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Taking donations from the crowd

A public donate page with its own QR code, a line on the ballot, and a code that can take turns with the voting code on the big screen. The money goes to your own payment account, like everything else.

Updated September 3, 2026

The people who come to look at cars are, most of them, glad to give something to whatever the show is for. The trouble has always been the ask: a bucket at the gate, a raffle table with a line, a volunteer who feels awkward. The donate page turns the ask into a QR code, and the giving into a tap.

Turning it on

Settings, then Registration, then Extras: Public donate page. It needs a payment account connected, because the money moves through your own provider like every other payment here. Under it, the Donate page message is your own words at the top of the page: what the money funds, who runs the show. Leave it blank for the standard page.

What a donor sees

A page headed Support the show, with your message, four amounts to tap, and a box for their own number. They pick one and finish on your provider’s secure checkout on their own phone. No account, no registration. Name is optional, and so is an email address, which gets them a receipt for the gift.

The donate page on a phone: the show's message, four preset amounts, and a custom amount box — The donate page on a phone. Presets match the ones on your registration form.

Where the code goes

The donate page has its own QR code, downloadable from Show day tools as a PNG for flyers, table tents, and the gate. Two places carry it on their own once the page is on:

The ballot. Every voter sees a “Support the show” line under the categories. Someone who just voted for their favorite car is in a giving mood.
The big screen. The TV leaderboard’s corner code can be the voting code, the donate code, or both taking turns every fifteen seconds. Pick under Settings, Awards and tally, Live leaderboard.

Where the money lands

In the same connected account as your entry fees, in your provider’s dashboard, with the donor’s name if they gave one. Car Show HQ never holds funds and is never the merchant. Refunds, if a donor asks, happen in your provider’s dashboard the same way an entry fee refund does.

What it does not do

The emailed receipt is a payment receipt, not a tax letter. If your organization is a registered charity, send acknowledgment letters from your own records as you do today.
It does not run a raffle or a 50/50. It takes gifts.
It is not on until you turn it on. A show that never asked for money does not grow a page that asks for it.

Next, print the donate code on the same sheet as the voting code and put one on every table.

Keep reading

Donations, answered

Where does the money go?

Straight to the Square, Stripe or PayPal account your organization connected for entry fees. Car Show HQ never holds it. It shows up in your provider's dashboard next to the entry fees, as one more line for the treasurer.

Does a donor have to register or make an account?

No. They tap an amount, finish on your provider's checkout page, and they are done. Name is optional, and an email address is optional too; leaving one gets them a receipt.

Is this the same as the donation box on the registration form?

No, and both can be on at once. The registration form's donation box lets an entrant add a gift on top of their fee while signing up. The donate page is for anyone at the show, entrant or not.

Can I take donations without taking entry fees?

Yes. A free show with a connected payment account can turn on the donate page on its own.

Still stuck?

A real person answers, usually the same day.

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