When Rachel Hatch joined Urban Discovery Academy in 2017, she had ambitious plans for the big city charter school that started as a small gathering of families and grew into a diverse institution in the heart of San Diego. Hatch knew that charter schools only receive about 72 cents for every dollar a public school
In the winter of 2018, Hope Elementary School Principal Richard Tubbs had a radical idea: he would shave his head if students raised over $40,000 during their next annual Jog-A-Thon. Even one dollar more than $40,000 and the clippers would come out, he promised. When they exceeded their goal with over $57,000 in revenue this
The Friends of Third Booster Club in Los Angeles held its second annual walk-a-thon and, with PledgeStar’s help, far exceeded its ambitious goal of $50,000 by $18,000 for a total of $68,000! They accomplished this by using creative and fun incentives for both the students and teachers. Booster club president, Patricia Alexander, thought that such
After five successful years of using PledgeStar for their jog-a-thon fundraising, PTA members at southern California elementary school Aviara Oaks wanted to bring in more money than ever before. Thanks to the advice and help of the seasoned PledgeStar team, they were able to achieve just that! Since 2015, Aviara Oaks Elementary School has more
The 2018 annual fundraiser at Deer Run Elementary school raised more money than students, teachers, and parent volunteers ever expected thanks to PledgeStar and some calculated planning. Parent volunteer Lauren Heft had her first experience with PledgeStar and organizing a fundraising event in 2017 for her school’s “Deer Run Run-A-Thon”. She was pleasantly surprised when
PTO member Kristen Van Hull had one goal in mind when volunteering to run Primrose Hill Elementary School’s Jog-A-Thon for her fourth year, raise more than ever in order to fund a new playground. In the past, Van Hull worked exceptionally hard to organize an event that was both fun and raised money for the
If you’ve been thinking about using an online fundraising system for your Jog-A-Thon, Walk-A-Thon, Read-A-Thon or other pledge drive, take a look at our 2018 fundraising statistics to see why you should consider using PledgeStar: Participating children raised an average of $170 each. On average, PledgeStar customers kept 94% of what they raised. PledgeStar’s automatic
Making math fun for kids can be challenging, but Ventana Vista Elementary School recently figured out a way to get kids excited about learning AND raise money for their school at the same time. Every year, the school holds a fun and educational Math-A-Thon during regular class hours. Students are given a packet geared toward
When parent volunteer Amy Crookston noticed a PledgeStar online fundraising sign hanging at a neighboring elementary school, she thought it might be something interesting to look into for her own kids’ school. She contacted PTO members for their experiences with the company. One year later, when when she added PledgeStar and their Walk-A-Thon doubled the
After running Randolph Elementary’s annual walk-a-thon for the third year in a row, PTA President Kathy Hansen wanted to do something different to encourage her participants to raise more funds than ever before. Months earlier, her children had participated in the school’s annual magazine sale fundraiser, but they complained that they didn’t win any prizes
As another school year draws to a close, we look back on a record-breaking year, and forward to new features designed to make your 2018-19 school-year fundraiser your best one yet! This year, we helped schools and other youth organizations raise more than $20 million, with kids raising an average of $140 each. PledgeStar’s automated
St. Hedwig School in Los Alamitos, California used PledgeStar to help raise more money during the school’s inaugural Jog-a-Thon fundraiser. Co-Jog-a-Thon Chair and PA Board Member Erin de Lucia was first made aware of the PledgeStar online fundraising system after hearing rave reviews about the service from one of her friends at Lowell Elementary School
Crocker Highlands Elementary in Oakland, California has used the PledgeStar system for the past two years. This year, they raised over $122,000; more than double the amount the school earned in the same event without PledgeStar. PTA member Colleen Orfuss researched several online fundraising platforms before last year’s Walk-A-Thon. She wanted a system that was
Last year, 745 schools and other organizations who added the PledgeStar online fundraising system to their pledge drives raised over $20 million. That’s 50% more than they raised before adding PledgeStar! Why not raise 50% more for your school or group? Thanks to feedback provided by PledgeStar customers in our post-event survey, we’ve added several
PledgeStar is always looking for ways to improve your fundraising experience, so you can work less and raise more. That’s why we tested two new innovative features this fall: text message pledge requests, and online address book importing. The results are in and we’re excited to report that over 100 schools raised 15% more than they
By utilizing PledgeStar to reach out to more friends and family, the Sunset Youth Football and Baseball leagues of Portland, Oregon raised tens of thousands of dollars. It all started when SYFL Coach Frank Krause was made aware of the PledgeStar system by a friend who had used it successfully at his school’s Jog-a-Thon. Krause
Two years ago, the PTA at Rogers Middle School in Long Beach, California hired an outside fundraising company to run their annual pledge drive. After the company took 50% of the school’s fundraising earnings, PTA member Leslie Anderson decided to run the event herself. Anderson learned about the PledgeStar fundraising system from a friend, and
For the past three years, Rumsey Station Elementary in Papillion, Nebraska has used Boosterthon, a full service fundraising company, for its annual Rumsey Run Jog-a-Thon event. However, after parents began voicing concerns over Boosterthon’s high fees, PTA member Kristi Waszak knew it was time for a change. “Raising almost $33,000 and then writing a check to Boosterthon for
Director of Advancement at Redwood Christian Schools, Mike Kady, has been running his school’s Jog-a-Thon for the last 21 years. This year, after researching online pledge drive systems, and being made aware of PledgeStar by his district’s superintendent, Kady decided to give the service a shot. For over 40 years, Redwood Christian has relied on
Now that school’s begun, it’s time to get serious about fundraising, and PledgeStar is the simplest, least expensive, and most effective way to squeeze every last dollar from your Jog-A-Thon, Walk-A-Thon, Read-A-Thon, or any other pledge drive. PledgeStar is an online fundraising system that helps raise 50% more from your group’s pledge drive by making
Several Corona Del Mar High School sports teams raised hundreds of thousands of dollars using the PledgeStar fundraising system. It all started in 2015, when Assistant Football Coach Kevin Hettig utilized PledgeStar for his team’s Lift-A-Thon. In the past, team members sent handwritten letters to family and friends asking for donations to pay for everything
When Stephany Dawson took over as co-chair of Cypress Elementary School’s annual Eaglethon fun run, she had one goal in mind: bring recess back to the school. The school’s playground facilities were virtually nonexistent, and students weren’t afforded the luxury of unstructured play. This led Dawson and other parent volunteers to take up the cause
Tom Renger became familiar with the PledgeStar fundraising system during his time as Kettering Elementary School’s PTA Treasurer. Their Fit Fest Fundraiser was a massive success, prompting Renger to apply PledgeStar’s services to his Cub Scout Pack’s annual Poinsettia Fundraiser. In years past, Cub Scout Pack members would go door to door in their community, seeking
The winners of the 2016 Playa del Rey Elementary School Spell-A-Thon weren’t just the top spellers in each class. The entire school won this year when they almost quadrupled their past earnings and brought in over $17,000 in donations! Kids were thrilled about the exciting magic show they were awarded as one of the cool
