Baby Bank chooses Give A Little for their cashless fundraising

The baby bank take donations of clothes, toys and essential items for babies and children up to the age of 18 and rehomes them with local families experiencing hardship through a network of referral partners.

Sophie Johns, the charity’s Funding, Finance and Impact Manager explains: “We realised that we needed to move on after Covid and provide a way for our supporters to donate if they weren’t carrying cash anymore. It was becoming a necessity for events, but we also wanted to have an option for our corporate partners to make card donations.”

“We have two sites - a big warehouse near Reigate station and an office location in Redhill where we run our seasonal campaigns. Both sites are busy, and we welcome volunteers, corporate partners, funders, referral partners and local families who are dropping off the items their families have outgrown.”

On why donations are so important to the charity, Sophie adds:

“We support an average of 200 families a week across Surrey and Croydon so it’s quite a large-scale operation. We’re helping newborns right up to young people aged 18. We work with professional referral partners, taking requests from groups like health visitors, schools and other charities. They make requests on behalf of the families they support, and all referrals are made to order. Referrals can range from everything for a mum who has nothing for her newborn, or a filled school bag for a teenager whose school attendance has been impacted because they don’t have the right equipment for school. We ensure that all our bundles of support feel like a gift rather than a handout. We do focus on pre-loved donations but there are always some items that need to be new – like mattresses, nappies and underwear – so cash donations are essential.”

On why they decided to go with Give A Little for their cashless fundraising strategy, Sophie explains:

“We did a lot of research and Give A Little seemed to be the most accessible in terms of cost and functionality.

We wanted to find a partner with a good track record in the industry as it was a new way of working for us. We have two CollecTin More contactless donation boxes that use Give A Little software. We use them at events and when they’re not out and about they are set up in the reception area of both of our sites. We use them all year round.”

“There is a lot of footfall at both sites so it’s useful to have a way for our supporters to give if they want to make a cash donation in addition to dropping off items from our wish list. We also use the CollecTins out and about at events such as Run Reigate and fairs. We run regular corporate volunteering sessions, and we often use the machines to take the corporate volunteering contribution when the group comes in. It’s easy for corporates to make their contribution using the CollecTin and Give A Little as the platform is set up for larger amounts as well as smaller ones. We have had very positive feedback from both our staff and volunteers using the devices as well as our supporters making the donations. The custom fundraising campaigns displayed on the device work very well for us. Through Give A Little we can quickly change the donation amounts depending on the audience, which has been very helpful.”

Summing up the charity’s experience with Give A Little in the two years they have been using the platform, Sophie said:

“We are so pleased to have found Give A Little. We are happy with how much we have raised and are so supportive of what you’re doing - thank you!”