This project is the first of its kind. TAP London is the first organisation to have a single focus on contactless giving. This enables them to be highly imaginative with their approach. For example, they have placed a live counter on the site which automatically provides a public update every few minutes with how much is being raised around the city. Furthermore, TAP London are able to have a presence where other charity initiatives have been limited by cash buckets or human resource; e.g. shopping centre windows, or on busy high-streets. The convenience of it is highly appealing, with one donor emailing to say ‘it’s genius, I love it. Every morning when I buy my coffee I give a tap too. It’s just so simple.'

Secondly, the scale of the innovation. By working in partnership and with promotion of the Mayor of London, TAP London is quickly becoming a recognisable and trusted homelessness giving brand; helping it to become part of the fabric of the city.

The innovation has completed its pilot year and organisers are currently undertaking evaluation, while simultaneously continuing and expanding the project due to its initial success.

The collaborators are the Mayor of London rough sleeping team, TAP London and GoodBox.

Mayor of London funded TAP London’s initial infrastructure through a Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund grant. TAP London is a registered charity and managed the project; contributing the concept, know-how and coordination of the project. GoodBox is a tech-for-good startup that is a supplier of the contactless equipment for TAP London.

The 23 charities in the London Homeless Collective have received over £6,500 each since the project began to use as unrestricted funds to use for their own nominated projects. Organisers are currently finishing up the review of the first year and are in the process of receiving case studies.

TAP London works with 'host' organisations such as pubs, cafes, cinemas and shops who take care of the giving points and encourage donations from their clients. The feedback has been immensely positive.

TAP London have received over £150,000 in contactless donations from over 50,000 individuals who want to help tackle homelessness. This has raised over £6,500 for each charity within the London Homelessness Collective. TAP London are currently collecting case studies from each of these organisations, and will be reporting on the exact impact of the extra funds, and the work undertaken by the organisations in a paper they are releasing in Q1 next year.

TAP London have had immensely positive feedback from the public and hosts involved in the initiative. Including from individuals who used to be homeless, who have told us how much they support the idea and asking how they can be more deeply involved. For the organisers, this is the ultimate validation of the concept.

It’s their aim to raise £1 million by end of 2023, with each beneficiary charity receiving a minimum of £13,000 in public donations annually.

A minor issue is that TAP London have had three units vandalised. Going forward, they have ensured that in window locations organisers place the advertising vinyl on the inside of the window.

Although a simple concept, homelessness is a highly political topic and it is essential to protect government reputation that all stakeholders are clear on their roles and that there are boundaries of the partnership.

Clear documentation of the responsibilities of each party is required. In this case, a Memorandum of Understanding and contract was signed between the two parties ensuring clarity. As well as a termination agreement with a short notice period.

Motivation from a third-party organisation to operate a scheme is required. Replica schemes have found that ‘BIDS’ (Business Improvement Districts) are interested in running similar programmes in partnership with their local businesses.

Upfront capital is also required. Contactless technology tailored for charitable giving can carry a hefty upfront cost. Sponsors of the initiative or pre-allocated innovation grants are desirable. This project benefited from both.

The innovation has been replicated in a number of cities across the UK, often with support and advice from TAP London; for example, one was set up by a BID in Leicester, who launched ‘Give Leicester’, which has 16 giving points across the city and launched in October this year. TAP London are awaiting results from replica models to understand the results they have experienced.

However, TAP London strongly believe that enabling citizens to help the less fortunate in their community through city-wide contactless giving can be replicated in cities with a similar environment to London (e.g. high contactless uptake, charities in need of support, high visibility of rough sleepers).

TAP London welcome any other BIDs, government officials or NGOs considering a similar model to reach out to us for up-to-date results, evidence and tips. There are various resources that can be used to prove a positive cost-based analysis for your campaign.

As TAP London have the raw data of the time and location of every donation given throughout the year, they have undergone a thorough analysis of our donor data to understand how best to optimise giving through contactless - including locations and time of day.

TAP London look forward to sharing this in a paper that will be published at the end of Q1. However, some preliminary findings include:

Public houses, bars and cafes are often the best performing locations
Ensure any window displays are large - small displays do not perform well or attract attention
Expect donation amounts to be up to 4x higher in weeks in Winter vs Summer

On reflection, a significant lesson that would be beneficial to others to know is to ensure that charities participating in the scheme provide updates and case studies quarterly, rather than annually. TAP London are yet to receive this information from a number of ther beneficiaries, and are eager to share this with people who have donated to the scheme.