After years of selling catalog products with minimal profit, St. Michael Parish School in Wheaton, Illinois, was looking to make a change. That’s when Vicki Parrilli, the school’s Lancer Dash Chairperson, discovered PledgeStar. The school is now in its third year using the platform.

“We did a wrapping paper fundraiser for several years and it was pretty limited,” Ms. Parrilli explains. “People can only buy so much of that stuff. That’s why we started a fun run, and we’ve been using PledgeStar every year.”

With nearly every family at the 600-student school participating, the Lancer Dash committee started off with a $45,000 goal and high hopes. “The year before, we raised about $77,000, which was more than twice what we made selling wrapping paper,” Ms. Parrilli says. “This year we raised nearly $120,000.”

Ms. Parrilli believes the success of their fundraiser was due to the communication dispersed via the PledgeStar platform. “Not only did we start talking about the event on the first day of school, but we also shared pictures of the prizes to get the kids excited,” she says. “We even shared a video of our principal showing how much we really needed new science tables.” She adds that the ability to easily run frequent reports through the school’s unique PledgeStar website made accountability a breeze. “Once we knew we were getting close to our goal,” Ms. Parrilli says, “we encouraged additional donations.” The fundraising team also frequently rewarded students throughout the duration of the fundraiser with candy once they raised $25 and a T-shirt once they raised $50. “Since the kids really want that shirt, almost every one reached that goal,” she adds.

She goes on to share how the technology made life easy for the committee managing the event. “The bonus with PledgeStar compared to our previous fundraisers was that everything was electronic,” Ms. Parrilli explains. “We didn’t have to fill out any papers or collect checks. Electronic donations were instantaneous so people could immediately see how much money we were raising on a daily basis. It was a really helpful tool and was instant gratification for those of us running the fundraiser.”

Once St. Michael Parish School kicked off the Lancer Dash, they spent about three weeks fundraising prior to the day the entire school ran multiple laps around the parking lot while staff and parents cheered. In addition to simple prizes for smaller donation goals, the committee got creative when encouraging students to aim even higher. “Once we reached our school-wide goal,” Ms. Parrilli explains, “our top 30 students got to pie the principal in the face. He’s a great sport and has been slimed, dunked, duct taped to the wall, and even kissed a pig during previous years. The kids get such a kick out of it.”

St. Michael Parish School is already planning to use PledgeStar for next year’s Lancer Dash. “It is so easy to use,” says Ms. Parrilli. “I feel extremely comfortable knowing that when I eventually pass along my duty of running it that the next person will easily be able to understand how PledgeStar works. We love the partnership and our principal was blown away by the generosity of our families. We wouldn't be able to raise all the funds we did without PledgeStar.”