Provide rich band experiences for Title 1 district

The Westerner Band Booster Program, a group of parents, alumni, and volunteers, supports the band program at Lubbock High School in Lubbock, Texas. Through community-wide band competitions, banquets, raffles, and t-shirt sales, the Westerner Band Boosters provide funds for nearly 200 students to participate in the band program.

“We’re a Title 1 school,” Ross shared, “and we have kids that come from all walks of life, so it’s important for us to offer them our full support.”

Ross Tiner, the fundraising chairperson for the Boosters, shared the key mission of the club: to supplement their school’s lack of funding by raising money for instruments, uniforms, and meals.

“We’ve had to be creative with raising money over the years,” she continued. “We’re lucky to have one large community-centered fundraiser—our marching band competition—that people look forward to every year. If we didn’t have that, we would be in a whole different position.”

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Payment processing for fundraising was confusing and expensive

For years, the booster club relied on Square to process payments. While Square is often considered an industry standard for payment processing, it’s not built for nonprofits.

The Westerner Band Boosters are made up of community volunteers, not financial tool experts, and Square came with a steep learning curve. Parents struggled to process payments and add items to their online store. And the complexity wasn’t the only drawback the booster club found using Square.

In districts with limited resources, every penny counts. When Westerner Band Boosters volunteers processed a payment through Square, a percentage of each transaction was taken out of the contribution. As a result, hundreds of dollars annually wound up paying for fees instead of supporting students.

Ross wanted a tool that could manage their fundraising with fewer costs and a more intuitive platform. That’s when they discovered Zeffy.

> See how Square stacks up against Zeffy for nonprofit fundraising.

Disappointed with the transaction costs associated with Square, Ross took to Google to see if there was another way to process payments for the Westerner band. That’s when she found Zeffy. 

There were a few main reasons Zeffy was the right choice for the Westerner Band Boosters:

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1. Zeffy’s free.

When Ross discovered Zeffy—a fundraising platform built solely for nonprofits organizations—it was a no-brainer because of the cost. Zeffy is free!

“It came down to nickels and dimes. You know, when we’re trying to scrape every penny we can to get these kids the things they need like functioning instruments, savings in fees make a huge impact,” Ross shared.

Using Zeffy would lower the costs of transaction fees from around $1,000 per year to $0. 

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2. Zeffy’s easy to use.

The Westerner Band Boosters aren’t professional fundraisers—they’re working parents and alumni. So they needed a tool that would be easy to use.

“I needed a nonprofit resource that was user-friendly for parents and volunteers that don’t have experience in the payment processing or financial space. It had to be something our volunteers could easily manage, and Zeffy was extremely easy to implement,” Ross said.

In fact, Ross shared that using Zeffy was easier for volunteers than Square.

“It’s much easier to go in and add tickets or items to sell, make adjustments, and add pictures than when we were using Square. Square is more business-oriented, but Zeffy is really honed in on nonprofits.”

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3. Zeffy checked all of the Westerner Band Booster’s boxes.

In addition to the price and simplicity, Ross mentioned three subtler advantages to using Zeffy:

1. Compatibility with financial programs. The tool was extremely compatible with MoneyMinder, the financial program Westerner Band Boosters uses. The treasurer of the program shared that this was a big advantage of Zeffy over Square, which didn’t click with the tool as easily.

2. Direct deposit. Ross explained that it was a must for their fundraising platform to connect straight to the Westerner Band Boosters’ bank account. Had that not been possible, they wouldn’t have been able to leverage Zeffy as their platform.

3. Export payment info. Finally, with Zeffy, you can export payment information straight into Excel. This makes it easy for the Boosters’ treasurer to map out income and analyze fundraising over time.

An extra $3,000 heading to students—not a payment platform

Westerner Band Boosters are all-in on Zeffy, leveraging the tool for most of the payments they process in a year. Between the online store, jazz banquet tickets, band competition tickets, and a raffle on the horizon, the booster club is getting a lot of use out of the tool.

During the 2023-24 school year, the Westerner Band boosters were able to save $3,456 by switching from Square to Zeffy. This could pay for a couple of instruments, a meal for nearly 200 students, or volunteer shirts for two years. 

The impact of the savings is undeniable—and as a nonprofit-only platform, Zeffy has the option for buyers to donate more when they check out. So not only are they saving money, but they’re bringing even more money in.

When asked whether she’d recommend Zeffy to a friend, Ross answered with a resounding yes.

“I know several parents across the country involved in different booster clubs and nonprofits, and I tell them all to use Zeffy. It’s amazing!”

The Westerner Band Boosters are one of the many happy customers using Zeffy. Create your free Zeffy account today and start saving hundreds for your nonprofit.