GivebearDonation kiosks
What a Givebear kiosk is, the hardware it runs on, and how the device works with your dashboard.
A Givebear donation kiosk lets people give in person by tapping or inserting a card. It is a dedicated device running the Givebear kiosk app, paired to your organization, and connected to a card reader. This page explains how the pieces fit so the hands-on guides make sense.
To see a gift from start to finish, watch the one-minute video. It follows a donor at the kiosk, then shows the gift in the dashboard.
Set up and pair a kiosk
Day-to-day operations
Reader modes and Tap to Pay
Offline payments
Troubleshooting
What a kiosk is
A kiosk is an installed app, not a public web page on a tablet. It runs on a dedicated device locked into kiosk mode, so visitors see only the giving screen. Staff cannot wander off into other apps, and donors cannot leave the flow.
The kiosk handles the in-person giving experience at the device. Your dashboard manages the kiosk from afar. Think of them as two halves of one system.
The hardware
A kiosk has two parts:
- A dedicated Android device that runs the kiosk app in locked mode.
- A card reader. This is either a wired USB reader attached to the device, or, on a Google-certified Android device with NFC, the kiosk's own built-in Tap to Pay.
Both readers take contactless taps from cards, phones, and watches; the wired reader also accepts chip and swipe. By default the kiosk picks the reader on its own. See reader modes and Tap to Pay to pin one. The device stays online over Wi-Fi, which you set up the first time you turn it on.
The kiosk screens are available in English, Arabic, Spanish, and Turkish (Arabic displays right to left); donors switch language from the kiosk header, and the kiosk returns to English when it idles back to the resting screen.
Givebear provisions kiosk hardware for you. You do not assemble or sideload anything: you pair the device you receive to your organization.
How the app and dashboard work together
You register and manage every kiosk from the dashboard, in the Kiosks and devices area. The device runs the giving flow and reports back.
Pairing connects the two. When the device first comes online it shows a device ID and a QR code. You add that ID in the dashboard, the device confirms the link, and it downloads your organization's data. We walk through this in setup and pairing.
After pairing, the kiosk syncs with Givebear continuously in the background. It pulls down your latest branding, accent color, funds, events, membership tiers, home screen layout, and device settings. So when you change a fund or rename a kiosk in the dashboard, the device picks it up on its own within seconds.
The kiosk also reports its own state back: whether it is online, whether the reader is ready, and recent activity. That is what powers the live status you see on the Kiosks and devices page.
What a kiosk can offer
You choose what each kiosk does from its configuration in the dashboard. A kiosk can run one experience or several:
- Donations. The classic flow: pick a fund, choose an amount, tap a card.
- Event tickets. Sell tickets to an event on the spot.
- Memberships. Enroll a new member and take the first payment.
- Self check-in. Scan a member card or event ticket QR code at the door.
With one experience on, the kiosk opens straight into it. With several on, visitors pick from a menu. You manage these per device in Kiosks and devices.
Payments and fees
In-person gifts run through the same Stripe connection as your online donations. Donors can tap a physical card or a phone or watch wallet; see Apple Pay and Google Pay. Money flows to your organization's connected account, and payouts and reporting work the same way. Track everything in donations and finance.
Kiosk giving carries the same plan-based fee as web giving, so the channel never changes your economics. For the current rates, see pricing.
When the internet drops
A kiosk keeps taking one-time card donations during a short outage, then settles them once it reconnects. Some actions still need a live connection, such as recurring gifts, ticket sales, and membership sign-ups. There are also limits on offline amounts. Read offline payments before you rely on this.
Who this section is for
- Admins who pair devices and configure them in the dashboard.
- Event or service staff who place a kiosk in the lobby.
- Volunteers who need a short operating routine.
- Anyone diagnosing a failed payment or a stale-looking screen.