You know the needs: a new playground, updated computers, athletics equipment that isn't older than your students, or prom decorations they'll actually want to photograph. There's always something to improve when you want the best for your students.
And you know the solution: a school fundraiser. But you can't just set up a table with brownies and a cash box anymore. Parents and students alike need to be able to tap cards, phones, and watches to give, and you need those donations organized and accessible as you bring your school fundraising ideas to life.
So, which are the best fundraising apps for schools? Which fundraising platform would make charitable giving easy? Whether you’re in charge of donations at your school or work for a school fundraising company, we’ve got you covered with the complete guide below.
Among all the free fundraising platforms for schools, Zeffy is the only entirely free option. This agile system can sell tickets to events, host raffles, sell merchandise, track donors, and customize donation pages for school crowdfunding campaigns.
Whether you're an elementary school administrator or a university dean, Zeffy can boost your school fundraising ideas.
With Zeffy, 100% of donations go directly to the school to maximize what you raise. Schools can save an average of 5-7% in platform and transaction fees with the free platform that covers various campaigns and tracking capabilities.
Education-based nonprofits like Community Music School of Santa Cruz love Zeffy’s platform and see results like raising $47,664 for youth programs and scholarships while saving an additional $2,383 in fees.
While Zeffy is versatile, other platforms come with more intricate integrations to other solutions.
Everything is free with Zeffy, and it always will be. No platform or transaction fees–ever.
Zeffy has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“It really has been so amazing. I am new to our school's PTA and I took on the task of setting up a new payment platform for our fundraising because the one we used in the past had very high fees. I feel so happy I stumbled across Zeffy because they helped make what I thought would be a confusing and difficult task into something so easy and really beneficial to our school.” - Jennifer T.
Givebutter is one of the most social fundraising platforms for schools, helping you turn school spirit into a fun event or campaign. With their teams feature, you can inspire urgency in your donors by turning giving into a competition.
GiveButter shares that donor engagement can increase by 15-25% through dynamic live streams, peer-to-peer fundraising, and interactive campaigns for your school fundraising ideas. Fenwick High School is a great example, raising over $189,000 through day of giving on the Givebutter platform.
Some users were surprised by how quickly processing fees added up, and several were frustrated by the limited customization options.
There's no platform fee or subscription if you enable donor tips to cover the 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee. You can turn off tipping which will add a 1 to 5% platform fee, depending on which features (donation form, fundraising page, and/or event) you use, and the processing fee still applies.
Givebutter has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“Givebutter has given my small private school and congregation a platform to offer its memebers a way to support the ministry happnening on our campus. We have used Givebutter to allow our members to give weekly offerings, pay for field trips, give a "free will offering" at events, and also has allowed us to accept digital payments for our athletic activities.” – Jeff W.
Initially designed as a donor tracking system, Bloomerang has become a one-stop school fundraising platform and development CMS.
Bloomerang prides itself on increasing donor retention and revenue growth through more innovative segmentation and recurring giving options that improve long-term donor relationships. School fundraising ideas are easier to implement with tools that bring them to life.
Schools using Bloomerang can raise 25% more year-over-year and grow their donor base by 15%. For Bellarmine Preparatory School, that led to over 10,000 registered alums and a simpler way to engage them all in charitable giving.
Bloomerang, a more online fundraising platform, offers insights that may be worth the cost for organizations with smaller fundraising teams who may not have the time to sort and pursue their donors with such specificity.
Platform fees start at $125 monthly for 1000 donor reports and 5000 emails. Their fundraising feature is an add-on requiring an additional 1% of raised funds and a transaction fee of up to 2.2% + 30¢ that donors may choose to cover.
Bloomerang has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“Overall, my experience with Bloomerang has been positive. The software is user-friendly and offers great tools for managing donors and tracking fundraising efforts. It’s especially strong in its reporting and analytics features. However, the limited customization options might be a drawback for some organizations.” - Al-nor A. (education management)
With RallyUp's fundraising platform for schools, you can host ten fundraising events and encourage your students to campaign for donations with an optional prizes feature.
RallyUp’s multi-format campaigns can generate more engagement and excitement from participants. Schools may see up to an increase in funds raised thanks to gamified experiences and real-time progress tracking.
For example, The St. Francis de Sales School raised over 40% more in a quarter of the time using RallyUp Raffles. They turned a 6-week fundraising process into 9 days to achieve more. Raffles are great school fundraising ideas, and have potential to speed up the process.
Some users report that the platform has a confusing back end when you're trying to set up a new event and a lack of helpful communication from customer support when they ran into issues.
RallyUp's free version is supported by donor tipping, meaning your donors would cover the 7.5% per transaction platform fee and you will be charged a 1.9 to 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee, depending on which payment processor you use. You can add additional features for $99 per month with the same transaction fees.
RallyUp has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“Overall, we have had great experience. I have multiple volunteers on the back end every time we do a raffle and all find it easy to use/manipulate the data, and make update on the site.” – Lynn R.
Founded by a former quarterback, Snap! Raise is one of the few sports-focused fundraising platforms for schools.
Snap! Raise can simplifiy everything from district-wide charity events to middle school fundraising ideas with minimal school involvement, often raising more than traditional efforts and retaining a large percentage of funds raised after platform fees.
The Chesnee High School Cheerleading Coach shared her praise for Snap! Raise after using the tool to fundraise during Covid and being able to engage donors online in an easy way. They were able to raise over $22,000 in 2022 because of it.
Snap! Raise runs on teams, and players can be required to bring 20 emails each, which some teams found challenging. Users also report slow processing times for getting funds.
Flat fee of 20% of total funds raised.
Snap! Raise has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“I love how quickly you can get the fundraiser started and get donations flowing in immediately. I really like how the emails get sent out automatically once a week after the original send. This helps us to generate more donations as the month goes on. I also like how the fundraiser time can be customized. I wanted a shorter time frame for the donations and my rep was able to do that for me.” – Shaun C.
If you've never run a school fundraising campaign, OneCause aims to take the mystery out of fundraising campaigns.
OneCause enhances school fundraising by boosting event proceeds through mobile bidding and virtual auction features. Schools can see more donor participation thanks to seamless hybrid event management and integrated promotions.
Using OneCause, schools like DeSales High School take advantage of key giving days like Giving Tuesday, bringing fundraising online to raise $15,000 in 24 hours. High school fundraising ideas like this one can maximize on days where its naturally easier to raise funds and rally the community.
If you need help with your events, some of the OneCause tiers include the option to have OneCause staff on site to facilitate your fundraising efforts. But if you have a good idea of what you're doing and how to do it, this fundraising platform may not be worth the cost.
Platform fees are $495 to $995, according to software review site G2. Processing fees default to 3.5% + 35¢ per transaction fee, and donors can cover these fees.
OneCause has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“While the community was sure it wouldn't work for them, it did! The ease of bidding from anywhere you are and sharing the items with friends and family near and far is extremely beneficial. Our auction proceeds have nearly doubled since we started using Onecause to its full capacity.” – Sheena W.
With BetterWorld's transparency-focused online school fundraising platform, booster clubs, and students, you can follow up campaigns with photos and videos that show supporters exactly which improvements their gifts facilitated.
With BetterWorld, there’s a potential for all donations to go directly to your school without the burden of platform fees, and an option for donors to cover payment fees.
Over 100,000 nonprofits use BetterWorld to experience increases in donor participation by removing financial friction and offering free, easy-to-share fundraising pages.
Some users report a challenging experience with the interface, but most enjoy the ease of use. BetterWorld doesn't have as many event types as some platforms.
The platform is free for users, and the donors can cover processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30.
BetterWorld has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“The site is easy to set up, manage, and track. Because we can use our own photos and graphics and create our own message to go out, constituent interaction with the site has a personalized touch. Constituents purchasing tickets for fundraising events find it easy to use. As a small organization, having access to this type of online presence has been so helpful.” – Bonnie H (Education management)
Classy's unlimited event landing pages are quick and easy to set up, and they're geared toward recurring giving.
Classy is well-known for increasing recurring donations through personalized, visually appealing campaigns that engage donors. Schools can raise more per donation by leveraging data-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer fundraising options.
For example, ScholarMatch saved over 100 hours of admin work in a year using Classy and its Zapier integration to make life easier.
Classy is great for a set-it-and-forget-it donation page, but the lower tiers don't include event support or more robust outreach programs.
Classy offers three tiers with customizable features, but costs aren't all published online. Platform fees start at $299, as quoted on software review site G2, and transactions have a 4% fee.
Classy has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“While Classy is extremely user-friendly, easy-to-use, and aesthetically-pleasing, the most impressive part of the platform is the excellent customer service. It is truly above and beyond service, and they are able to answer even the most basic questions without making you feel bad about asking.” – Verified fundraiser
If you know you're sticking with your favorite event, DoJiggy could be the right choice for your school.
DoJiggy streamlines school fundraising and helps schools raise more. Schools can also boost donor satisfaction with customizable campaign pages and seamless event experiences.
One case study shows how the Claremont Middle School PTA supports an annual event that has brought in nearly $1,000,000 over the past decade. That resulted in more staff to support students, an after-school program, and school supplies for the community.
DoJiggy's fees are higher than the average school fundraising platform, and some reviews say their donation pages were difficult to customize without prior coding knowledge. Users also note the generic reports after fundraising efforts.
Each type of event has a different fee, from 1.9% to 7.9%. Donors can cover both the platform and processing fees of 2.2-2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
DoJiggy has the following ratings from well-trusted review sites across the industry:
“We use the software for our school jog-a-thon fundraiser. Only the kids who will be collecting pledges online create pages. Some of the features are really good: - the ability to connect to PayPal which is what we use to collect donations online and keeps things all together - the ability to create "teams", which in our case are classrooms, that complete for the most money raised - the ability to have the administrator assign kids to the teams since most people forget to select their teams when they sign up - the ability to create a page template which makes it easier for the kids to start their pages - the tracking software and reports are super helpful.” - Virginia F.
Schools can thrive with various funding sources, including grants, corporate sponsorships, and creative ideas to bring communities together around financial goals. Grants can support academic programs, technology gaps, and extracurricular activities with a hefty price tag. At the same time, corporate sponsorships can become a long-term partner to count on for regular programming.
Adding fresh ideas to fundraisers and bringing things online through donation pages, peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, crowdfunding, and e-commerce, alongside engaging in-person events, helps your school reach more people in ways they look forward to throughout the academic year (and maybe even the summer, too!)
So, what type of fundraising ideas truly stand out among students? Here are some creative and enjoyable ideas to engage students at every school level while raising money and encouraging participation in charitable events:
When raising money for your school, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Before you make your decision, take some time to refine your fundraising strategy and consider how to make the most of your platform’s features. Here's a quick guide to keep your school ahead of fundraising trends.
Start by answering these key questions to flesh out your school fundraising idea:
Once you’ve clarified your school fundraising event’s what, why, and who, you can think about how to grab attention. Will you sell raffle tickets, host a read-a-thon, or set up a simple donation page? Your chosen method directly influences your desired features in a fundraising platform.
When comparing platforms, don’t just look at price—consider how well the software supports your school’s goals. Here’s what to focus on:
Once you’ve selected the right software, it’s time to unlock its full potential. Education fundraising trends are about personalization and working smarter (not harder). The following features may be helpful to ask about as you think about tech that scales with you:
For nearly 30 years, the Torrey Pines Elementary School Foundation has been closing the gap between state funding and the needs of its students with robust fundraising efforts.
The foundation expects about half of its yearly budget to come from a simple online fundraising ask. They collect the rest from events and corporate sponsorships. For the 2024 school year, they've raised over $100,000, ⅔ of their ultimate goal, with more than six months until the school year starts.
With other fundraising platforms, the Foundation would keep an average of $95,000. (The fees TPESF saved were calculated with a 5% average fee—platform and credit card transaction fees combined). But with Zeffy, every cent has gone straight into the school budget.
You can check out more success stories, pick up some school fundraiser ideas, and even get our hot takes on how to thank your donors on our blog.
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