East Anglian Air Ambulance's Contactless Donations Take Off with Luton Airport’s Help
The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is a 365-day helicopter emergency medical service covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. This crucial service saves lives across East Anglia, relying heavily on donations to keep their operations running. Having researched contactless options, they chose Give A Little based on the affordability and the features offered. Recently, they started using CollecTin More contactless donation boxes running Give A Little software to boost their fundraising efforts.
3 September 2024The EAAA team has been very clever with their strategy, and approached their corporate partner Luton Airport to ask for financial support in getting their contactless journey with Give A Little started. Recognising the importance of EAAA's work and how crucial a contactless option for donors is, Luton Airport stepped in to purchase 10 CollecTin More contactless donation boxes for the organisation, as well as covering the Give A Little subscription fees for the first year! This generous support has allowed EAAA to expand their contactless donation strategy quickly and efficiently and has given them the ability to test and learn from day one.
At first, EAAA placed the CollecTin More devices in static positions with local supporters, such as local garden centres and bars. However, they soon discovered that they received more donations when the devices were used at events where fundraisers and volunteers could engage directly with donors.
Led by Barbara McGee, Community Fundraising Manager, the team has, and are being smart with their contactless strategy - experimenting with different campaigns tailored to specific locations and events, adjusting donation amounts based on the expected audience, and always being willing to test different things. This flexibility has been key to their ongoing success.
Give A Little recently introduced the ability to give devices a custom name and this has been a welcome addition for EAAA, especially when they are managing multiple portable contactless donation boxes and volunteers. Scarlet Farnell Community Fundraising Intern, who manages the devices, has found this feature incredibly helpful.
She explains “It’s made it much easier for us to keep track of everything and get the devices ready for volunteers before each event. It’s streamlined the operations and made the whole process more efficient”
Looking ahead, EAAA plans to build on what they've learned so far. They're going to integrate Give A Little QR codes into their fundraising efforts and are also planning on purchasing additional CollecTin More devices with the Stripe WisePad 3 card reader, giving them the ability to take donations offline. The idea is to keep evolving and improving their strategy to ensure they can continue their life-saving work with even greater support from the community.