From education to after-school extracurriculars and a sense of community, your school provides a lot for your students. That’s why raising funds to help you provide those things is crucial. Fundraising can be difficult but it doesn’t have to be impossible. We’ve compiled a list of the top ten fundraising platforms and tools to make fundraising for your school easier than ever.
- 1. 99Pledges: The Best Choice for Engaging School Fundraisers
- 2. DonorsChoose: Classroom Supplies Fundraising
- 3. EdCo: After School Program Fundraising
- 4. Funds2Orgs: Shoe Drives
- 5. Bonfire: Product Fundraising
- 6. GoodUnited: Facebook Fundraising
- 7. OneCause: Auctions
- 8. ShopRaise: Raise Funds While Shopping
- 9. Double the Donation: Matching Gifts Software
- 10. DonorSearch: Prospect Research
If you’re ready to start raising more money for your school, let’s dive in!
99Pledges: The Best Choice for Engaging School Fundraisers
Platform Overview
99Pledges fundraising platform allows your school or classroom to easily set up a fundraiser, with each participant getting their own donation page. You can then easily share donation pages, collect donations online, and track your progress toward your goal.
99Pledges specializes in “a-thon” fundraisers like walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons, read-a-thons, and more. These kinds of fundraisers are not only great for raising funds but also help get your students and parents involved as well.
The best part is that 99Pledges is Free – there is NO platform fee and NO startup fee. The only costs are the standard credit card fee of 3.49% plus 49 cents per transaction (that goes to the credit card companies). This makes 99Pledges a great alternative to other, more expensive solutions.
When to Consider 99Pledges
Because 99Pledges is one of the most affordable options out there to fundraise for your school, it is an excellent choice for anyone–but especially if you’re looking to get your community involved.
Choose 99Pledges when you want to host a successful and affordable fundraiser that can get a wide variety of age groups involved. With 99Pledges, you’ll not only raise money without spending a ton of money, but you’ll also help your community come together.
DonorsChoose: Classroom Supplies Fundraising
Platform Overview
DonorsChoose is a platform for teachers to raise money for classroom supplies. Teachers can create their own fundraisers for the supplies they need that can be shared on social media to help them reach their fundraising goals.
When to Consider DonorsChoose
This is a great tool to share with the teachers at your school to use alongside your school-wide fundraisers for everyone’s benefit. This platform is easy-to-use and puts the power right into the hands of your teachers. The best part is that this platform is completely free for teachers!
EdCo: After School Program Fundraising
Platform Overview
EdCo allows parents, teachers, coaches, and students to set up fundraisers for their favorite school programs. From the theatre program to track club, any activity that needs some extra funds or is at risk of being cut can be helped through a fundraiser on EdCo.
When to Consider EdCo
EdCo is best for extracurricular activities that may be lacking funds or not receiving funds from the school. A fundraiser can easily start for a platform fee of 4.9% in addition to the standard 3.5% credit card fee and $0.49 per transaction.
Funds2Orgs: Shoe Drives
Platform Overview
The Funds2Orgs platform allows you to set up a shoe drive to raise money instead of asking for monetary donations. They have different plans that offer varying levels of support to best fit your needs. All of the shoes donated get repurposed and sold at a low cost to micro-entrepreneurs who can then sell them for a higher price. Their goal is to help you raise money while helping give individuals in low-income communities a chance to earn a profit in their small businesses.
When to Consider Funds2Orgs
If your supporters are not often in a position to donate much or at all, or you have recently done a fundraiser based on monetary donations, Funds2Orgs can be a great way to raise money for your school without asking your community for their hard-earned dollars.
Bonfire: Product Fundraising
Platform Overview
With Bonfire, you can create custom t-shirts that you can sell in a fundraiser through their platform. This kind of fundraiser allows your supporters to receive something in return for donating and the custom t-shirt helps bring awareness to your school and your fundraiser.
When to Consider Bonfire
If there is a specific event or fundraiser that your school is hosting, making custom, branded t-shirts to sell for that event can be a really successful fundraiser. Their donation processing fees are typically 8%, but if your school qualifies as a nonprofit, the fee is lowered to 3.5% once you’re verified.
GoodUnited: Facebook Fundraising
Platform Overview
GoodUnited can help you run Facebook fundraisers, thank donors, start a Facebook Challenge, and cultivate your community with personal automated messages. You can get help with all of their Facebook functionalities or you can focus on one aspect, like hosting a Facebook Challenge to get your community engaged.
When to Consider GoodUnited
Because many of the parents at your school are likely already on Facebook, this can be a successful fundraiser at just about any time. Especially when you’re not together, like during virtual or hybrid schooling, or just over the summer break, Facebook fundraisers and Challenges offer a more connected way to fundraise together.
OneCause: Auctions
Platform Overview
OneCause is a fundraising platform that is particularly great for planning and hosting auctions thanks to their mobile bidding tool. Their software includes ticketing, table, and seating planning, mobile bidding software, social media sharing, auction management, registration and check out, and more.
When to Consider OneCause
If most of your fundraisers are events and auctions, this tool can help streamline your planning and help you run your events more smoothly. With their mobile bidding tool, your supporters will also appreciate how easy it is to participate!
ShopRaise: Raise Funds While Shopping
Platform Overview
With ShopRaise, your supporters can shop for items they would normally buy through the ShopRaise app and up to 10% of their purchases will go to their cause of choice which is, in this case, your school! Their app is simple to use and comes at no extra cost to you or your supporters.
When to Consider ShopRaise
ShopRaise is a great way to raise extra money in addition to your planned fundraisers. This platform allows your parents and supporters to contribute funds without spending more money than they would in a normal month. Because it’s at no additional cost to you or your supporters, ShopRaise can be used simultaneously with any other fundraising tool on this list!
Double the Donation: Matching Gifts Software
Platform Overview
Double the Donation’s matching gift automation platform, 360MatchPro, is the top matching gift automation software that schools and nonprofits can use. With access to one of the largest and most comprehensive matching gift databases, you can use 360MatchPro to identify and send automated asks with all the necessary information to match-eligible donors.
When to Consider Double the Donation
If many of your parents and community members are already donating frequently, investing in this software may be well worth it. Those donations you’re already getting can be greatly increased through corporate matching gift programs that many of your donors are likely eligible for.
DonorSearch: Prospect Research
Platform Overview
DonorSearch’s software utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to help you easily and accurately identify major donor opportunities among your existing donor list. Their software uses a wide range of wealth and philanthropic indicators to predict your donors’ affinity, capacity, and propensity to give.
When to Consider DonorSearch
If you believe that some of your donors may be good potential candidates for major gifts but are unsure of how to go about conducting prospect research yourself or lack the time and resources, DonorSearch is the perfect addition to your suite of tools.
Why 99Pledges Is The Best Choice
99Pledges is one of the best, affordable platforms for hosting successful fundraisers that not only raise funds but also bring your community together. Their method of fundraising, through a-thon fundraisers, is great for any time of year, any age, and can even be done virtually or hybrid if necessary!
From walk-a-thons to read-a-thons to dance-a-thons or even basketball shoot-a-thons, the possibilities are endless for planning exciting and engaging fundraisers for all ages.
You can start using their platform for free today to start your fundraiser – the only costs are a standard credit card fee of 3.49% plus 49 cents per transaction!
Additional Resources
- 35+ Best School Fundraising Ideas to Raise More in 2022: Explore ideas to help your school raise more this coming year.
- 10 of Our Most Effective Booster Club Fundraisers: Use these ideas if your Booster Club needs some fundraising inspiration.
- 22 Successful Basketball Fundraising Ideas for Your Team. Looking to raise more for your youth basketball team? These fundraising ideas can help.
