Fareham firm puts tech at the heart of fundraising

Personal Fundraising Services (PFS) is based in Fareham and represents charities all over the UK. It specialises in face-to-face fundraising and believes its tech-friendly approach has played a big part in its success.

It uses tablets with specialist fundraising software developed in-house by the company. PFS has seen benefits for its fundraisers, members of the public, and the charity clients it represents, enabling them to grow to a team of more than 300 fundraisers in the UK and raise over £15m last year.

PFS managing director Vaughan Thomas believes a key reason for embracing technology is the safety it provides fundraisers and members of the public.

He said: ‘PFS always strives to maintain the highest standards through extensive and ongoing training for all our fundraisers, both in the office and remotely using training videos and documents on our tablets.

‘But thanks to our specialist software, we are actually able to go one step further and guarantee compliance by restricting our fundraisers’ ability to sign up people who are not appropriately aged or to fundraise outside of permitted hours.’

This development has been well received by the public, who also appreciate the added level of data protection the tablets afford them, with names, addresses and card details scribbled on a piece of paper now a thing of the past.

Fundraisers’ personal safety has also been improved, as each tablet uses built-in GPS so PFS knows where they are at all times.

Hector Montalvo, one of 26 fundraising managers working for PFS, said: ‘Using a tablet has totally transformed how we fundraise. We are now able to access a huge amount of information, including videos and photos, meaning we can answer any questions a customer may have.’