Large and standard freestanding oak QR code signs engraved with a logo and Visit Our Website, the large one held in a hand

Taking Donations by QR Code or Tap: A Guide for Churches, Charities and Community Groups

Make a donation page, point a QR code or NFC tag at it, and put the sign where people decide to give. One catch matters: a gift made through a QR code or NFC link is an online donation, so it can't be claimed under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. Collect Gift Aid declarations instead, or use a contactless card reader.

This guide is for churches, charities, village halls, museums and community groups whose visitors no longer carry cash. The Church of England says its churches raised almost £25 million in digital income in 2025, with the average contactless or chip and PIN gift worth £8.76 and the average online gift £35.73. The guide summarises HMRC guidance and the charity law on donation notices as they stand on 23 October 2026, with links to every source at the end. We make engraved QR code and NFC signs; we are not accountants or lawyers, so check anything borderline with your treasurer, diocese or adviser.

QR code, NFC tag or card reader: what each one does

QR code sign NFC tap sign Contactless card reader
How the donor gives Scans the code with the phone camera, which opens your donation page; they pay on the page Holds the phone against the sign, which opens the same page; they pay on the page Taps a card or phone on the terminal; the payment is taken there and then
Which phones work Any smartphone with a camera iPhone XS and later while in use, and most Android phones with NFC switched on Any contactless card or phone wallet
Gift Aid route A Gift Aid declaration on the donation page A Gift Aid declaration on the donation page The small donations scheme for contactless gifts of £30 or less (not chip and PIN), or a declaration
What you need A donation page and a sign A donation page and a sign with a chip A card reader and a payment provider account
Best for Unattended spots, noticeboards, tables and larger gifts Pairing with a QR code for a quicker tap Collections, events and anywhere someone is on hand

A QR code or NFC sign is not a card reader. It opens a web page, and the payment happens on the donor's own phone. That difference decides which Gift Aid route is open to you.

Freestanding oak QR code signs engraved with a logo, in the standard and large sizes

The Gift Aid catch: the small donations scheme covers contactless card readers, not QR codes

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme lets a charity or community amateur sports club claim a 25% top-up on small donations without a Gift Aid declaration. GOV.UK says it covers cash donations of £30 or less, and contactless card donations of £30 or less collected on or after 6 April 2019.

The law is precise about what counts as contactless. The Schedule to the Small Charitable Donations Act 2012 defines it as a payment "made at a contactless payment terminal" using the contactless facility of a card, mobile phone or other device. So a card or phone wallet tapped on a reader counts, but a chip and PIN payment doesn't. The explanatory notes to the 2017 Act that added contactless gifts say the definition excludes card donations made online or over the phone. A QR code or NFC tag that opens a donation page is not a terminal: the gift is made online, on the donor's phone. So those gifts fall outside the scheme, and the only way to add 25% to them is a Gift Aid declaration.

The scheme's other rules, from GOV.UK and the Act:

  • You can claim up to £2,000 in a tax year, which is the top-up on £8,000 of small donations.
  • You must have claimed Gift Aid in the same tax year and not had a Gift Aid penalty in the last 2 tax years, and your small donations claim cannot be more than 10 times your Gift Aid claim.
  • Donations collected in a community building, such as a church or village hall where you have hosted at least six charity events attended by at least 10 people, may allow a higher claim.
  • Keep records of contactless donations, such as card machine receipts, and for cash, record the total, the collection date and the date it was banked.
  • A gift can't be claimed both ways: a small donation under the scheme must be one with no Gift Aid declaration.

A worked example. A church takes £3,000 a year in small loose gifts on the plate and at the door. Under the scheme, that is worth a £750 top-up, as long as the church claims at least £75 of Gift Aid (on at least £300 of Gift Aided donations) in the same tax year. If the same £3,000 arrives through a QR code with no declarations, the top-up is nothing. Moving to a contactless card reader keeps contactless gifts of £30 or less inside the scheme. Moving to a QR code means asking for declarations.

Collecting Gift Aid on QR code and NFC donations

A Gift Aid declaration can be made online, so a donation page can collect one as part of the gift. GOV.UK says a declaration must include:

  • the charity's name
  • the donor's full name and home address
  • whether it covers a single donation or past, present or future ones
  • a statement that the donor wants Gift Aid to apply, which can be a tick box
  • an explanation that the donor must pay at least as much UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the tax year as all the charities they give to will claim, and is responsible for any shortfall

Before you print a code, check that your donation page asks for all of this. The Church of England notes that digital giving can give real-time access to donation reporting and Gift Aid declarations, and that most dioceses have a Giving Advisor, many of whom can help you choose a suitable option. Its Parish Buying service offers card machines at a discount and the Give A Little giving page, which it says normally takes about an hour to set up.

What a donation sign has to say

England and Wales. Section 39 of the Charities Act 2011 applies to a registered charity whose gross income in its last financial year was over £10,000. That charity must state that it is a registered charity, in legible characters, on notices, advertisements and other documents that ask for money for it. A donation sign is exactly that kind of notice. The statement must be in English, unless the rest of the sign is wholly in Welsh, when it can say "elusen cofrestredig". The law asks for the fact of registration; adding the registered number makes it easy for donors to check.

Excepted churches. Many churches of certain denominations are excepted from registering with the Charity Commission while their gross income does not exceed £100,000, an exception extended until 31 March 2031. Section 39 applies to registered charities, so an excepted church that has not registered is not bound by it, though saying clearly who the money is for still helps a visitor trust the code.

Scotland. Every charity on the Scottish Charity Register must show its registered number, the name it is registered under and any other name it is commonly known by on any document that asks for money, with no income threshold. If the registered name doesn't include "charity" or "charitable", a statement that it is a charity is needed too.

Beyond the law, a donation sign works best when it says:

  • what the money is for: the roof, the food bank, the hall's running costs
  • how to give: "Scan to give" next to the QR code, "Tap to give" next to the NFC mark
  • the web address the code opens, printed small beneath it, so donors can check it matches what their phone shows
  • a prompt to tick the Gift Aid box if they are a UK taxpayer
  • another way to give for anyone without a smartphone

Keeping the code safe and working

Check for stickers. Which? reported in June 2025 that £3.5 million was lost to reported QR code scams in 2024, and Action Fraud says fake codes are most commonly found in car parks, as stickers placed on payment machines. An engraved code can't be peeled off and swapped like a printed card, but a sticker can still be put on top, so look at the sign whenever you lock up. Printing the destination address beneath the code gives donors a way to check before they pay.

Point the code at an address you control. If the code links to a giving page on your own website, which forwards to your donation platform, you can change platform without replacing the sign. A QR code engraved from a link encodes that link directly, so it keeps working as long as the address does. The NFC chip in our signs can be rewritten with a free NFC programming app on your own phone.

Size it for the distance. A code read from across a table needs to be larger than one read in the hand. Our guide to QR codes on wood covers minimum sizes and why a short link engraves more reliably. Test the finished sign with several phones before the first service or event.

Keep it inside. Our signs are for indoor use: inside the porch, on the welcome table or by the door, not on an outdoor noticeboard.

Where donation signs work in a church, hall or museum

  • By the exit. Visitors tend to decide on the way out, once they have seen what the building or event gave them.
  • Beside the candle stand, guidebooks or refreshments. These are the places people already expect to give a little.
  • On the welcome table at events. Concerts, carol services and fairs bring visitors who would give if it were easy. Pair a QR code sign with a card reader where someone is on hand.
  • On printed material. The Church of England suggests putting the giving code on posters, pew cards, service sheets and screens, so a sign at the door and a code on the service sheet work together.

Christmas brings more people to church services than usual, some of them for the first time. If you want a sign in place for December services, order by Friday 13 November 2026 for delivery by 1 December.

A5 landscape NFC tap sign in oak veneered MDF, engraved with a logo

What we make for this

  • Freestanding QR code sign: 74×112mm or 115×168mm, single or double-sided, in FSC-certified 4mm oak veneered MDF with a removable wooden base. Upload your logo and give us the link; we generate and engrave the code.
  • QR code stand: a 150×70mm landscape panel with room for your logo and a short line such as "Scan to give" beside the code, held upright by a slot-in tab stand, for a welcome table or the entrance.
  • NFC tap sign: the same two sizes, with a chip pre-programmed to whatever link you supply, including a donation page. There is also an A5 and A4 version with an optional stand, for a counter or table.
  • Solid oak QR code blocks: a heavier solid oak block for a welcome table or reception desk.

More formats are in our QR code signs, NFC signs and signs for businesses, charities and clubs collections. Colour or black and white logos both work. We will convert your logo for engraving. If there is a problem, we will get in touch. Bulk discounts apply automatically at checkout, counted per product: 10% from 20, 15% from 50, 20% from 100, 25% from 250, 30% from 500 and 35% from 1,000, which helps a diocese, circuit or charity ordering for several buildings.

All items are made to order. Dispatch time is shown at checkout. UK orders via Royal Mail Tracked 24. International via Royal Mail International Tracked.

Frequently asked questions

Can you claim Gift Aid on QR code donations?
Yes, if the donor gives a Gift Aid declaration, which a donation page can collect online. You can't claim QR code gifts under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, because the scheme covers cash and contactless payments made at a terminal, not online payments.

Do contactless donations count for the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme?
Yes. Contactless donations of £30 or less made at a card reader on or after 6 April 2019 count, whether the donor taps a card or a phone, alongside cash gifts of £30 or less. Chip and PIN payments don't count. You can claim up to £2,000 a tax year, more in some community buildings, and you need to keep records such as card machine receipts.

Does a donation sign need our charity number?
In England and Wales, a registered charity with gross income over £10,000 must state that it is a registered charity on any notice asking for money, and adding the number makes it easy to check. In Scotland, every registered charity must show its registered number and name, plus a statement that it is a charity if its name doesn't say so. Churches excepted from registration that haven't registered are not bound by the England and Wales rule.

Will an NFC donation sign work with every phone?
iPhone XS and later read NFC tags without an app while the phone is in use, and so do most Android phones with NFC switched on. Pair the NFC sign with a QR code for everyone else. An NFC sign opens a web page; it is not a card reader.

What should a donation QR code link to?
An address you control, such as a giving page on your own website that forwards to your donation platform. Then you can change platform without replacing the sign. Print the address beneath the code so donors can check it.

Also see: signage for village halls and community centres, how to track QR code scans, can a UK business refuse cash? and our UK cash and card payment statistics.

Sources

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