A new scheme has been launched to make it easier for people to donate to arts and heritage organisations using their mobile phones. 

Called the National Funding Scheme – the public identity for the scheme is the rather more catchy ‘Donate’ – the founders hope that offering the chance to give via text, credit card or PayPal on a mobile phone will encourage more people to do so. 

The idea is that people are most likely to donate just after – or during – the relevant experience, whether that be standing in front of a painting that a gallery is raising money to buy, or straight after a concert. It takes the plastic box often found by the exit door into the modern age – and in so doing, helps the arts organisation gather information about the giver in order to build a regular relationship. 

Organisations pioneering the scheme include the Almeida Theatre, BALTIC, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Trust, the Victoria and Albert Museum – and the Southbank Centre, where it was yesterday launched by Griff Rhys Jones. The plan is to expand the scheme to more partners nationwide by the end of the year. 

Whether this means that the traditional request to turn off mobile phones before entering an auditorium or gallery will be revised or relaxed awaits to be seen…