Giving to those in need should never be complicated, but with cash disappearing rapidly from our society, this is too often the case. Increasingly, Canadians are passing donation stands, unable to donate due to a lack of cash in their pockets. A growing preference for touchless payments™ as a result of the pandemic has only accelerated the trend. Since 2019, cash transactions have dropped in volume by 26 percent, accounting for only 17 percent of total payments in Canada. The sharp decline of cash use presents an ongoing issue for charitable organizations, which have historically relied on in-person cash donations. Tackling this challenge was the motivation that started tiptap – the first-of-its-kind touchless giving™ technology that lets you give with a simple tap. 

tiptap is committed to removing the barriers between Canadians and the causes they care about. tiptap provides a compact wireless payment solution to charities that is completely self-operated and not tethered to another device, terminal or app. The revolutionary technology allows for an easy, secure way for Canadians to tap to give™ with devices that each have a predetermined fixed contribution amount, making the transaction process fast, simple and secure. Donors can easily tap their debit, credit card or e-wallet to make a difference. Removing this barrier for Canadians to give has proven to be a powerful way to boost fundraising. 

tiptap’s partners: The heart of the mission 

tiptap sees itself as an extension of its partners by delivering on the potential of the technology to maximize contributions. One example is Royal Botanical Gardens, the largest botanical garden in Canada and a registered charitable organization. Royal Botanical Gardens’ trails have served as an important outlet for residents during the pandemic—a safe space where visitors could still interact with the outdoors. As a result, its trail usage has surged over the past two years. 

When Royal Botanical Gardens learned about tiptap’s touchless giving™ technology, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to help supplement donations for maintenance costs due to increased trail usage. Having first implemented tiptap’s technology in June 2021, Royal Botanical Gardens now has five permanent, year-round devices placed at various trailheads to allow visitors to easily contribute. With tiptap’s devices being solar-powered and weather durable, Royal Botanical Gardens has been able to secure the touchless, digital donations needed to maintain its trails without any additional hassle or work for its team members. 

In one year of utilizing tiptap, Royal Botanical Gardens was able to nearly triple the amount of contributions they received through other methods like text to donate. This jump was largely due to tiptap’s ease of use – with fixed contribution amounts and just one tap needed to donate, it is convenient for trail visitors to tap to give™ as they pass by. 

The tiptap dashboard: Real-time insights for informed decisions 

tiptap’s dashboard feature allows charities to monitor contributions in real-time, along with payment and device location data, allowing them to make better-informed choices with their fundraising programs. 

Daily Bread Food Bank, one of Canada’s largest food banks, experienced first-hand the benefits of the dashboard insights when it came to directly informing their fundraising decisions. Running several different micro-campaigns over the course of a few months, they were constantly moving the displays between different locations and events. 

“The dashboard allowed us to easily create and manage our various campaigns and monitor performance along the way,” says Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank. 

This proved particularly useful during the Thanksgiving Food Drive, where the dashboard allowed them to see donations in real-time, which was then used to update a physical fundraising thermometer to celebrate progress through the day. 

For Royal Botanical Gardens, the dashboard has proven invaluable. Since implementing the devices in 2021, the organization can now make decisions about where to station tiptap devices based on the most active locations and most common contribution amounts indicated on the dashboard. With tiptap devices entirely untethered, changing the location of a device can be done easily. 

tiptap is more than just a digital payment device; it is a solution built on the realization of a dream to help those in need and the many community-based organizations that are committed to making real change. tiptap is only getting started, and 2022 promises to be our most impactful year yet. 

To learn more about tiptap’s solution, visit tiptappay.com or tune in to the free webinar on April 28th. 

Chris Greenfield is Founder and CEO of tiptap. Chris has always had a passion for purpose-driven work, feeling a strong pull to use his skills to give back. In 2018, Chris tapped into following this passion and began his journey of developing tiptap. Now, three years later, tiptap is helping countless charities/organizations use the power of touchless giving™ to fund their causes and drive positive change in communities across the globe. For more information, solutions@tiptappay.com.