If there's one thing kids love, it's making adults look silly. The dunk tank at the Livermore Bulls Football League's Jamboree Kickoff in Livermore, California, accomplished just that. "It was the icing on the cake," says Ms. Ebony Bains, fundraising coordinator and board member for the Livermore Bulls. "The kids got really excited and huddled around the dunk tank, trying to get a turn."

Ms. Bains first heard about PledgeStar through a fellow Bulls board member who works for the school district. "Before, all we did was T-shirt sales and swag, and we raised about $9,000," she says when speaking of the Bulls' previous season's fundraising efforts. "So, this year, we wanted to branch out and try to raise money in a different way."

As it turned out, this was the right call. This season, with the help of PledgeStar, the Bulls raised about $19,000—and additional donations are still rolling in. It goes without saying that Ms. Bains plans on using the PledgeStar platform again next year.

Prior to PledgeStar, the Bulls had just used word of mouth and social media to generate hype for their annual fundraisers. But PledgeStar's platform presented them with more effective and less labor-intensive methods to spread the word. "The platform's just so easy to use," says Ms. Bains. "Being able to input emails instead of reminding people ourselves was really great. PledgeStar's templates wrote the emails for us, which was much easier. Plus, parents could share the link through work, Facebook, and company matching."

As the administrator of the Bulls' website, Ms. Bains knew she could count on PledgeStar to track which players raised how much money, which saved a lot of time for the Bulls' board. "When we were passing out prizes, we just did a quick download of the reports, filtered it, and it was good to go," says Ms. Bains. "It's really straightforward–kinda hard to mess up!"

The sponsor page that PledgeStar helped the Bulls create was another standout feature of the platform for Ms. Bains. "We built it into our website," she explains. "It made it easy for people like the food truck companies or community members who are not affiliated with the teams to donate."

The Jamboree itself was a big success. "We had it right before the start of the season," says Ms. Bains. "At the end of the kickoff, we had a bunch of food trucks and made it a family day."

If there's anything kids love more than making adults look silly, it's prizes. "Anyone who participated in any way with the PledgeStar program—even if it was just a dollar or two—got a branded water bottle, a bracelet and a rally towel," says Ms. Bains. "For each division's top earners, we gave them a gift card."

The $19,000 the Bulls raised this season will be going to good use. "We used it to buy more things for the team and the end of the year party," says Ms. Bains. "For instance, we were able to get new helmets and certifications for next year. Overall, the fundraiser was a great experience and we were really happy with PledgeStar."

We've all seen how excited students get when their school principals participate in campus events. But have you ever seen a parish priest joining in on a fun run with his students? At Good Shepherd Catholic School in San Diego, California, one of the school's priests did just that.

Tiffany Viloria, Good Shepherd's Parent Teacher Group (PTG) fundraising coordinator, has a unique opportunity to view fundraising from the side of the faculty as well as the parents at the annual GSCS Jog-A-Thon. "I'm a preschool teacher here," she says, "but my own kids also attend the school."

At Good Shepherd, pen and paper fundraising was always the way to go—until this year. "Historically we've always sent home envelopes to get donations from families." But Viloria and Good Shepherd knew they would be limiting themselves if they didn't try an online method, too. "Knowing there was money to be had out there through other channels, I thought it would be great to go digital this year."

Once Good Shepherd found PledgeStar, they leaped at the chance to save money up front. "We contacted a couple companies who took about 20 percent or more of the funds," Ms. Viloria tells us. "When I learned that PledgeStar charges 7 percent, and even caps with the potential to have our event for no cost to us, we decided to go with them."

Good Shepherd didn't just pick PledgeStar out of a hat—they had glowing references to go off of. "A couple parents at our school who are principals at other schools in the area told me that they use the same service." Knowing that trusted community members were already using the platform gave Good Shepherd the confidence to try PledgeStar themselves.

Ms. Viloria explains how beneficial it was to implement social media. "We were able to get parents to sign up and send requests via email, text and social media, which was huge, because in years past, it involved phone calls and asking friends and family in person." She explains that this method reaches a much broader group of people. "For me personally, I know I had at least five people donate who I wouldn't have even thought to ask—they saw the link on my social media."

Ms. Viloria explains that Good Shepherd's donations nearly doubled this year. "Our original goal this year was $8,500," she says. "But once we signed up with PledgeStar, we ended up raising $13,500."

After their dramatic increase in earnings this year, Good Shepherd is ready to leave the cash and check method behind. And their families agree. "Parents told us PledgeStar was really easy to use," says Ms. Viloria. "Those who were in charge of the Jog-A-Thon told us that next year, they'd prefer to just do it online without the envelope option."

So what exactly goes on at GSCS's annual Jog-A-Thon? "Our event includes stretching and warm-up laps," says Ms. Viloria. "Our parent volunteers track the laps, and at the end, every student gets a popsicle, and we take a school photo. We award our top 3 runners and fundraisers by classroom and individual students. "This year one of our priests even joined in!"

Ms. Viloria says that Good Shepherd will definitely be using PledgeStar again next year. In addition to the fundraiser's success, PledgeStar's customer support was appreciated at Good Shepherd. "We had a response within 24 hours whenever we had questions while working on the Jog-A-Thon," Ms. Viloria says. "The support was excellent."

The PTA website for Lincoln Elementary in Corona del Mar reads, "The spirit of Lincoln encourages kindness, inclusion, and positivity. Our motto says it all: 'Kindness, it's a Lincoln thing!' We are so proud to collectively call this school our home." This motto rang true during the school's annual Jog-A-Thon.

"The school really lives up to its motto," says Addie Zinone of Lincoln's PTA. "We really try to make our event less about running and more a community event. We have a contest for the most creative outfit at the Jog-A-Thon. The kids will wear tutus or ties or crazy hats. It's a festival-type vibe. We also play music while the kids are running. The older kids get to count laps for the younger kids. And everyone gets a popsicle at the end; it's amazing how much a popsicle will motivate a kid."

Lincoln is a school that cares about the arts. "The Jog-A-Thon money always goes toward our technology and art programs. Our district doesn't provide any art programs anymore so we help pay for that, including a part-time art teacher."

Lincoln has been using PledgeStar for five years and has seen huge improvements in the success of their fundraisers. Ms. Zinone explains: "It's very user-friendly and makes it easy to break down a lot of tedious numbers into categories that are easy to understand: who earns the most money, who reads the most minutes, which class is ahead, which student is ahead. Having PledgeStar track all those numbers and organize them so we don't have to makes it easier for us to focus on just executing the event."

In the past, sorting cash and check donations had been challenging and time-consuming. Once Lincoln started using PledgeStar, keeping track of incoming funds was a breeze. "We have a lot of money coming in and it's very easy to know where on the website to input cash and checks in addition to keeping track of electronic donations," says Ms. Zinone.

PledgeStar's automatic reminder system streamlined the process and cut down on the labor-intensive elements of the fundraiser for volunteers. "If someone pledges with a check, PledgeStar automatically sends those people reminders to send in their donation so we don't have to keep track of it," Ms. Zinone says. "It does all the annoying legwork, the hard, tedious stuff." Ms. Zinone explained that the website is very "user-friendly" and that it makes it "easy to break down a lot of tedious numbers."

Lincoln implemented many incentives to keep the students motivated during the fundraiser. "Every student who raised $300 or more got a pizza party," says Ms. Zinone. "It's called 'The 300 Bucks Club.' The kids love it and it's a big motivator. The student who raised the most overall got a pair of custom Nike shoes."

"We were hoping for $20,000 and ended up making more than $32,000," Ms. Zinone raves when asked if PledgeStar increased the amount of incoming funds for Lincoln's Jog-A-Thon. "If we didn't use PledgeStar, we wouldn't have been able to do all the outreach and make that much money. I know our students would have a much harder time reaching out to friends and family. You can literally send the information to anyone in your friends and family contacts, wherever they are, with PledgeStar."

Ms. Zinone goes on to explain why Lincoln parents love the fact that the PTA uses PledgeStar. "It's just so easy for the parents," she says. "What's so great about using PledgeStar is that I just send a quick note to parents outlining the simple steps to get registered and enter contact information for your friends and family. Once you've set up your page, you don't have to re-enter it the next year. It's already there. Parents don't always have the time or energy for working on fundraising anymore, so it's great that PledgeStar streamlines the process so much!" Parents can get signed up and start collecting money in less than 10 minutes.

It's hard to imagine children as young as six months participating in a jog-a-thon, but in Waxahachie, Texas, Funday School's annual "Funday Runday" does just that.

"Each student runs a race in our annual Tot Trot," says Krista Bartos, Funday School's director, who also managed the March 2023 event. "And we include ages 6 months through 5 years old."

Funday has a 40-year history in Waxahachie and nearly doubled in size over the past 10 years, with a current student population of 115. However, Bartos didn't let the size of her school limit the fundraiser's success.

"Our overall goal was $40,000 and we collected $46,000," says Bartos. "We are very blessed with lots of community support."

"It's a fun day for the whole family," Bartos adds. "There's chalk, bubbles, bike riding, basketball, and bounce houses. We even have a DJ."

And the fun run isn't just for the kids, Bartos says. "We have a silent auction sponsored by the community and classrooms. We also have a bake sale, which is always a big hit and brings the community together. Teachers, parents and grandparents bake things to sell—we even have a grandma who donates whole cakes and a woman who makes decorative cookies."

On top of fun activities sponsored by the community, every student received a T-shirt that their teachers helped tie-dye with their class colors to encourage participation. "Every kid gets a medal when they cross the finish line," says Bartos.

Bartos knows that when there's a fundraiser, PledgeStar is the way to go. "This was our third year with PledgeStar," she says. "My kids had used it at their elementary school and I really liked the simplicity of it and how easy it was for me to donate to their school."

"We've always had positive feedback," says Bartos of the reception of PledgeStar from her students' parents. "People really like how quick and easy it is to use. They don't always like to ask for donations, especially face-to-face, but with PledgeStar, even if you aren't active on social media, you can easily share it and get donations from people you wouldn't normally ask. Being able to share the fundraiser via text, email, and social media is a great option."

When the Runday rolls around each year, Bartos and her team go all out. "The majority of our prizes are in-house experiences rather than toys that get thrown away," she explains. "We offer a pizza lunch, an after-school movie where students can stay at school an extra hour, and a bounce house activity. Parents really appreciate that."

Perhaps the most popular incentive involves a little humility from Director Bartos: "Any student who raises more than $500 gets to pie me in the face at the run. That's always a big draw," Bartos laughs. "They get really excited to 'pie' their director. We'll definitely continue to use PledgeStar for years to come."

Laurel Elementary School in Fort Collins, Colorado was one of the first schools in town to adopt the Run-A-Thon concept for fundraising. While the event has been consistently successful, volunteer families were seeking ways to make the annual Laps for Laurel event more efficient.

"Traditionally, we have always done everything ourselves. But the old school way of using pen and paper and handling cash and checks was time-consuming and challenging, especially because not all parents were able to contribute and volunteer equally," says Dana Knight, Laurel's PTA president and event organizer.

The Laurel PTA discovered that using an online fundraising platform could help streamline the process and reduce volunteer burnout while also raising more for the school. "We tried using an online platform for the first time two years ago, but the amount of money that company kept just didn't feel right. This year, we used PledgeStar and we will definitely continue to for years to come. Their support team was fantastic and always ready to answer any questions we had. It was the perfect fit for our needs," explains Ms. Knight.

In the end, the bottom line tells the true story of success at Laurel Elementary. "Our goal was to raise $25,000 and we ended up with $42,000," says Ms. Knight.

The Laurel PTA credits the ease of distribution offered by PledgeStar as one of the key elements of the event's success. "Family members were able to easily share the PledgeStar link and people could donate easily with multiple payment options. It opened up so many more possibilities than kids walking door to door with paper and asking for cash or a check," says Ms. Knight. "The fact that details about our fundraiser could get spread so quickly was great. PledgeStar isn't a complicated platform and it really does everything that you need it to do."

Even Laurel's volunteers had a great time getting the students excited about the Fun Run. "We had a kick-off assembly where one of the parents dressed up as Lenny the Lynx, our school mascot, and another dressed up as a dinosaur. One of the moms even led dance parties in the morning before school with Lenny. We really tried to do all of our publicity before school so as to not disrupt the classrooms. We promised the kids that if we reached our goal we would turn our vice principal into a human sundae—and because the event was so successful, the principal also joined in. Each student was able to cover them with whipped cream, sprinkles, cereal, cherries, and other toppings. Everybody loved it!"

Laurel Elementary is a special place with a diverse population, and the PTA is sensitive to the needs of the students. "Because we are a Title 1 school as well as having a substantial special needs population, we try to promote the Fun Run as more than a fundraiser and really just a community event. All the kids get a T-shirt and a water bottle the day of the event rather than having to earn them through financial pledges," says Ms. Knight.

Once the event concluded, the PTA was tasked with distributing the profits. Laurel and its PTA use a unique method to disburse funds earned from the Fun Run. "We automatically support Eco Week—the fifth grade week-long trip to the mountains—but for the rest of it, our PTO has a grant process," explains Ms. Knight. "Teachers, staff, and families can submit requests, and the PTO uses a rubric to evaluate each one. Because we did so well this year, we are also considering helping out some of the other schools in our area that weren't able to pull off such a successful fundraiser. We hope this will show our kids how to give back to others who may need our help."

"I come from a tech background, so automation is key," says Sonata Pérez, VP of Fundraising for the Valley View Elementary School PTA in Pleasanton, CA. PledgeStar's ease of use was key to the Fun Run's success, giving parents and admins alike the ability "to log in, interface, share things out electronically on social media channels, via email, via text." On top of being the VP for the fundraiser, Sonata is a busy parent of students at Valley View. She gushes: "Text was huge. I didn't send one email for my kids. It was all text messages. That's really, really incredible. Your reach is much further. I think that was a key determining factor for us to return to PledgeStar."

The Fun Run at the end of September marked Valley View's sixth event with PledgeStar—and the most money raised yet. With nearly $70,000 in pledges, Valley View exceeded its goal by roughly "74% more than anticipated." As VP of Fundraising, Sonata had estimated that the fundraiser could raise about $40,000. So, it was a welcome surprise when the school surpassed its goal well before the fundraiser finished! "One of the things that really was a game changer for us was streamlining communications." Going the extra mile, Sonata built a website and linked to PledgeStar to motivate students to register. The admins reached out to families weekly with instructions on how to register and to let them know how many students had registered as the event progressed. Sonata explains, "Registration meant participation. Students didn't have to raise any money, but they had to register. If they registered, and their teacher registered, and the whole class registered, then they got a prize. We were really driving it around being part of the community."

Valley View Elementary School is a Title I school, so Sonata and the PTA set their sights on increasing participation in the event, rather than only rewarding students who raised a lot of money. In order to catch every fish, Sonata says the school offered a multitude of sign-up incentives. The Fun Run had 11 different prize categories, which encouraged students from lower-income families to participate and feel involved. There were rewards for teacher participation, classroom participation, the student who ran the most laps, and the student who received the highest number of pledges. "Kids were making me laugh," Sonata says. "They were like, 'I'm just going to ask for $5 from 20 people so I can win this prize.' For them, it wasn't about raising the most money, but about, 'How many pledges can I get?' and 'Can I win that?'" Like any good PTA member and parent, Sonata knows how important it is to reward kids for putting in effort: "We really try to look at it from a lot of angles and we reward all of that hard work. Even if somebody raised a dollar, it's a dollar more that we had and we got them to participate. I just want everybody to be a part of the party."

Working with PledgeStar alleviates many of the administrative headaches for coordinators like Sonata. Sonata says that the responsiveness and knowledge of PledgeStar's staff made the process of fundraising easy and accessible. She laughs, "I came with this ridiculous request and it was handled in like, 15 minutes." Sonata says that PledgeStar simplifies administrators' jobs, in part because there are support reps who are ready and available to answer questions in a timely manner.

A friend of Sonata's works at a different elementary school whose fundraiser was running at the same time as Valley View's. Sonata says, "My friend was telling me that they collect pledges manually. In envelopes. The thought of it made me cringe." Looking out for her friend, Sonata highly recommended PledgeStar, saying, "I really want you to see PledgeStar because I think it's going to be a game changer for how you do your Fun Runs moving forward."

Hermosa Vista Elementary in Mesa Arizona is in for a bright new school year following its annual Color Run, which took place at the end of September. This year's fundraiser brought in approximately $22,000. "We're really really proud of our students," says administrator Trisha Marcum, beaming. "When you look at how about 180 students raised $22,000, it's amazing."

Hermosa Vista used PledgeStar in 2019 and excitedly returned in 2022 for its fundraiser. Trisha says the committee tried a different site in 2021, but that it was "a total disaster." She continues, "We decided we will never use them again. We came back to PledgeStar for the Color Run because it's so much easier."

Trisha says the school loves PledgeStar and that the PTO has added a note to all of its materials: "PledgeStar is the only site you need to do the Color Run."

Hermosa Vista found that PledgeStar is easy to use "both on the administrator side and the parent side." PledgeStar makes it painless for event coordinators to pull "the top classes, the top students, and to pull reports for which students get which rewards." Trisha notes how simple it is for parents and guardians to sign their kids up and send out donation requests.

Trisha points out that PledgeStar's new company match donation tool was "great" for Hermosa Vista's fundraiser: "We were able to understand the matching businesses' needs and sign up how they needed. It was easy peasy."

To motivate students, the staff put thermometer goal posts around campus. "We used construction paper to fill the thermometers when the students reached goals. We updated and listed the rewards for the kids every day or so, so that they had a visual and could say, 'We're so close to the principal prank' or 'to the dunk tank.'"

The hard work paid off: "It was a great day. Every student gets to participate in the Color Run. We had huge bins filled with water and water guns and we alternated between water stations and powder stations." To make the Run as fun and colorful as possible, each of the powder stations had a different color.

In order to go the extra mile for students, Hermosa Vista offered an alternative to their Color Run: a Color Glow Party. "We have balloons and tape and things that glow in the dark. There are blacklights and everything is off. We have music and the students get to dance and enjoy all that while the Color Run is going on. The kids party, then all of the students meet and take a picture for their grade. The kids all get popsicles to cool down, then change clothes and go on with their day."

When Bradshaw Christian School in Sacramento, California, shut down along with the rest of the world in 2020, Ann Gomez, development director, was nervous about the future of their 28-year-old annual fundraiser.

"We made plans to bring back the Jog-A-Thon in 2021," Ms. Gomez explains. "With all the changes at school and the need to do something different with students at home, we started looking at online opportunities. It just made sense to make the leap with PledgeStar."

Making a big change to the decades-old fundraiser wasn't without concern. "The Jog-A-Thon is our main fundraiser, our golden goose," Ms. Gomez says. "While looking for an online platform, we were also weighed down by thoughts that the old method had worked for so long. As much as online made more sense, including postage and paper savings, with the old way we were guaranteed the money we'd been earning for more than 20 years."

Those fears were quickly squashed once Bradshaw signed on with PledgeStar and the Jog-A-Thon profits increased—so much so that the event was PledgeStar's top earner of the year with $370,000.

Using PledgeStar also helped Bradshaw connect with current tech-savvy parents. After nearly 30 years of the pen-and-paper method, Ms. Gomez admits that the school's pivot to online was long overdue. "The ease of technology is what made our fundraiser with PledgeStar successful. The ability to send 20, 30, 100 emails or texts with your photo and your own webpage is really attractive to younger generations. With the rapid embracing of smartphones and apps, there is a generation of parents at our school that are used to doing things this way. It really speaks their language."

Despite Bradshaw's past financial success, Ms. Gomez recollects how labor-intensive their previous method was and how adopting PledgeStar was a game-changer. "We had teams of parents spend 2 to 3 weeks processing all the paper pledges. Each of our 1,500 students would turn in forms with handwritten addresses and we had to process them. With PledgeStar, we only need a couple volunteers because the platform does the work for you."

And for Bradshaw, efficiency is key. "This year, when we used PledgeStar for the second time," Ms. Gomez shares, "The parents were really pleased that their information had been saved, which made it very easy for them to register this year." She also recalls that the parents see it as money-saving with the elimination of paper or postage and raves about the dashboard and how easy it is to pull up reports quickly. The flexibility offered with PledgeStar allowed Bradshaw to keep the paper option for families who wanted it. It's no wonder that the school used PledgeStar for a second time in 2022, raising over $350,000, and plans to continue with the platform in 2023.

Even before they used PledgeStar, Bradshaw's Jog-A-Thon raised $160,000 a year, and that number almost doubled after the switch. They're able to fund athletics, technology, campus security, playground equipment, and curriculum with donations alone. "We make sure there's an item for each school level that funds will go toward including preschool, elementary, middle and high school," says Ms. Gomez.

The event itself is a school-year highlight for students, parents, and teachers alike. "We have prizes and parties based on financial participation for each school level," says Ms. Gomez. "Parents are invited to watch or even run with the kids if they want to. There's music and bubbles to make it fun. Some of the kids even have painted hair. It's something everyone looks forward to."

At Golden Elementary in Placentia, California, it's not just the kids who benefit from the Jog-A-Thon they've run through PledgeStar for the past three years—it's the teachers, too. “We also award the teacher from the classroom that raises the most money with a gift card,” says Jennifer Murphy, former Jog-A-Thon chair and current committee member. “We know how important it is for the teachers to help us promote it.”

Before Ms. Murphy found PledgeStar in 2019, Golden Elementary was running their fundraiser completely on their own, so they had no outside help with accounting for donations. “I called about 5 or 6 different companies,” says Ms. Murphy. “The lower cost of PledgeStar really stood out. Other companies took a percentage without a cap like PledgeStar. Another company I contacted took 30 percent.”

Ms. Murphy explains that Golden Elementary's team of volunteers didn't need the extra services that came with the higher fees of other companies. What they were looking for was a way to manage donations easily and efficiently. “We had lots of cash and checks going back and forth prior to using PledgeStar, and it was kind of a recipe for disaster.”

With PledgeStar, Golden Elementary was able to eliminate the confusing back and forth of manually accounting for incoming funds. “With PledgeStar, we earned more money than we ever had before,” says Ms. Murphy. “The year before finding PledgeStar, we earned about $80,000-$90,000. Our first year with PledgeStar, we earned almost $140,000.”

The school's volunteers appreciated how PledgeStar established honest communication with the school. “We were able to take online donations but also continue with cash or checks if that's how people wanted to donate,” says Ms. Murphy. “There was no other fee associated with allowing us to do that. It was very transparent.”

Not only is PledgeStar transparent, they're also user-friendly. “Families at the school said it was really easy for people to use and was really great for donors who live out of state or even just out of the neighborhood,” Ms. Murphy says.

PledgeStar made it easy for classrooms to track their donations daily and engage in friendly competition. “It was a lot easier to do the accounting. Families were able to look on the leaderboard and see where they were ranked,” Ms. Murphy explains.

In addition to raising funds for their school, the students at Golden really enjoyed getting outside and exercising for a good cause. “On the day of the Jog-A-Thon, we have a DJ on campus playing music to get the kids excited to run,” says Ms. Murphy. “We have 3 different tracks on the campus and for each round, 2 classes run on each track, so 6 classrooms at once.” We incorporated sweet treats into their prizes—after they ran, everyone got popsicles,” says Ms. Murphy. “The kids had a great time.”

Ms. Murphy explains that Golden Elementary got the kids excited for the fundraiser with awesome prizes. “We give the students 2-3 weeks to get pledges,” she says. “We have different prize levels for money raised. Some kids win a game truck experience, some kids get a hot lunch delivered to school from a local restaurant, and in the past we've awarded kids with taking a limo to lunch or a laser tag experience.”

The parent volunteers also introduced class-wide prizes so that students would encourage each other to participate. “If a whole class participates, they get a pizza or ice cream party. We also give prizes for highest class earner and highest grade level earner.”

It wasn't just a fun day—the kids, parent volunteers, and teachers raised an incredible amount of money for their school. In the past, Golden Elementary has put the funds toward technology. This year, they're branching out. “We haven't decided exactly what to do with the funds yet, but will most likely put it toward what we've funded in the past: school field trips, teacher stipends, movie nights on campus, funding the school play, books for the classrooms, campus printers, and the Reflections program,” says Ms. Murphy.

Emmanuel-St. Michael Lutheran School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has taken a healthy lifestyle approach to fundraising. “We want our event to be two-fold: a healthy initiative for our school as well as a fundraiser,” says volunteer coordinator Janet Smith.

Appropriately named “Eagles in Motion,” evoking the school’s mascot, Emmanuel-St. Michael’s walk/jog-a-thon celebrated its third year using PledgeStar with a big financial plan. “We set a goal of raising $50 per student or $75 per family,” says Ms. Smith. “This puts us at the $20,000 mark, which we have been able to hit each year.”

Ms. Smith and the volunteers at Emmanuel-St. Michael credit their financial success to community support and using the PledgeStar platform. “Our families appreciate that they can share their personalized donation request with people from out of town and they don’t have to be a middle person who has to collect money. It’s very simple to use; that’s what’s nice about it.”

Emmanuel-St. Michael’s focus on health doesn’t end when the Eagles in Motion event is over. The PTL [Parent Teacher League] prefers to steer funds toward healthy purchases—both mind and body—for the school. “The earnings support our entire PTL and all the projects we support,” explains Ms. Smith. “Over the years we’ve purchased water-filling stations, replaced playground equipment, added awnings and a pergola, purchased classroom and library books, and funded special teacher projects.” This year, the school also plans to use a portion of their proceeds to purchase live-streaming equipment for school activities and programs.

The school extends the healthy slant toward student incentives as well. “All of our prizes are healthy and activity based, rather than junk food—things like headlamps, T-shirts, bouncy balls, cooling towels, lunch coolers, and water bottles.”

The PTL also discovered a way to tap into the 8th grade families who often don’t heavily commit to fundraising since it’s their last year at the school. “This year we allowed our 8th graders to use funds raised through Eagles in Motion for their trip to Washington, DC,” explains Ms. Smith. “The first $50 each student raised went to PTL and anything beyond that went into their trip account. It was a great way for us to get the 8th graders involved and to get their donors to cover their trip expenses. And with the PledgeStar platform, it was very easy to allocate those funds to each student’s account.”