Tap to Donate

Tap to Donate works wherever a staff member or volunteer can be present with a smartphone. Common scenarios include:

• Fundraising events — galas, auctions, and community gatherings.
• Door-to-door campaigns — canvassers collecting donations in the field.
• Volunteer drives and on-site collection — any location where a dedicated terminal or kiosk isn't practical

It complements online giving rather than replacing it. Organizations already using Fundraise Up can apply the same campaigns and supporter experience to in-person contexts without additional systems.

Four roles can collect donations through the Fundraise Up mobile app: Organization Administrator, Campaign Administrator, Configuration Manager, and Tap to Donate Specialist. They download the Fundraise Up app and log in with their Fundraise Up credentials.

At the collection point, the team member selects a campaign and enters the donation amount. Organization Administrators, Campaign Administrators, and Configuration Managers see every active campaign in the account. Tap to Donate Specialists see only the campaigns the Organization Administrator has assigned to them.

The supporter then taps their physical credit or debit card, or a digital wallet — Apple Pay, Google Pay, or any NFC-enabled wallet — against the team member's phone to complete the payment.

A receipt is automatically generated; the supporter receives it by email or scans a QR code on the confirmation screen.

In addition to one-time donations, Tap to Donate supports recurring giving. Supporters can choose any frequency enabled on the campaign: daily, weekly, biweekly, every 4 weeks, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.

Donations appear in the Fundraise Up Dashboard alongside all online giving — in Insights, CRM integrations, on the Donations page, and in exports. Each donation is attributed to a "Tap to Donate" source so in-person results can be filtered and reported separately from online channels. In exports, each donation includes the Created By User fields — ID, first name, last name, and email — identifying which team member accepted it.

If a supporter chose not to share their details, the donation is recorded anonymously — no name, email, or contact information is attached. Anonymous donations can only be identified in the Dashboard by their date and amount, and cannot be linked to a supporter profile.

Payment processing is handled by Stripe. When a supporter taps, card data is encrypted instantly and transmitted directly to Stripe — it never passes through the staff member's phone or Fundraise Up's systems. Fundraise Up never stores card numbers or CVV codes, and Tap to Donate Specialists never see sensitive card data at any point during the transaction. Tap to Donate meets PCI DSS compliance standards.

Tap to Donate is also designed with personal device use in mind. Tap to Donate Specialists work within a tightly scoped permission set — they can collect donations and nothing else. Each specialist can only access the campaigns the Organization Administrator has assigned to them. Specialists cannot access the Fundraise Up Dashboard beyond their own profile settings, cannot view or modify existing donations or supporter records, and cannot cancel or alter a completed transaction.

For more on how Fundraise Up handles security and supporter data, see PCI compliance for organizations using Fundraise Up, and Supporter information security FAQ.

• Android: Android: 11 or later, NFC-capable, with Google Play Services installed and screen lock enabled. The device must not be rooted.
• iPhone: iPhone: iOS 16.4 or later, iPhone XS or newer. A device passcode and Apple ID sign-in are required.
• Internet connection on the device.
• Location access granted to the app.
• An Organization Administrator, Campaign Administrator, Configuration Manager, or Tap to Donate Specialist role in Fundraise Up.
• A Stripe account with a Terminal Location configured — see Set up Tap to Donate.

Tap to Donate is not supported on iPads, Android tablets, or external terminals.

• If you are an organization administrator: see Set up Tap to Donate.
• If you are a Tap to Donate Specialist: see Accept in-person donations with Tap to Donate.