From café counters to public spaces, donation boxes can generate revenue for your charity or nonprofit organization in a huge range of spaces – provided they have an effective, eye-catching and engaging design.

Most people encounter a wide range of donation and tip boxes throughout their day, ignoring most and donating money to the few that catch their attention and present a persuasive, engaging and effective message.

Below are four simple but effective tips that you can use to make your donation box one of the engaging, effective few. Try one, two, three or all four to help increase the amount of donations your box receives and improve your nonprofit’s funding.

Use colors that create plenty of contrast

Since donation boxes are ubiquitous on café counters, most people glance past them without paying much attention. This means that your donation box, no matter how great its message might be, is rarely noticed by most people.

In many ways, this is similar to advertising fatigue – a phenomenon where people pay less attention to each individual advertisement they notice due to the massive number of advertisements they come into contact with over the course of a day.

The best way to make your donation box stand out and get noticed is to use colors that attract attention. Choose a high-contrast color combination that makes your donation box stand out and you’ll increase the number of people that notice it.

Place it in a central, noticeable location

Where is your donation box placed? The key to increasing the amount of attention your donation box generates – and, as a result, the amount of cash it receives – is to place it in an obvious, high-traffic location.

The classic donation box location – on a café or restaurant counter – is a good one, but it’s not always the best. Other great locations include on information desks in a hotel or shopping center, or on each table in your restaurant.

Study foot traffic patterns throughout your restaurant, café or space to learn which areas receive the most traffic. You can then place your donation box in an area that receives a lot of passersby, increasing the amount of attention it receives.

Use an eye-catching, engaging headline

Donation boxes aren’t all that different from direct mail letters or brochures – they need an engaging headline, persuasive copy and enough images to attract people’s attention and convince them to take action.

Does your donation box have an engaging, eye-catching headline. A great headline should communicate, in just a few words, exactly why people should pay attention and leave their change in your donation box.

Ask a thought-provoking question or explain how important their donation is for your cause to attract people’s attention. The more engaging your headline is, the greater its positive impact on donations will likely be.

Explain what people are donating to

Today, there are thousands of nonprofit organizations and charities competing for people’s attention and cash. How does your cause stand out from the crowd as one that people should pay attention to?

Copywriting for a donation box goes beyond crafting a great headline. You also need to clearly explain what people are donating to so. This helps increase their feeling of contributing to a worthy cause when they donate.

If your message isn’t clearly defined, few people will take action and support your nonprofit organization. Use your copy to explain what people are donating to and you’ll increase the number of people that take action and give.