# Smarter Fundraising Tools for Nonprofits and Churches > How mobile giving, donation kiosks, and real-time reporting help nonprofits and churches meet donor expectations, save staff time, and raise more. Source: https://www.donatefy.org/blog/why-nonprofits-and-churches-need-smarter-fundraising-tools-in-2025 Updated: 2026-10-14 Blog · Fundraising strategy ## Why nonprofits and churches need smarter fundraising tools Donors expect giving to be as quick as every other payment they make. Here is what smarter tools look like for mobile giving, in-person giving, and reporting, and what each one changes for your team. Published May 21, 2025 · Updated October 14, 2026 · 3 min read ![A hand writing a donations plan that links giving, fundraising, volunteering, and support](https://www.donatefy.org/assets/v2/blog/why-nonprofits-and-churches-need-smarter-fundraising-tools-in-2025-1200.webp) Giving habits have changed for good. Donors expect convenience, speed, and transparency in everything they pay for, and that now includes how they give. For nonprofits and faith-based organizations, the shift is an opening: the right tools let a small team raise more with less effort. Donatefy is one platform for online, in-person, and mobile giving, built for nonprofits and for [churches, masjids, and temples](https://www.donatefy.org/solutions-faith-based). Here is why organizations are moving to smarter fundraising tools, and what to look for when you make the change. ### Mobile giving: meet donors where they are The phone is where generosity happens now. A church member moved by a sermon or a supporter inspired by a social post wants to give right then, and a slow page built for a desktop loses that moment. Good mobile giving tools include: - A mobile-first giving page that loads quickly and checks out in a few steps. - Apple Pay and Google Pay up front, with cards and Link for everyone else. - A choice between a one-time and a recurring gift, right at checkout. - Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, so volunteers can accept contactless gifts in person on your team's own phones, with no extra hardware. Donatefy's [online giving](https://www.donatefy.org/online-fundraising) covers the first three with a branded E-Fundraiser, standalone campaign pages, and QR codes, and the [Mobile App](https://www.donatefy.org/mobile-app) adds Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android for compatible phones. Together they make giving easy for the donor who wants to give once and for the one who wants to give every month. ### Donation kiosks: modern giving for in-person moments For churches and nonprofits built around gatherings, a donation kiosk connects tradition and technology. Contactless, self-service giving lets your congregation or community give in seconds, with no cash or envelopes required. What to look for in a kiosk: - Your own campaigns, titles, and imagery on the screen, so it reads as your giving station. - An integrated reader that takes tap, chip, and mobile wallets. - Gifts that land in the same records as your online donations, with automatic receipts. - Flexible placement, from the lobby to the event hall to the welcome desk. On Donatefy, [kiosks and handheld readers](https://www.donatefy.org/hardware) run the same campaigns as your giving site. The FS-22 floor-standing and WM-22 wall-mounted kiosks suit fixed giving points, and the Stripe Reader S700/S710, made by Stripe and provisioned by Donatefy, travels to tables and events. For congregations, the guide to [cashless giving for congregations](https://www.donatefy.org/guide-cashless-congregation) covers how to add them without losing the moment of the offering. ### Real-time reporting: smarter decisions, greater impact What gets measured gets improved. Seeing your giving as it happens lets you act while a campaign is still running, not after the month has closed. With the Donatefy Admin Portal, you get: - Total raised and donation trends, filtered by date and campaign. - Gifts by channel, so web, kiosk, and in-person giving sit side by side. - Donor records with total given, gift count, average gift, and last gift. - Campaign performance and recurring activity you can take straight to a board meeting. Your team can put more effort behind what is working, adjust what is not, and plan the next campaign from real numbers instead of guesses. ### Why now is the time to upgrade Every year, fewer people carry cash and more expect to give from a phone. Organizations that still depend on envelopes and paper forms are asking donors to work harder to help them, and some donors will simply not make the effort. For the bigger picture, here is [how digital tools are changing charitable giving](https://www.donatefy.org/blog/the-future-of-charitable-giving). Smarter tools answer the problems most teams already feel: - **Limited staff.** Automatic receipts and connected donor records replace hours of data entry. - **Rising donor expectations.** Fast checkout and digital wallets match the way people pay everywhere else. - **Scattered tools.** One platform replaces a separate system for each channel. - **Declining cash.** Card and contactless giving capture the gifts a cash box misses. Donatefy brings online giving, mobile giving, kiosk giving, and campaign management together, so every gift lands in one ledger, with one donor record and one receipt system. Here is [how Donatefy works](https://www.donatefy.org/product) from campaign to receipt, and if you are comparing options, [what to look for in fundraising software](https://www.donatefy.org/compare). ### Fundraise smarter, not harder Your mission deserves momentum. Your community deserves an easy way to give. And your team deserves tools that multiply its effort instead of adding complexity. You do not have to change everything at once. Start with online giving, then add the Mobile App, kiosks, or handheld readers as in-person giving grows, with every channel feeding the same records from day one. ### Keep reading - [Guide **Cashless giving for congregations** Add card and phone giving without losing the moment of the offering.](https://www.donatefy.org/guide-cashless-congregation) - [Blog **Church fundraising ideas that work** A digital campaign, a lobby kiosk, monthly giving, and more for your congregation.](https://www.donatefy.org/blog/5-fundraising-ideas-that-actually-work-for-churches) - [Product **Admin and reporting** Every gift, every channel, and every device on one screen.](https://www.donatefy.org/admin-reporting) - [Blog **Donation kiosks for nonprofits** Benefits, costs, and best practices for in-person giving.](https://www.donatefy.org/blog/donation-kiosk-for-nonprofits) ### See every way to give on one platform. Bring your campaigns and your questions. We will show online, mobile, and kiosk giving landing in one ledger. [See a demo](https://www.donatefy.org/demo) [See pricing](https://www.donatefy.org/pricing)