Tap-to-Donate Plates for Local Nonprofits
Your supporters stopped carrying cash. Put a plate on the front desk, the event table, or the donation bin. Someone holds up a phone, your donation page opens, and the gift is finished in about eight seconds. One-time hardware, no app, no monthly fee, and it works with the donation platform you already use.
A tap-to-donate plate is a small printed disc with an NFC chip inside. A supporter holds a phone near it and the phone opens your donation page in its browser, with no app to download and nothing to scan. Tap.Giving sells the hardware only: plates are $4.50 each for 100 to 199, $4.00 each for 200 to 399, and $3.50 each for 400 or more, one time, with free shipping and no monthly fee. You keep the donation platform and the payment processor you already use.
Key facts
- What it is
- A printed NFC plate, 4 inches across by default, that opens a web page on tap
- Price
- $4.50 (100-199), $4.00 (200-399), $3.50 (400+), one time
- Monthly cost
- $0. No subscription, no setup fee, no transaction fee from us
- Minimum order
- 100 plates ($450), free shipping
- Works with
- Any donation page that has a web address
- Setup
- Plates arrive pre-encoded and locked. Peel, stick, done
- Delivery
- Typically 2-3 weeks from artwork approval, rush available for a fee
- Guarantee
- 30 days, money back
Why is cash giving drying up?
Because almost nobody is carrying it. Cash has fallen to roughly one in seven U.S. consumer payments, while the phone in your supporter's pocket already pays for coffee, parking, and groceries with a tap. The generosity did not go away. The wallet did.
14%
Of U.S. consumer payments are made in cash, against 35% credit and 30% debit (Federal Reserve, 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice).
60%+
Of in-person U.S. Visa transactions are now tap-to-pay, crossing that line for the first time in 2025, and 76% worldwide (Visa, via PYMNTS).
$592.5B
Given to U.S. charities in 2024, an all-time high in current dollars (Giving USA 2025).
Look at what that does to a donation jar. Someone reads your sign, feels the pull, reaches for a pocket, finds a phone and a debit card, and puts the phone away. The moment passes, and there is no second moment.
Telling people to "visit our website and click donate" moves the gift to tonight, and tonight it competes with everything else on their phone. A tap closes the distance between the feeling and the gift to about eight seconds, standing right where the feeling happened.
How does a tap-to-donate plate work?
They tap the plate
A supporter holds a phone an inch or two from the plate. Nothing to open first, nothing to install. The NFC reader on an iPhone is already listening whenever the screen is awake.
Your donation page opens
The phone opens the exact web address you gave us: your main donation page, a campaign page, a sponsor form, whatever you choose. They pick their own amount and can set up a recurring gift.
The gift is done
They confirm with Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a saved card. Your platform processes the gift and sends the receipt exactly as it does today. Nothing about your back office changes.
Where do nonprofits put tap-to-donate plates?
Anywhere a person already stops moving. The best spot is wherever someone is standing when they feel good about what you do: at the counter, at the exit, at the table, at the finish line.
| Organization | Where the plate goes | What the tap opens |
|---|---|---|
| Food pantry or shelter | Intake desk, waiting area tables, the door people leave by | General fund page |
| Animal rescue | Adoption counter, kennel doors, the side of the mobile adoption van | Sponsor an animal page |
| Museum, gallery, or historic site | Admission desk, exhibit rails, gift shop counter | Membership or donation page |
| Thrift or resale store | Register counter, fitting room doors, donation drop bin | Round-up or donate page |
| Gala, auction, or benefit dinner | Table tents, the bar, the check-in table | Campaign page for that night |
| 5K, walk, or ride | Registration tent, water stations, the finish line arch | Team fundraising page |
| Community theater or arts group | Lobby, box office, seat backs, program table | Season fund page |
| Booster club or youth sports | Concession stand, bleacher rails, equipment shed | Team or uniform fund |
| Library or friends group | Circulation desk, book sale tables, meeting rooms | Friends membership page |
| Free clinic or mobile unit | Check-in clipboard, van door, waiting bench | General fund page |
| Partner businesses | Coffee shop counter, salon front desk, restaurant host stand | Campaign page with that partner's code |
| Trail, park, or community garden | Kiosk board, gate post, bench plaque | Stewardship fund page |
One rule governs placement: the plate has to be within arm's reach of a stationary person. A plate on a wall behind the desk gets admired. A plate on the counter in front of the person waiting gets tapped.
Because plates are one-time, you are not rationing them. Buy enough to cover every touchpoint you have, then order a few spares for the events you have not scheduled yet. The longer read on placement is in our tap-to-donate guide for nonprofits.
Does it work with our donation platform?
Yes, and this is the part worth being precise about. Tap.Giving is hardware, not a payment processor. We never touch a donation. Each plate is encoded with the exact web address you give us, so if your donation page has a URL, a plate can open it. Your processor, your fees, your receipts, your donor records, and your reporting all stay exactly where they are.
Not on the list? It almost certainly still works. See the full platform list, or send us the link to your donate page and we will test it before you order.
What do they cost, and why is there no monthly fee?
One price, paid once, per plate. Free shipping. Nothing bills you again next month, next quarter, or next year.
100-199 plates
$4.50
per plate. 100 plates = $450
200-399 plates
$4.00
per plate. 250 plates = $1,000
400+ plates
$3.50
per plate. 400 plates = $1,400
The monthly fee is the whole argument
Most contactless donation hardware is sold as a device plus a plan. The device price gets your attention and the plan is what you actually pay. Here is the arithmetic on a subscription, at three price points, with no vendor named because the number on your invoice is the only one that matters:
| Monthly plan | Year one | Three years | Five years |
|---|---|---|---|
| $19 per month | $228 | $684 | $1,140 |
| $29 per month | $348 | $1,044 | $1,740 |
| $49 per month | $588 | $1,764 | $2,940 |
| Tap.Giving plates | $450 for 100 plates | $450 | $450 |
That is plain multiplication, not a claim about anyone's product. Run it against whatever quote is sitting on your desk, because a recurring line item is the one budget decision your board will still be paying for in five years.
The one honest exception. We sell exactly one optional recurring item: a smart redirect dashboard that lets you change where your plates point, for $50 a year. It is included free on orders of 400 plates or more, and plates work perfectly without it. Nothing else about a Tap.Giving order ever bills you twice.
Full pricing details → Design your plate and see your price →
Start a quote to get 10% off your first order for 7 days.
Is a tap better than a QR code?
A tap asks less of the donor, so you do not have to choose: every Tap.Giving plate carries both. The NFC chip handles the tap, and a printed QR code on the same plate covers anyone whose phone cannot tap or who simply prefers the camera.
The gap is real. A QR code needs the donor to open a camera, frame the code, hold steady, and trust the banner that appears. A tap needs one motion. In the best documented head-to-head test of the two, an NFC pilot drew 12 times the engagement of the QR version of the same campaign.
Print both, and let the donor pick the motion they already know. More detail is in the NFC FAQ.
Can we change where the plates point later?
Yes, if you encode the plates with a smart redirect link instead of a raw URL. Then the same physical plates point at your general fund in October, your year-end campaign in December, and an emergency appeal the week you need one, all changed from a dashboard with no reprinting and nobody up a ladder.
The dashboard also counts taps, so you can see which locations actually earn their spot. It is $50 a year, and free on orders of 400 plates or more.
Plates ship locked by default, which means a passing phone cannot overwrite the destination. If you want them unlocked so your own team can rewrite them, ask and we will ship them that way.
What arrives, and how do we mount it?
- Custom printed with your logo, your colors, and your wording, from artwork we build for you and you approve.
- Durable laminated PVC, 0.85mm thick, waterproof and dustproof, so an outdoor gate post or a wiped-down counter is fine.
- Standard 4 inch circle, with 3 inch and 2 inch circles, squares, credit-card size cards, and postcard size available. See the full product lineup.
- Three ways to mount: adhesive backing, screw holes, or an elastic band for chairs and seat backs.
- NFC reads through wood, plastic, glass, drywall, and fabric. Solid metal blocks it, so plates going on metal need a shielding layer at $1 per plate, charged only on those plates.
- Pre-encoded and locked, so there is no setup on your end beyond deciding where each one goes.
Questions boards and directors ask
Do our donors need an app?
No, and neither do you. The plate opens a web page in the phone's own browser. There is no Tap.Giving app, no account for the donor to create, and no software for your staff to learn.
Which phones can read the plates?
Every iPhone from the iPhone 7 (2016) forward and essentially every Android phone sold since 2015, with nothing installed. On an iPhone the NFC reader is on whenever the screen is awake. The printed QR code covers everyone else.
What is the minimum order?
100 plates, which is $450 with free shipping. That is more than most single locations need, which is the point: put them everywhere, keep spares in a drawer for events, and hand a few to your partner businesses.
Are there really no monthly fees?
Really. No subscription, no setup fee, and no transaction fee from us, because we never touch the donation. Your existing platform charges what it already charges. The only optional recurring item we sell is the $50 a year redirect dashboard, free at 400 plates or more.
We have not settled on a donation page yet. Can we still order?
Yes. We need a destination before we print, but it does not have to be final: encode the plates with a redirect link and point it wherever you land later. You can also start the order, approve the artwork, and send the URL while the plates are in production.
How long does it take, and what if it does not work for us?
Delivery is typically 2-3 weeks from artwork approval, and rush service is available for a fee. Every order carries a 30-day money-back guarantee, so trying it costs you the time, not the budget.
See your organization's plate in about a minute
Put in your name and colors and the designer shows you the real plate, with your price, before you commit to anything. One-time hardware, no monthly fee, works with the donation page you already have.
Start a quote to get 10% off for 7 days. Or call (832) 510-8788.