How LionHeart is unlocking regular giving with the Give A Little Champion App

We caught up with Faye Smith, LionHeart’s Supporter Engagement and Fundraising Manager, to chat about their cashless fundraising journey, moving away from restrictive card readers, and the power of building long-term relationships on the go.

Historically, LionHeart took cashless donations using standard card readers at events. While handy for a quick transaction, the team quickly ran into a major fundraising hurdle: once a person tapped their card, the interaction was over.

As Faye explains:

"We had been using card readers which were really handy, but obviously you can't claim the Gift Aid... as soon as the donor has donated, they've gone. Unless you work out some other way to capture their details, which is all a bit cumbersome when you're fundraising at an event, you completely lose the opportunity, despite those people raising their hands and saying, 'Yes, we want to support your charity'."

The team wanted a solution that didn’t just process a payment, but actively helped them grow their community.

"We knew it would be really lovely to be able to Gift Aid these donations. But it was also vital to us to be able to thank these people properly by capturing their details and then being able to have that ongoing relationship."

After attending a Give A Little webinar to explore options, the simplicity of the platform won them over, and LionHeart signed up.

LionHeart faced a very specific challenge regarding how they traditionally raised funds. RICS members can historically opt to donate to the charity when paying their annual professional fees. However, with more corporate employers now paying these fees directly on behalf of their staff, LionHeart was missing out on a massive yearly touchpoint.

To bridge this gap, the team had to completely rethink their pitch at conferences and corporate events. They needed a clear, dual-messaging approach that didn't overcomplicate the call to action.

"We ended up with this nice simple graphic that we used alongside the Give A Little Champion App with a clear message: 'If you pay your subs yourself, just say yes. That's all you need to do. And if your firm pays, please donate £2 a month.' In fundraising, you want the message to be simple. You want it to be clear. You want it to be a really obvious call to action."

The Give A Little Champion App became the perfect tool to make this £2-a-month ask an immediate reality. Instead of giving a presentation and hoping the audience would remember to visit the website later, the team could capture that generosity right then and there.

"To be able to stand there and say, 'And we can set up your monthly donations right now when you leave this room' was brilliant for us, just to have the capacity to do that and to take those donations straight away."

Beyond the fundraising capability, switching to an app-based solution on mobile phones eliminated a massive administrative headache for Faye:

"Before using the Give A Little Champion App, we always had the logistics of managing physical card readers - ensuring everyone had one, or figuring out how to pass a reader along if someone was heading off to an event without it. This app completely removes all of that hassle."

Now, setting up new campaigns - whether for the five runners who are participating in the Royal Parks Marathon to raise funds for the charity or a volunteer coordinating a local challenge - is completely frictionless.

"In terms of how to set campaigns up in Give A Little, it’s just so easy. It's brilliant. It doesn't take long at all and they look really professional with our branding and imagery."

LionHeart is now at the start of an exciting journey to roll the app out to their trustees and ambassadors, leaning into the mindset that everyone can comfortably invite a donation during day-to-day professional networking.

Using Give A Little’s dedicated reports, Faye can effortlessly manage her data from one central place. The recurring monthly donors report allows her to see exactly how many monthly donors the charity has at any given time, while the supporters report makes it easy to track precisely how much each group of supporters has raised via the Champion App. She can also easily track which donors have opted into Gift Aid and use Give A Little’s Gift Aid report to submit HMRC claims.

Faye has been highly impressed by how seamless the backend management is:

"The admin side of Give A Little is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive. It is so handy to be able to group our supporters in different ways to see what they've raised, and the way the entire system is set up makes tracking our data incredibly straightforward."

Faye also appreciates the collaborative, feedback-driven nature of working with the Give A Little team:

"I've been really impressed with how responsive the Give A Little team is. When I've asked questions or when I've suggested something, things have been sorted out straight away... It's really reassuring that you listen to the charities using it."

When asked what she would tell other charities considering making the move to the Give A Little Champion App, Faye highlights that the value goes far beyond just replacing a traditional bucket collection:

"I would highly recommend Give A Little for its ease of use and the sheer number of opportunities it opens up. It isn’t just a tool to increase your income; it gives you the vital mechanism to capture Gift Aid and supporter opt-ins. It allows you to build much longer-lasting relationships with the people who choose to support you.

When we were using standard card readers, you would get the donation, but the donor was gone - potentially forever. True fundraising is all about building relationships and making the experience meaningful for the supporter. You can only do that properly if you have a way to stay connected, so the fact that we can now securely capture those details via Give A Little is massive for us."

Want to learn more about how your charity can easily collect regular and one-off contactless donations using just a smartphone? Find out more about the