2024 Year in Review
With 2024 in the rear view mirror (our first full year as a company!), I wanted to reflect on everything we've done so far. While the heart of Kind Kiosk is a donation kiosk, we have a much bigger vision to help our customers maximize the in-person donor experience.
Let's get to it.
We started with successful foundational decisions
A few key decisions were made in 2024 that have already proven to be the right moves. To highlight a few:
Customized, configured, shipped, and supported.
In our very first week, we made a bet. Simply providing software for organizations to "assemble their own kiosk" was not the right direction for our company or our customers. Instead, we opted to offer everything as a package, including the cellular data plan, card reader, full management of the kiosk tablet, and even custom printed front banners.
We want our customers to unpack a kiosk from us and be able to set it up immediately. When they have a problem or a question, they can call, text, or email us. If they somehow break something, we'll help them replace it.
The feedback to this decision has been outstanding. It takes more effort on our part, especially as we scale, but it also means we develop a close relationship with our customers early and do our best to continually set them up for success.
Integrations, not data ownership.
We decided that Kind Kiosk should not be the source of truth for data. Instead, we lean heavily on integrations. Customers should use the donor management system that works best for their organization, not one that we create. Campaigns, designations, donor and donation data should sync automatically. You should never have to manually import and export anything.
But we want integrations to do more than just sync data. They can also offer alternative donation methods, donation matching, or enable entirely new features.
We have several of these integrations launching in Q1 2025 that we can't wait to share!
Partnerships build value and community.
We believe great partnerships are one of the keys to a successful company. From day one, we've had a great partnership with Stripe. In addition to our integration partnerships, we are working closely with many others, and are excited to take those to new heights in 2025. Not only do partnerships bring value to customers of both companies, they also help build a community of referrals, marketing, and new ideas.
For us, partnerships go way beyond simply trading links and hoping for the best. We want to collaborate and share ideas. If you know of a company that would make a great partner with Kind Kiosk, reach out and let us know!
Special shout out to our friend Patrick Kirby at Do Good Better Consulting. We've recently started our partnership, and have some great things planned together for 2025.
We attended amazing conferences
Our team attended four conferences in 2024. With this being our introduction to conferences in the nonprofit industry, we couldn't be more thrilled with our experience and the outcomes.
Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTEN)
We officially launched Kind Kiosk at NTEN in March and met some of our very first customers. We had some incredible feedback (even with our temporary card reader shelf and a prototype stand!).
Bridge Fundraising and Marketing Conference
We attended Bridge in July with our friends from Stripe. This conference introduced us to more of our customers including some in the faith-based community.
Providers Conference
Our team attended the Providers Council Annual Conference in October to understand more about the human services sector.
Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Annual Conference
In October, we also attended MNN's Annual Conference to get to know more local Massachusetts nonprofits.
We built the Nonprofit Conference Directory
When researching all the great nonprofit conferences that exist, we wished there was a centralized place to find them. Instead, we found that organizations posted lists of conferences they plan to attend.
We still think that's a great idea, but we took some time to build the Nonprofit Conference Directory. Our hope is that it becomes the centralized place for nonprofit event organizers, speakers, and attendees to discover the conferences they want to attend.
In addition to a basic directory, we plan to add CFP and registration alerts to make sure you never miss a deadline.
Check it out and let us know what you think! We're sure there are conferences that should be included we just don't know about.
A screenshot of the Nonprofit Conference Directory
We welcomed Melissa to the team
In September, we welcomed Melissa Smith to the team as Head of Nonprofit Strategy. We couldn't be more excited to have Melissa continue to help us build the future of Kind Kiosk!
We reprioritized "future" features
QR Codes (and a web-based flow)
While we focused the bulk of our energy on the kiosk donation flow, after talking with more customers, it became clear that we needed a way for donors to give with their phone if they preferred. This was something we initially thought we'd add in year two or three.
Multiple form factors
Large format kiosks are the cornerstone of Kind Kiosk, but customers kept asking for a handheld option. This was another item we didn't expect to consider until year three.
Packaging
The best way to describe our current packaging is function over presentation. It does the core job of protecting the kiosks during shipment, but also takes a lot of time for us to put together. Not only that, but after spending so much energy creating a great customer experience we want the experience of opening the box to match. We're currently in the process of creating custom packaging to improve on both of these areas. Can't wait to share!
We shipped updates every week
We shipped some great product updates this year! Kind Kiosk keeps gets better every single week. Below are some of the highlights.
Informational Workflow
Kiosks are great for many different use cases. To help unlock them, we shipped informational workflows - a custom designed workflow that can display photo and video, log volunteer hours, offer dedicated mailing list signup, show upcoming events, and so much more. Right alongside (or in place of) the donation workflow!
The possibilities are nearly endless and we're excited to see what our customers do with it.
Live Leaderboards
Donations for an event can be displayed on the big screen or a tv. If there is a campaign goal set, we show a progress bar. And of course, there is lots of virtual confetti with every donation.
QR Codes
We built a web-based flow that works alongside our kiosk configurations. A QR code is available right on the kiosk. It can also be printed from the web dashboard for use on table tents or signs at an event. We equate it having a QR Code menu and a physical menu at a restaurant. While we believe the physical menu is ultimately better, some people just prefer QR codes and using their own devices.
Parent/Child organizations
For our larger customers with regional offices or that otherwise require separate bank accounts, we now offer the ability to create child organizations. The parent organization can see all donation and kiosk activity, and the child organizations can only see activity relevant to them.
CRM Integrations can be shared from the parent organization or set up independently.
Kiosk control
Organizations now have the ability to remotely update or switch kiosk configurations, restart the kiosk, enable or disable kiosk lockdown, see the card reader and tablet battery, and even see what's currently on the screen.
We plan to expand this functionality in 2025 to make things even easier for customers with a fleet of kiosks.
Monthly donations
Donors can give either one-time or monthly on the kiosk. For monthly donors we securely capture their payment information and set up a subscription that can be modified or canceled from the emails we send each month.
We have big plans for 2025!
While we can't yet announce everything we are working on, there are a few updates we are really excited about.
Kind Kiosk in the palm of your hand
We are currently finalizing an all-in-one handheld option for Kind Kiosk. Our handheld reader features a screen and card reader in a mobile phone form factor. We can't wait for organizations to use this at events, especially when paired with large format kiosks. Everything will work together using existing kiosk configurations.
Imagine event staff walking around with special prizes for donations. Or placing readers at each table during a Gala. A table vs table donation competition. Look for this to officially launch at the end of January!
Collect donor stories, right from the kiosk
In mid-Q1, we plan to launch a feature we think be a huge win for our customers. Want to hear a donor tell you why they chose to give? You will soon have the ability for donors record a quick video or photo after a donation.
And if you don't want to require a donation first, what about a photo booth? With this feature, you'll also be able to setup a kiosk as a "story station", fully dedicated to capturing photos and video.
Photos and video will be automatically tagged with a campaign or configuration and will be available in your dashboard to share with staff, use in annual reports, or marketing (assuming the user consents to share publicly). We can't wait to see how this is used.
Additional Integration Partners
We have quite a few partnerships in the works to make your kiosk even better. Many of these will be going live in Q1. We'll be announcing each of them as soon as they are ready, so if you don't want to miss out subscribe to our newsletter.
2025 Conferences
Our team will be exhibiting at 5 conferences this year.
- Best Friends National Conference We are really excited to introduce Kind Kiosk to the Animal Welfare sector in February.
- NTEN. In April, we'll be at NTEN. We introduced Kind Kiosk at NTEN, and we we'll be back in 2025.
- American Alliance of Museums in May, we'll be exhibiting at AAM's Annual Conference. We can't wait to introduce Kind Kiosk to the museum sector, as kiosks (especially with our informational workflows) are a natural fit.
- Bridge Conference We're back at Bridge Conference in July.
We can't wait to get to know more of the community and share everything we're working on. Come say hi!