St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust builds toward £200,000 fundraising target with Give A Little

The St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust raises funds for all aspects of St Martin-in-the-Fields, supporting the daily operations and long-term vision of the church. The Trust also champions a wide range of social and community projects run on-site, including theology and faith-based communities, advocacy for disability and inclusivity in worship, lecture series, the St Martin-in-the-Fields Archive, and crucial work with people experiencing homelessness and those seeking connection and support.

Two years into the partnership, the cashless giving strategy is delivering promising momentum. By combining strategic experimentation with Give A Little's intuitive software, the Trust has raised over £80,000 so far - significantly outperforming their initial, more conservative projections for the launch phase and establishing a firm foundation for an ambitious £200,000 annual target.

A trusted partnership across the historic site

The Trust's adoption of Give A Little in 2024 actually built upon a well-established foundation within the building. Give A Little has worked separately with the St Martin-in-the-Fields Parochial Church Council since 2021, helping the church modernise its traditional donation points. Most recently, the church has been an early adopter of innovative technology, successfully piloting the new DonorDynamics CharityDesk at their candle stand - a device featuring integrated Tap to Pay technology built directly into the tablet screen.

When the Trust looked to expand fundraising across the wider site, aligning with the church's existing software partner was a natural and logical step. The primary goal was to achieve absolute consistency of look and feel across the entire venue, ensuring that whether a visitor was upstairs in the nave or downstairs in the cafe in the crypt, the giving experience felt unified and familiar. To support this site-wide harmony, the Trust stepped in to oversee the broader rollout and management of the new devices.

"We said, 'We’ll raise the money and the funds raised in the church will all go to the church as that’s what we are here for,'" recalls Alex Padureanu, Head of Operations and Development.

Designing the perfect "germination environment" across the site

The Trust's donation stations are strategically sited across two very different areas of the venue: the main church porches above and the bustling cafe in the crypt below. Located in the stunning crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields, at the edge of Trafalgar Square, this popular café has been a favourite of tourists and locals alike for 30 years. With original brick-vaulted ceilings and historic tombstones lining the floor, it serves as a vibrant hub for freshly prepared food, as well as the atmospheric setting for the Crypt Live and Crypt Close-Up music and cabaret series.

For Alex, successful contactless fundraising across these unique spaces is about much more than just investing in a device. It requires understanding visitor psychology and creating what he calls the perfect "germination environment."

"We need to create the proper germination environment for donations - it doesn’t just work, you can’t just place the device," Alex explains. "In the church, there is a touchscreen. Devices work best where there is something else that the person can do, like light the candles. They end up in a certain mental space... once they have stopped their journey, the donation comes naturally."

The Trust has learned that stopping power is everything. When visitors engage with information, videos, history, or maps on a touchscreen, the conversion rate increases significantly.

"Anything that will stop people naturally... once they stop, the percentage chances of them donating is much higher. Need to create more of these touch points - it's symbiotic as you improve the experience generally for visitors. As people stop, it’s something interesting for them, so it’s a double win."

The power of testing and iteration

The Trust didn't deploy all nine donation stations at once. They started with just two, using them as a testing ground to master the art of the donation ask.

• Placement is key:
  They discovered that devices using power banks are among their most successful because they can be placed exactly where footfall naturally pauses.

• Keeping it simple:
  Through trial and error, they found that clarity beats complexity. They now use clear and simple messaging like "Donate" and display four donation amounts as well as a custom amount for optimal visual layout.

• Optimising footfall:
  While the cafe sees a massive 700,000 visitors a year enjoying the cafe in the crypt compared to the church's 300,000, it is currently the church that produces more donations. To capture the cafe's untapped potential, the Trust is designing a dedicated "island" featuring a 3D model of the church to give visitors a compelling reason to stop and give on their way out.

Laying the groundwork with flawless software

The initial financial results provided immediate encouragement for the team's hard work.

"Expectation was more conservative - we raised more in 2024 right away. A lot of hard work, a lot of time spent monitoring, lots of different campaigns... Effort is paying off. We raised over £80k so far through Give A Little and we are very happy as it has over exceeded expectations."

Alex credits much of this seamless management to the Give A Little platform, which allows the team to easily monitor different campaigns, track individual devices, and keep a close eye on giving patterns.

"The experience of working with Give A Little has been flawless. The admin side is user-friendly and intuitive - I didn’t have any issues explaining to the team how to use it. Reports are great... Overall, Give A Little is brilliant - it’s very flexible and there is complete transparency. We can monitor each device and each area very easily."

With Give A Little’s robust reporting, reconciling bank statements and ensuring funds are allocated between the church's mission and specific building projects - such as funding a new hot food serving area downstairs - is stress-free.

Looking to the future: The road to £200k

In a challenging modern fundraising landscape where major donors and traditional trusts are increasingly overwhelmed, St Martin-in-the-Fields is capitalising on its ultimate Unique Selling Point: its iconic location and massive footfall.

While other fundraising streams fluctuate, on-site contactless donations provide a predictable, highly valuable stream of unrestricted income.

"Our current on site contactless donation income is great - it helps a lot," says Alex. "It raises £40k a year which is significant, but when we increase that, it will be even more important. The potential is £200k a year and if we get there, that will be massive and will ensure the long-term sustainability of the site if we get it right."

With future plans to introduce QR codes on cafe tables, position a brand-new history exhibition directly along the main visitor route, and experiment with at-the-till donations, the Trust is steadily unlocking the potential needed to make that £200,000 vision a reality - with Give A Little remaining at the heart of their cashless giving strategy.