The National Trust has doubled gift aid revenue in eight of its properties by introducing specialist EPoS systems.

In a trial, the heritage charity installed TengoPOS, a bespoke software solution from Tengo Media, in order to easily process visitors’ details when paying admission fees.

Over the 2010/11 financial year, the eight pilot properties raised an average of £16,250 (excluding transitional relief), while the 163 properties operating a manual system averaged roughly £6,748.

At Bodnant Garden in North Wales, the number of completed gift aid declarations rose by a third, while at nearby Chirk Castle the increase in revenue paid for the new systems in four months.

Becky Hitchens, visitor reception manager at Lanhydrock House (pictured), said that desite a projected drop in gift aid revenue due to the recession, the property had in fact exceeded its annual target in less than five months.

“At a busy property like ours, time is of the essence and not only has the Tengo solution speeded up the process of collecting visitor information, it has also drastically improved the accuracy of the information collected.”

The new system remains under trial so no decision has yet been made on whether it will be extended to other National Trust properties.