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How is Zeffy free?
How is Zeffy free?
Zeffy relies entirely on optional contributions from donors. At the payment confirmation step - we ask donors to leave an optional contribution to Zeffy.
Most supporters no longer carry cash. Across the UK, cash usage has dropped sharply at community events. Fete stallholders, village-hall quiz nights, school PTA cake sales, and church plate collections are all finding that donors arrive without notes or coins. If your event only accepts cheques or cash, you are losing donations in real time.
The shift is confirmed by UK fundraisers themselves. As one village-hall treasurer explained, people simply do not carry cash around the way they used to, and without a card-reading mechanism, even willing donors walk past the collection tin.
The good news: you do not need expensive hardware or a payment processor contract. You need a phone and a Zeffy account.
Zeffy is trusted by 100,000+ charities worldwide, has helped raise billions for good causes, and charges £0 in platform fees on every method covered below.
Method 1: Tap-to-pay
What it is
Tap-to-pay turns an iPhone into a donation terminal. No card reader. No hardware. Donors tap their card or phone, and the donation processes instantly.
Zeffy's tap-to-pay feature uses NFC technology built into iPhones. It works with physical contactless cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets.
When to use it
Tap-to-pay works best when a volunteer is staffing the collection point. Think a summer fete welcome table, a village-hall quiz-night entry desk, a church plate collection, a PTA cake sale, a gala-dinner check-in table, or a Christmas raffle booth.
It is also well suited to high-street collection days, door-to-door fundraising, and any situation where a volunteer stands face to face with a donor and needs to take a gift instantly.
How Zeffy handles it
Download the Zeffy app, log in, and you are ready to collect. No monthly fee. No hardware cost. No percentage taken from donations.
Many UK charities running community events discover the same problem: platforms charge an overhead per ticket or per transaction that makes them unworkable for a £5 fete entry or a £2 raffle ticket. With Zeffy's tap-to-pay, a volunteer with an iPhone at the door collects every penny. No reconciliation headache, no processing fee eating into the proceeds, no equipment to borrow or return.
Method 2: QR codes
What it is
A QR code links directly to your Zeffy donation form. Donors scan it with their phone camera and complete a donation in seconds, with no app download required.
When to use it
QR codes work anywhere you can display them: event banners, table cards, programme booklets, pledge walls, posters, staff T-shirts, and direct post appeals.
They are especially useful when you cannot staff every table or room. Print once, place everywhere, and donors can give on their own timeline throughout your event.
How Zeffy handles it
Zeffy generates a unique QR code for every donation form you create. Download it, print it, and display it. Every scan opens your branded donation page with zero fees for donors and your charity.
Pair QR codes with tap-to-pay for maximum coverage: staffed tables use tap-to-pay, unstaffed areas use QR codes.
Apple Pay and Google Pay let donors complete a donation without typing in card details. They authenticate with Face ID or a fingerprint and confirm in one tap.
When to use it
Digital wallets work through your Zeffy online donation form. They are ideal for donors who land on your form via a QR code, a link in your event programme, or an email you send during or after the event.
They are also great for donors who have left their physical card at home but always have their phone.
How Zeffy handles it
Zeffy donation forms accept Apple Pay and Google Pay without any extra setup. When a donor opens your form on a compatible device, those payment options appear automatically. Zero fees apply here too: your charity keeps every pound.
Gift Aid and GASDS on contactless and digital wallet donations
Contactless and Apple Pay or Google Pay donations from UK taxpayers are fully Gift Aid eligible. When a donor submits a Gift Aid declaration on your Zeffy form (their full name, home address, and confirmation that they pay sufficient UK tax), your charity can reclaim 25p from HMRC for every £1 donated. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)
Small contactless donations of £30 or less also qualify for the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS): a 25% top-up from HMRC with no written declaration required. The scheme is capped at £8,000 in eligible small donations per tax year. GASDS is a valuable uplift for fete collections, church plate collections, and any event where donors give small amounts quickly.
Text-to-give lets donors send a keyword to a five-digit UK shortcode and receive a secure donation link by text. They click the link, fill in their amount, and donate in under a minute.
When to use it
Text-to-give works well during live events where a presenter or auctioneer can prompt the crowd. It is also effective in emergency campaigns where speed matters most.
How Zeffy handles it
Text-to-give is coming soon on Zeffy. We are building it, and when it launches it will follow the same zero-fee model as everything else on this list.
A donation kiosk is a self-service station, usually a tablet or dedicated screen, that lets donors give without staff involvement. They are common in museums, visitor attractions, airports, and permanent fundraising installations.
When to use it
Kiosks make sense for high-traffic, fixed locations where donors browse or wait and might give spontaneously. Think museum lobbies, hospital reception areas, or a permanent display in a charity's shopfront.
The real cost problem
Kiosks come with real costs. Hardware typically runs £500 or more per unit. You will need a power source, a WiFi connection, and someone to manage the device. Monthly software fees add up on top of that.
In the UK, the leading specialist in contactless donation hardware is GoodBox, whose GBx devices are used by churches, museums, visitor attractions, and street fundraising teams. GoodBox genuinely solves the cash-is-dying problem at high-traffic fixed sites. But it is hardware you buy or rent, plus a per-transaction fee, whereas Zeffy's tap-to-pay uses the phone already in your volunteer's pocket at zero cost. See the Zeffy vs GoodBox comparison for current UK fees.
For most charity events, kiosks are overkill. The better option for fetes, quiz nights, and gala dinners is tap-to-pay: already in your volunteer's pocket, costs nothing, and takes minutes to set up.
If you are running a permanent installation with high foot traffic and a facilities budget to support it, a kiosk may make sense. For everything else, an iPhone does the job for free.
Quick comparison: all 5 methods
Method
Ideal for
Hardware needed?
Works offline?
Zeffy cost
Tap-to-pay
Fetes, quiz nights, gala dinners, door-to-door, church plate collections
iPhone (no extras)
No
£0
QR code
Unstaffed areas, banners, programme booklets, direct post appeals
None
No
£0
Digital wallets
Online forms, post-event emails, QR code landing pages
No. Donors do not need to download anything. QR code donations open directly in a mobile browser. Digital wallet payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay work through Zeffy's donation form with no extra steps. Only the charity volunteer needs the Zeffy app for tap-to-pay.
Tap-to-pay and QR code donations require an internet connection to process. If your venue has unreliable WiFi, use mobile data on your volunteer's phone as a backup. For very remote locations, it is worth testing your signal in advance and identifying a nearby data connection before your event begins.
Yes. Donors can tap a physical contactless card on the iPhone for tap-to-pay, so a smartphone is not required on their side. QR codes do need a phone camera, but any basic smartphone will work. For donors without any device, a cheque or bank transfer remains an option alongside your contactless setup.
All donations collected through Zeffy, whether by tap-to-pay, QR code, or digital wallet, appear in the same dashboard in real time. You can see totals, donor details, and Gift Aid declarations in one place, with no manual reconciliation required at the end of the night.
No. Zeffy lets you create unlimited donation forms and generate a unique QR code for each one. There is no cap on forms, QR codes, or the number of events you run.
Text-to-give is in development. We will announce it when it is ready. In the meantime, you can create your free Zeffy account and start using tap-to-pay, QR codes, and digital wallets today. Zeffy is used by over 100,000 charities worldwide and has helped raise billions for good causes globally, all with zero platform fees.
Zeffy processes donor data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Donation forms collect only the information needed to process the gift and, where selected, a Gift Aid declaration. Donors control their marketing consent in line with PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations). For more on data protection rights in the UK, visit the Information Commissioner's Office.
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Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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