An Unsung hero of the pandemic can be your go to superpower for fundraising
What do you see when you look at the odd square above? A weird maze? A reminder that your eyesight isn’t what it used to be? Opportunity?
QR Codes and their unique look and uses essentially function as a Rorschach test in our society. There can be no doubt the role they have played in helping restaurants and other companies shift and succeed in the pandemic world. With the need to be contactless, restaurants were able to reach their customers with these simple, scannable ink blots in ways that pre-pandemic, many did not think about. The old way of doing business required hard copies for everything: menus, checks, and receipts. Because it was “always the way it was done,” it took a huge event to shake this mindset. During the pandemic, restaurants desperately needed a way to succeed in a world that shunned physical contact. Fewer people were going to restaurants, and those who did dine out, didn’t want to reach for a potentially germ-laden physical menu. Enter QR Codes.
These small, primarily square, black and white marks were used by some prior to the pandemic as a simple way for people to link to various websites, applications, or pictures. Resilient and out-of-the-box thinkers used these small and mighty little squares to link to menus, order forms, and purchasing websites: thus the proliferation of the QR Code came to fruition. There can be no doubt what an amazing help these have been for many restaurants. However, with booming popularity comes some backlash, especially with older or less tech-savvy people. Many still prefer hard copies of items such as menus and theatre programs. Some of the people who prefer hardcopies do not even notice the many QR codes that exist around them. Others pull their phones out and scan any QR Code they find and go down the rabbit holes to where they take them.
Because you successfully run a small business or non-profit, you understand the necessity of shifting strategies to reach all potential patrons and donors: those who attend your events, purchase tickets online, or want to help your mission statement. For some, receiving flyers and brochures in the mail is the ideal way to tug at their heartstrings and encourage donations. For others, donation boxes at the theatre is the preferred way to contribute. However, with the growing aversion to carrying cash and an increased reliance on smart phones and other technologies, your business needs an easy technology to encourage donations such as QR codes, which are cost effective, contactless, and simple.
The key to maximize your donations is to make donating as simple and desirable as possible. Easy donations= more donations, and this is why you should consider adding QR Codes to your publications and displays.
Simple QR Codes: Generally, creating these is free and incredibly simple. All you have to do is decide which webpage/donation page you want to reach your preferred group. Go to a designated QR Code developing website, such as QRCode Monkey, and presto, you have a code that when scanned by a smart phone pulls up your page. You can then place that code on anything from flyers, programs, merchandise, posters, websites, emails, texts, social media, anything really. It is amazingly simple and effective.
Dynamic QR Codes: As the name implies, these codes allow you to change your target webpage and audience at any time: these usually come with a small fee. There are many business benefits to dynamic codes as they allow you to track data and change the url for your QR code without reprinting or reproducing it. Which members of the public are donating? Where are they accessing your organization? How much are they donating? How can you contact them for further donations? This is an amazing opportunity for you that requires little extra work. These codes look and function like simple QR Codes with the added benefit of flexibility and tracking.
Depending on the age and technical knowledge of your patrons, you can reduce mailing and printing costs considerably and reach a much younger set of the public than you have traditionally.
In addition to ThunderTix providing the round up purchase option to increase donations, we recommend incorporating other easily accessible technologies, such as QR Codes, to give your patrons the simplest way to contribute to their favorite organizations.
So now, what do you see when you look at this blot: Opportunity? Money? Solutions?