LandAid chooses Give A Little to power cashless fundraising

When looking for a cashless fundraising platform, LandAid moved away from its previous card reader supplier and chose Give A Little because it offered a more professional experience, greater flexibility and, crucially, the ability to participate in Swiftaid's Great Gift Aid Hunt.

For LandAid, fundraising is frequently fast-paced and high-energy. At crowded dinners or charity tournaments, donors expect a quick "tap-and-go" experience. Historically, capturing traditional Gift Aid declarations at these was practically impossible; attendees rarely wanted to pause to fill out extensive contact forms, resulting in missed revenue for the charity.

The turning point came when LandAid discovered

, made possible through Give A Little's support for Payment Account Reference (PAR) data. Because LandAid uses Give A Little with Stripe, PAR information is included in Give A Little campaign reports, allowing the charity to securely share eligible donation data with Swiftaid. Swiftaid can then match those transactions against its database of donors who have already completed a Swiftaid declaration and claim any eligible Gift Aid from HMRC. The result is valuable additional income from contactless donations that might otherwise have gone unclaimed.

"The PAR reference with Give A Little allows us to further down the line look at Gift Aid in some of the donations... The PAR was critical for us in choosing Give A Little ."

James Breen, Head of Events and Individual Giving, LandAid

The financial impact of this capability has been substantial. In the most recent SwiftAid submission, across all integrated fundraising channels, they secured 1,000 successful declarations which resulted in an additional £16,000 of extra income. Give A Little donations alone accounted for £15,000 of the eligible pool within just a six-month window of initial setup.

 

Before moving to Give A Little, LandAid used basic unbranded card readers. While functional, the hardware failed to present an official charity presence. The tiny unbranded readers required staff to use their personal mobile phones to process transactions.

Switching to Give A Little transformed that experience. LandAid now uses a combination of five Stripe S700 card readers and the Give A Little Champion App. The all-in-one S700 devices are securely locked down to the Give A Little app, while the Champion App enables unlimited staff, volunteers and supporters to fundraise using their own phones. Both display fully branded LandAid campaigns, creating an instantly recognisable and reassuring presence for donors.

"Give A Little is 10 times better than our previous provider. You can properly brand the experience, whereas before we couldn't...

The customisation of different amounts is really useful because it allows us to adapt. If we are at an architect event with junior staff, we can present options like £10, £20, and £50. If it’s a corporate golf day, we know £50 is the absolute minimum we’ll put in."

James Breen, James Breen, Head of Events and Individual Giving, LandAid

The benefits of professional, well branded campaigns and the recognisable and simple to use Stripe S700 Reader became apparent during LandAid’s first-ever event using Give A Little: a multi-mile charity trek ("Land Trek"). Instead of actively pushing for donations post the event, the team left an S700 positioned directly on the bar.

Because the hardware looked legitimate and inviting, it captured spontaneous donations without requiring active staffing. A single attendee contributed a standalone £250. The team notes that such an outcome would have been impossible with their previous setup, as an unbranded small pocket reader or a staff member's personal smartphone could never be left safely or effectively on a bar counter to gather passive contributions.

Operationally, LandAid balances S700 Readers with the Give A Little Champion App depending on volunteer turnout. If an event requires minimal staffing, the team primarily rely on their collection of Stripe S700 Readers. However, for larger events involving ten or more volunteers, the charity empowers its network via the Give A Little Champion App, turning standard smartphones into secure donation stations via Tap to Pay technology.

The feedback across the board has been uniformly outstanding, achieving a seamless user experience even among external supporters who are less tech-savvy. The intuitive interface ensures that volunteers can be onboarded in seconds, allowing the core events team to focus on delivery rather than technical troubleshooting.

With peak corporate supporter seasons approaching through the summer and autumn months, LandAid plans to fully utilise Give A Little's unlimited and customisable campaign capabilities across upcoming golf days, entertainment nights, and sports tournaments. The charity is also preparing for its massive Annual Gala Dinner, taking place at the Natural History Museum in November, where they will as always, use segmented campaigns to clearly separate Gift Aid eligible donations from those non-eligible like auctions and raffles in order to maintain audit trails for Swiftaid submissions.

When asked what message he would share with other charities considering joining Give A Little, James’ conclusion is emphatic:

"Do it! 100% do it, as simple as that.

Give A Little looks good, it’s easy to use, and as well as allowing Gift Aid capture directly on the devices if we enable this, you can claim Gift Aid via Swiftaid on some of the anonymous donations afterwards. The team is also incredibly responsive, taking feedback on board and continuously developing the platform. I feel like we are really listened to, which is fantastic."