Over the past decade, the way people choose to pay has changed dramatically. Whether buying a coffee, paying for public transport or making everyday purchases, consumers increasingly expect transactions to be quick, simple and digital.
Yet many fundraising methods have remained largely unchanged.
Collection tins, cash buckets and donation boxes continue to play an important role across the charitable sector, but charities and nonprofits are operating in an environment where fewer supporters routinely carry cash. While generosity remains strong, there is a growing risk that organizations may miss donation opportunities if fundraising methods fail to evolve alongside changing payment habits.
Do charities and nonprofits really have a generosity problem?
One of the biggest misconceptions in fundraising is that declining cash collections automatically reflect declining public support, however, many charities and nonprofits continue to report strong engagement from communities, volunteers and supporters.
This suggests that the problem is not whether people want to give, but whether they are presented with the option to give.
Fundraisers regularly hear phrases such as: “I’d love to donate, but I don’t have any cash on me.”
Twenty years ago, this may have been the exception. Today, it has become an increasingly common response. For organizations that rely heavily on public collections, community fundraising, events and appeals, this presents a growing challenge.
Learning from Other Sectors
Retail, hospitality and public transport have all evolved rapidly in response to changing consumer expectations as they now expect payment options that are fast, frictionless, secure and immediately available.
The time has come for charities and nonprofits to provide donors with that same experience.
Across the UK, Europe and increasingly North America, charities and nonprofits are exploring how contactless payments, QR codes and mobile fundraising tools can complement traditional in person methods, rather than replace them.
The Opportunity for Canadian Charities
For Canadian charities, this shift presents an opportunity rather than a threat.
Technology now allows organizations to collect donations in places where traditional payment infrastructure may not have been practical or cost-effective. Community events, sponsored challenges, volunteer-led appeals and seasonal fundraising campaigns can increasingly be supported through mobile-enabled fundraising tools that reflect how supporters choose to pay today.
As more organisations experiment with these approaches, fundraisers are also gaining access to new insight around donor behaviour, campaign performance and fundraising effectiveness that was previously difficult to capture through cash collections alone.
While the conversation around contactless fundraising often focuses on convenience, one of the biggest opportunities lies in the data it can provide. Traditional cash collections can make it difficult to understand which fundraising activities are performing well and where resources should be focused. Digital fundraising tools are helping charities move beyond simply counting the money at the end of the day, providing insight into donation patterns, average gift values, fundraising locations and campaign performance.
This enables organisations to make more informed decisions, deploy resources more effectively and ultimately raise more for the causes they support.
While the pace of change may vary between organizations, the underlying trend is clear. Canadian consumers are increasingly embracing digital and contactless payments in everyday life, and charities are beginning to experience the fundraising implications of that shift. As organisations plan for the future, the challenge will not simply be adopting new technology, but ensuring fundraising methods continue to align with how supporters choose to engage and give.
The Future of Giving
The future of fundraising is unlikely to be cash or contactless alone. For many organizations, it will be a combination of both for some time to come.
Traditional fundraising methods will continue to play an important role in communities across Canada, particularly where local engagement remains at the heart of charitable giving. However, charities and nonprofits that successfully adapt to changing donor behaviours will be better positioned to protect income, engage new supporters and thrive in an increasingly cashless society.
What we’re seeing
Since 2019, Toucan Giving has helped charities raise more than CAD $244 million through contactless donations. Across that period we’ve observed:
- Average donation values in the UK have increased significantly, growing from approximately GBP £4 in 2019 to more than GBP £11 in 2026. Encouragingly, early Canadian deployments have also achieved average donations more than CAD $11.
- Charities that tailor suggested donation values to the audience, fundraising environment and activity often achieve higher average gifts, demonstrating that fundraising design can have a meaningful impact on campaign performance.
- Mobile first contactless fundraising can deliver benefits beyond donation collection alone, helping charities reduce operational costs, recognise and steward fundraisers more effectively, engage younger supporters and reduce dependence on cash-based fundraising activities.
Summary
The decline in cash is not a future challenge for charities and nonprofits; it is happening today. The organizations that recognise this shift and adapt their fundraising strategies accordingly will be best placed to protect income, engage new generations of supporters and maximise every opportunity to give.
People have not stopped wanting to support good causes. They have just simply changed the way they pay!
Lisa Evans is Head of Charity at Toucan Giving which operates in the UK and Canada.
