone, opens the app, chooses a campaign, and enters the amount, then turns the phone to the supporter, who taps a card, phone, or watch to donate. It suits a staffed setting — working a gala floor, greeting guests at a table, or going door to door.
• Giving Station is for donations that supporters make on their own. A member of your team sets up a tablet and leaves it on the donation screen for supporters to use without help. A supporter enters an amount and taps to donate, then the screen resets for the next person. It suits an unattended setting — a reception counter, a registration desk, or a stand beside an exhibit.

1. Create the campaign in the Dashboard. Create a Tap to Donate campaign or a Giving Station campaign — one of each if you will run both at the same event.
2. Install the app on the phones or tablets you will use, from Google Play or the App Store.
3. Sign in and choose a campaign. On the device, sign in with a Fundraise Up account, then choose a campaign from your list.

From here, the two modes differ.

In Tap to Donate, the staff member enters the amount for each donation and turns the phone to the supporter, who taps a card, phone, or watch to donate.

In Giving Station, the staff member sets a 4-digit PIN to lock the tablet to the donation screen. The PIN does not lock supporters out — it keeps the tablet on the donation screen and stops anyone from leaving the app without it. Supporters give on their own, and the screen resets for the next person. To close the station, the staff member presses and holds a corner of the screen and enters the PIN.

In both modes, supporters can give once or set up a recurring donation, and they get a receipt by email or by scanning a QR code.

To use the app, your organization needs:

• To be based in the United States. The event must also take place in the United States.
• A connected Stripe account. If you have not connected one, see Stripe.
• A Fundraise Up account for each person who will set up or use the app, with a role that allows it (see Roles and permissions).
• An internet connection wherever you collect donations.

Device requirements differ between phones and tablets.

Tap to Donate reads cards through the phone's built-in near-field communication (NFC). This is the wireless technology a device uses to read a card, phone, or watch held against it. No card reader is needed, and external card readers are not supported in this mode.

The phone must meet these requirements:

• iPhone: iOS 16.4 or later, iPhone XS or newer. A device passcode and Apple ID sign-in are required.
• Android: Android 13 or later, with NFC, Google Play Services installed, and a screen lock enabled. The phone must not be rooted.

Giving Station runs on an iPad or an Android tablet. For a self-serve kiosk, use a screen of 10 inches or larger; smaller tablets work, but the donation screen is cramped for supporters giving on their own.

The tablet must meet these requirements:

• iPad: any model that can install the app from the App Store.
• Android tablet: Android 13 or later, with Google Play Services installed.

A tablet reads cards in one of two ways: through its own built-in NFC, or through an external Stripe card reader. iPads always need a reader, because the app does not use the tap-to-pay built into iPad. An Android tablet with built-in NFC can read cards on its own, and one without NFC needs a reader.

We recommend a Stripe card reader for every Giving Station, even on a tablet with built-in NFC. At a kiosk the tablet sits still and the supporter taps it themselves, but on most tablets the NFC antenna is on the back or the side, where a supporter cannot reach it. A reader placed next to the tablet gives supporters a clear, reliable place to tap.

To buy a reader, open the Stripe website and filter by country (United States) and manufacturer (Stripe) to see the available readers. Any of them works, including the least expensive option, the Stripe Reader M2, at $59. To pair a reader with the app, see Run a Giving Station.

Your Fundraise Up role determines what actions you can take with the app.

Only an Organization Administrator can turn on Tap to Donate for the account.

Organization Administrators, Campaign Administrators, and Configuration Managers can create both Tap to Donate and Giving Station campaigns.

Any of those three roles can also run either mode on a device. In addition, a Tap to Donate Specialist can run both modes — Tap to Donate on a phone and Giving Station on a tablet. This role is for staff and volunteers who only collect donations and see only their assigned campaigns.

To assign roles, see User roles.

A campaign has no limit on the number of devices that collect donations at the same time. Your team can run as many phones or tablets as you have people to staff them, and donation speed stays the same no matter how many are in use.

What you do need is a Fundraise Up account for every person who collects donations, since each person signs in with their own. Accounts belong to your organization rather than to a single campaign, so the same team can work across several campaigns at one event. If you need more accounts than your organization has, contact support@fundraiseup.com.

Stripe processes every payment. When a supporter taps, their card details are encrypted immediately and sent directly to Stripe — the data never passes through the staff member's device or Fundraise Up, and no one on your team sees a card number. Fundraise Up does not store card numbers or security codes. For recurring donations it stores no card data or payment token either; Stripe keeps the payment method for future charges. The app meets PCI DSS compliance standards.

On any screen that shows a supporter's personal details, the app blocks screenshots and screen recording, so those details cannot be captured.

A Tap to Donate Specialist works within a tightly limited set of permissions. They can take donations, review the ones they collected, and update those supporters' contact details, but they cannot open the rest of the Dashboard, see other donations or supporters, or change a completed transaction. Each specialist can only access the campaigns the Organization Administrator has assigned to them.

Sign-in is protected by your organization's account security. The app supports two-factor authentication (2FA): users enter a verification code at login in addition to their password, and an Organization Administrator can require it for everyone. It also supports single sign-on (SSO): if your organization requires SSO, users sign in through your identity provider instead of a password.

When the app first opens, it asks for permission to use the device location. Stripe requires location access to process in-person payments. The app does not track the device or send location data to Fundraise Up.

For more on how Fundraise Up handles security and supporter data, see Supporter information security FAQ.

Donations from the app appear in the Dashboard alongside all your online giving — in Insights, in CRM integrations, on the Donations page, and in exports. They are also available through the API. Each donation is labeled with its source, either Tap to Donate or Giving Station, so you can filter and report on each mode separately.

If a supporter gives without sharing their details, the donation is recorded without a name or contact information. These anonymous donations can be identified only by their date and amount, and cannot be linked to a supporter profile.

Set up the app for the mode you need:

• Set up Tap to Donate — create and configure a Tap to Donate campaign for phones.
• Set up Giving Station — create and configure a Giving Station campaign for tablets.

Give the on-site guide to the people who will use the devices:

• Accept in-person donations with Tap to Donate — collect donations on a phone.
• Run a Giving Station — set up and launch a tablet at your venue.