Plastic Cards for Charities
Most charities use plastic cards for four things: volunteer ID, supporter or membership schemes, fundraising discount cards, and passes for fundraising events. Carers services add carer ID cards, and teams whose volunteers work alone add emergency contact cards. Every card can be printed with a name and number from a spreadsheet.
This page covers what each card should show, how to issue cards as volunteers and supporters join through the year, and the PVC-free and recycled materials available if your organisation is cutting its plastic.
The short versionPrint volunteer cards in stock and add the names as people finish their induction. Put a review date on every volunteer card. Number supporter and discount cards so a lost one can be cancelled, and colour code event passes by role. For less plastic, EcoTough and Plastic-Free Board cards contain no PVC.
Which plastic cards does a charity need?
Few charities need all of these. Volunteer ID cards are the usual starting point, and supporter cards or event passes follow. Most are 86 x 54mm, the size of a bank card; event passes are a larger 70 x 100mm. All are printed in full colour on both sides.
| Card | What it’s for | Worth adding |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer ID cards | Showing the public and staff who a volunteer is and what they’re there to do | Name and role from a spreadsheet, a review date, and a slot for a lanyard |
| Supporter and membership cards | Friends schemes, regular givers and members | A membership number, a barcode if your till or database reads one, and a new colour each year |
| Fundraising discount cards | Sold to supporters for money off at local businesses | A number on every card, a valid-until date, a signature strip, and a QR code to the list of businesses |
| Event passes and bag drop tags | Galas, concerts, fun days and sponsored runs | A colour for each role and a number on every pass; numbered tags for a run’s bag drop |
| Carer ID cards | Carers centres, councils and young carers services | The carer’s name and number, an expiry date, and a 24 hour number on emergency cards |
| Emergency contact cards | Volunteers who drive, visit or work on their own | Printed with each volunteer’s contacts, or a write-on panel they fill in themselves |
What should a volunteer ID card show?
A volunteer card answers four questions for whoever is looking at it: who this person is, which organisation they represent, what they’re there to do, and how to check. Keep it to those four. A volunteer card isn’t a DBS certificate and shouldn’t look like one.
Riverside Hospice is made up for this page, and 07700 900214 is a number reserved for drama.
- Names and roles from a spreadsheet: driver, shop volunteer, befriender, steward. Every card is printed with its own details.
- A cheaper version: cards printed with your branding and a write-on panel for the volunteer’s name, which takes an ordinary pen.
- A review or expiry date on every card, so cards held by people who have stopped volunteering run out without anyone having to ask for them back.
- Photos are fixed on, not printed. A passport-sized photo goes on with a photoseal, a clear seal that covers one side of the card, and we can attach them for you.
- Ready for a lanyard. We punch a 15 x 3mm slot for a clip or lanyard, or a 5mm hole, and we sell lanyards too.
Volunteers join all year
Few volunteer programmes recruit in one go. With our bureau personalisation service, your cards are printed in advance and held in stock. When a group finishes its induction, you email their names and roles in a spreadsheet, and we personalise just those cards and post them to you. There’s no minimum call-off, so one card at a time is fine. Allow 3 working days; files that reach us before 1pm are usually dispatched the same day. The personalised details are printed in one colour, black, white, metallic gold or metallic silver, on one side of the card.
Supporter and membership cards
A card is a physical thank-you for joining a friends scheme or setting up a regular gift, and it keeps your name in the supporter’s wallet. If it comes with benefits, such as free entry or a discount in your café or shop, staff also need to be able to check it quickly.
- A number on every card, printed in sequence or from an export of your supporter database. See numbered plastic cards.
- A barcode, if your till or database reads one. Code 39 is the most common. Ask your system supplier which format it needs.
- A new background colour each year, so staff and volunteers can see a current card at a glance.
- A QR code to your website or renewal page, built into your artwork at no extra cost.
- A welcome, if the card is posted. A card carrier gives a new supporter’s card a printed welcome and room to explain how to use it.
New supporters arrive all year, so the bureau service described above works here too: cards printed in stock, then personalised with each name and number as people join. The membership cards page has the full list of options.
How do fundraising discount cards work?
Some charities raise money by selling a card that gives the holder money off at local businesses. The supporter pays for the card, the charity keeps that money, and the businesses taking part get new customers through the door. The card has to be easy to check at a till and hard to pass around.
- A number on every card, so a lost or misused card can be cancelled and the businesses told.
- A valid-until date. Sell a new card each year, in a new colour.
- A signature strip, so the card can’t be lent around. A typical strip is 75 x 8mm and takes an ordinary pen.
- A QR code to the list of businesses. The list changes through the year, so keep it on your website, not on the card.
If the businesses taking part have tills that scan, the card number can also go on as a barcode. The discount cards page covers barcodes, magnetic strips and numbering.
Fundraising events: passes and bag drop tags
At a gala, a concert or a fun day, an event pass tells stewards who is allowed where without anyone checking a list. Give each role its own colour, such as crew, volunteer, performer and guest, and print a number on every pass so you know how many are out. Passes are solid plastic, so a wet afternoon doesn’t ruin them, and they can be punched for a lanyard.
For a sponsored run, walk or triathlon, numbered bag drop tags match each entrant’s bag to their number, with a punched hole and room for a sponsor’s logo.
Carers services and volunteers who work alone
Carers centres, councils and young carers services issue carer ID cards so an unpaid carer can show who they are at a GP surgery, a pharmacy counter or on a ward. Emergency versions carry a 24 hour number linked to the carer’s emergency plan, so whoever helps a carer who is taken ill knows someone at home depends on them. For young carers, a 54 x 29mm key fob card fits on a school bag. Carers register through the year, so these cards suit the bureau service too.
For volunteers who drive, befriend or visit people at home on their own, an emergency contact card carries your out of hours number and the steps to follow if they need help. The write-on version lets each volunteer fill in their own contacts with an ordinary pen, so you don’t have to collect them.
PVC-free and recycled cards
If your organisation is cutting its plastic, there are four alternatives to standard PVC. Each is printed in full colour on both sides; the differences are in what the card is made of and which extras it can take. Our guide to eco card materials compared sets them side by side.
| Material | What it is | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| EcoTough | PVC-free, made with 20% recycled content, and recyclable where facilities accept it | Takes numbering, barcodes and QR codes. Thinner than PVC, with no gloss or matt finish, magnetic strip, foiling or scratch panel. |
| Plastic-Free Board | Board with no PVC, and 100% recyclable | Takes pen and ink stamps anywhere on the card, so volunteers can write their own details. Same exclusions as EcoTough. |
| Recycled PVC | Made from 98% recycled PVC rather than new PVC | The closest match to a standard card: the same 760 micron thickness, finishes and extras. |
| Biodegradable | PVC with an additive intended to speed up breakdown in the right conditions | There’s no fixed timescale for breaking down, and the cards don’t start to degrade while they’re in use. |
What to order
A typical first order for a volunteer programme:
- Volunteer ID cards printed in your design, 86 x 54mm and 760 microns thick, printed on both sides (from £109.00 +vat for 250)
- The current volunteers’ names and roles printed now, from a spreadsheet
- The rest held in stock for the bureau service, personalised as new volunteers join
- A review date and a signature strip on every card
- A 15 x 3mm slot for a clip or lanyard, and lanyards if you need them
Full colour cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, falling to 24.5p a card for 1,000, with delivery within Great Britain included. Personalisation, write-on panels, signature strips and photoseals are priced on your quote. Standard production is 7 working days from proof approval and payment, and every order starts with a free photorealistic proof by email.
Not sure? Just askEmail us a line about your charity and the cards you have in mind, and we’ll suggest a set-up with a quote, usually within about 10 minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Our in-house design service can lay the cards out from your logo for £29 +vat.
Questions & Answers
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What plastic cards do charities use?
Volunteer ID cards, supporter and membership cards, fundraising discount cards and event passes are the most common. Carers services also issue carer ID cards, and teams whose volunteers work alone use emergency contact cards.
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Can volunteer ID cards show each volunteer’s name and role?
Yes. Send a spreadsheet of names and roles and every card is printed with its own details.
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Can we add photos to volunteer ID cards?
Photos aren’t printed on the cards. A passport-sized photo is fixed to the card with a photoseal, a clear seal that covers one side of the card, and we can attach them for you.
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How do we issue cards as new volunteers join?
Our bureau personalisation service holds your printed cards in stock. Email the new names when volunteers finish their induction, and we personalise and post just those cards, with no minimum call-off. Allow 3 working days.
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Should a volunteer ID card have an expiry date?
Yes. A review or expiry date means cards held by people who have stopped volunteering run out on their own, without anyone having to ask for them back.
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What should a fundraising discount card include?
A number on every card, a valid-until date, a signature strip so it can’t be passed around, and a QR code to the current list of businesses giving discounts. Keep the list itself off the card, because it changes.
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Do you supply PVC-free or recycled cards?
Yes. EcoTough cards are PVC-free and made with 20% recycled content, Plastic-Free Board cards contain no PVC and are 100% recyclable, and recycled PVC cards are made from 98% recycled PVC.
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What is the minimum order?
25 cards. Bureau call-offs after the first order have no minimum, so volunteer cards can be personalised one at a time.
Ready to order?
Tell us which cards your charity needs, how many volunteers or supporters you have now, and how many you expect to join this year.
Your free photorealistic proof shows every name, number and panel in place before anything is printed.