Success Stories

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.”

Rarely do kids get a chance to laugh at their parents, but the 1,027 students of Belen Soto Elementary in Goodyear, Arizona, recently enjoyed this rare privilege.

“The kids just loved the color run itself because by the end of the day the parents who were throwing color were covered in the powder,” says Tabby Hatfield, PTA treasurer and FUNDRun co-leader at Belen Soto. “I was throwing the green color and by the end of the day I looked like Hulk. Our blue person looked like a Smurf and our orange person looked like an Oompa Loompa! The kids thought it was hilarious!”

This was the school’s first time using PledgeStar, a switch that was long overdue. “For this event, we had always used another company that takes half of what you raise. We wanted to stop paying so much money,” explains Ms. Hatfield.

Belen Soto has the unique experience of a principal with a personal connection. “Our principal also has a child at the school and used PledgeStar from a parent standpoint. She liked that she could follow the dashboard and keep up with the donation levels by classroom rather than having to run a report every day.”

Ms. Hatfield raves about how easy and convenient the PledgeStar website is to use. “I really appreciated that I could categorize the different prize winners based on the runner, the amount they raised, teacher, and that we could log our prizes on the PledgeStar site. It helped us keep track of who we had given prizes to and it was super helpful.”

As is typical with schools who make the switch to PledgeStar, Belen Soto did not expect such a dramatic increase in funds. “We were hoping to raise $50,000 and ended up raising $61,000.”

PledgeStar was a huge help in getting the kids and parents excited about Belen Soto’s event. “We announced the fundraiser six weeks in advance and opened up the fundraiser a week before the run. Every week we were sending some sort of notice home. We sent flyers home with the kids and sent emails. We had a big online packet we sent out through PledgeStar. The teachers were really instrumental in getting that out and reminding parents to check their email.”

Belen Soto’s color run this past February was called the Rainbow Fun Run. “Instead of a 5K where everyone runs at once, we had 2 grade levels come out at a time every 40 minutes. We invited the parents of those grade levels to come be color throwers.”

“The run was the last day of a week-long event we call Storm Week. Every day we had a character trait event. The “S” stands for service, so the kids did an act of service on Monday, like thank-you notes or picking up trash. Teamwork, ownership, respect, motivation. M was Friday and the color run–they were motivated to run and raise money for the school.”

Belen Soto worked hard to get the word out about the Rainbow Fun Run and motivate the kids to raise as much money as possible. “We made a few bumpers that we sent out in the morning announcements. We created videos and powerpoints with music and animations. We had prizes for $25, $50, $100, all the way to $1,000. We had 4 kids that all reached over $1,000 in pledges.”

“We are going to provide shade structures over the playground and a seating area outside,” says Hatfield when asked how they’ll use the funds from the event. “We will definitely use PledgeStar next year.”

Village Christian Elementary in Sun Valley, CA, has a history of success with PledgeStar. “We’ve been using PledgeStar for 4 years,” explains Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF) president Kristen Reynolds. “We were searching online for a platform that would help us conduct our fundraisers in a better way when we found PledgeStar. We were looking for something very user-friendly.”

After spending a couple years using competing platforms for the school’s two major fundraisers, the PTF realized they could successfully use PledgeStar for both. “In the fall we have a Read A Thon,” Ms. Reynolds explains. “And in the spring we have Race for Education, our Jog-A-Thon. We’ve always used PledgeStar for Race for Education but were using another platform for the Read A Thon. Once we realized PledgeStar would work for both events, we switched both fundraisers to PledgeStar.”

As all schools know, online fundraising platforms can promise success, but they only work if families are on board with the program and schools find it easy to use. “PledgeStar is very streamlined, very user-friendly,” says Ms. Reynolds. “I love that I can always run a report for anything we’re tracking, and if I ever need anything the response is so quick and responsive. We get the most for our money with PledgeStar. We have no complaints.”

Ms. Reynolds credits PledgeStar’s ease of use with the school’s success. “It’s so easy for families to set up their page,” she explains. “All they have to do is personalize it and send it to their friends and family. They can use social media, text message, and email. It’s just so easy. We still have parents who write checks, but that is also easy to account for with PledgeStar.”

Like many schools, the past couple years have been challenging, especially when it comes to fundraising. Village Christian learned that with a great platform, anything can be achieved. “Last year, with school being online, we had the least amount of students involved in the Read A Thon than in the past but raised the most money we ever have—just over $28,000 with only half of our students participating.”

Once the Read A Thon concluded, Village Christian had to decide how to allocate the funds. Ms. Reynolds explains how the PTF makes those decisions: “We meet with the school to find out what they need, then bring those requests to the PTF board. This year, we used some of the money to provide tuition assistance for families struggling with employment during the pandemic. We also purchased outside seating and shade structures for the campus so that some lessons could be taught outside with fresh air. We are also building a new lounge for teacher aides.”

Part of running a fundraiser is fielding questions from families. This can take up valuable time, especially when you are relying on a group of volunteers who have other work and familial commitments. PledgeStar’s platform strives to significantly reduce this. “I’ve never had a complaint about PledgeStar,” says Ms. Reynolds. “In the past when we’ve used other platforms, there’s always been problems and lots of questions. PledgeStar is so streamlined, and there’s not a lot of room for error. I’ve not had any hiccups. It’s so simple, and no ever has any complaints.”

Searching for Pledges at Falcon Academy with a Clear Vision for Success!

The PTA at Falcon Academy of Science and Technology in Brea, CA, know that their coding immersion program is a wonderful opportunity for students. They also know the value of having someone else manage the ones and zeroes when it comes to fundraising.

“When I joined the PTA, we were doing fundraising the old-school way with stacks of cash and checks. It was horrible,” says PTA treasurer Jim Bailey. “We got on board with PledgeStar the following year and got our feet wet. The next year we tried to do it ourselves, including coding our own website—that was a nightmare. I would tell others to not even try. We basically coded up and implemented a ‘poor man’s’ copy of PledgeStar and it was a massive endeavor. Had we continued down that road, it would have been an entire year of work to do it ourselves again the following year. We immediately decided not to do that and go back to PledgeStar.”

Falcon Academy also learned what happens when a school population used to writing checks becomes accustomed to using an online fundraising platform. “After using PledgeStar for a few years,” Jim explains, “our online pledges have gone from a quarter of the total pledges to over 90 percent. Having everything online is more efficient and less work for our small band of volunteers.”

Falcon’s 2021 fundraising event, the Falcon Olympics, was the best of both worlds: efficient for volunteers and financially successful. “Our goal was $40,000 and we ended up pulling in $50,000. This year we raised the most money we ever have.”

The students of Falcon Academy were duly rewarded for their financial success. The PTA offered many incentives to keep the students and families interested in the event. “We told the kids that if the school exceeded the overall goal we would have a BMX stunt group come to the school and do a demo. The students who exceeded our per-student goal get to visit a game truck we are bringing to campus.”

While Falcon is computer coding focused, funds raised through PledgeStar go to more than computer science. The PTA at Falcon wants to make sure that a wide variety of enrichment is offered to its students. “We fund a math program and a couple reading programs that the teachers want to use but the district and state don’t fund. We also recently funded the addition of a large climbing structure to our playground.”

When asked what’s best about partnering with PledgeStar, Jim is quick to respond. “It’s so easy and convenient for families to go online and make pledges. Using PledgeStar allows donations to come in from relatives and friends in other parts of the country,” he says.

Butler Elementary CARES Enough to Raise More Than $35,000!

The staff and faculty of Butler Elementary in Avon, Massachusetts, pride themselves on not only offering top-notch academic instruction but also instilling important values in their students. This was on full display during the September 2021 Butler CARES Course fundraiser—a 10 day event that culminated in a fun run/obstacle course.

“We have 5 values we focus on during the year,” explains parent volunteer Shannon Coffey. “During the fundraiser, we highlighted one of those values each day: cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. We asked community members, like the police chief and the fire chief, to make videos about a specific value and had the teachers show them in the classrooms to get the kids excited about the fundraiser.”

Clearly their enthusiasm paid off: Butler easily surpassed their $35,000 goal and completely funded all field trips and enrichment programs for the 2021-22 school year. Since donations exceeded expectations, they were also able to fulfill their dream of building an outdoor classroom that will be available to every student on campus.

Ms. Coffey credits this year’s success to the amazing Butler community but also the school’s partnership with PledgeStar. “After using another company for online fundraising,” Ms. Coffey says, “We had several parents frustrated that a lot of profit went to the company that ran it. A friend had posted on social media about using PledgeStar, so I looked it up and compared it to a couple other sites. We really liked what PledgeStar had to offer. Not having to upload all the names ourselves and allowing people to register on their own really appealed to us along with the lower cost.”

Ms. Coffey and her team of volunteers also realized they could reward students in more efficient and economic ways—and also more equitable depending on family financial circumstances.

“We tried to stay away from spending money on a bunch of trinkets and instead gave the students raffle tickets incrementally depending on how much they raised,” Ms. Coffey explains. “Some of the raffle prizes were a ride to school on a fire truck or police car, principal for a day, cupcake parties, tablets, FitBits, and hoverboards. The raffle gave every kid a chance to win no matter how much they raised.”

The volunteers at Butler also understood that not all family members would want to donate online and appreciated that PledgeStar also provided the option to raise funds the old-fashioned way. “With our prior vendor, we couldn’t accept checks or cash in addition to online donations,” says Ms. Coffey. “I think we definitely earned more by having that option with PledgeStar.”

One of the many surprises during this year’s CARES Course fundraiser was the dramatic increase in sponsors—from 5 to 26. By using the PledgeStar platform, Butler Elementary was able to acknowledge these generous donors and share their information with the community. “I loved that we could put our sponsors on our PledgeStar page,” says Ms. Coffey. “We could also put photos of the prizes on our page and I think it really helped motivate the kids.

While asking for money can be challenging, following up can be even harder. Parent volunteers are typically not comfortable playing the role of bill collector, and PledgeStar includes easy payment reminder emails as part of the platform, which the volunteers at Butler really appreciated. “We were able to follow up on outstanding payments via PledgeStar,” explains Ms. Coffee. “And by sending out reminders, we got the checks within the next day or two. PledgeStar was just so helpful in every way we needed.”

At Cooper Mountain Elementary, Big Earnings Lead to Even Bigger Readers!

Cooper Mountain Elementary in Beaverton, Oregon, believes that all students should be able to read every book their heart desires, regardless of their family’s financial situation. This was even more important during their 2021 Cougar Run fundraiser, with many families still struggling.

“There’s a big literacy focus at our school, including the Oregon Battle of the Books state reading competition,” says PTO event organizer Alia Hedges. “But our school tends to never have enough money for the school library, so every year the PTO invests in books from the OBOB reading list. We want to make sure all kids have access to OBOB books without a financial barrier.”

This is where funds from the Cougar Run prove to be vital. “We made $24,000 last year, but this year we set a goal of $15,000,” says Ms. Hedges. “This lower goal was based on people being out of work and not wanting to put any strain on families. But in the end, much to our surprise, we ended up making over $30,000.”

Cooper Mountain credits this unexpected windfall with their use of PledgeStar.

“We used to send home paper envelopes with each student to collect cash and checks,” explains Ms. Hedges. “Then, a parent who had experience with PledgeStar through school sports suggested we modernize and use the platform at Cooper Mountain for a broader reach. It was awesome to see how easy it was to make significantly more money with less work.”

In addition to the increase in money earned, Ms. Hedges explains how PledgeStar’s ease of use made a difference while planning the Cougar Run. “Technology can be overwhelming, but I couldn’t believe how easy it was to use PledgeStar—it’s definitely the easiest part of running our fundraiser. It also makes it easy to give: my mom is 75 and she can submit a donation in 2 minutes. It was also amazing to see the number of responses our kids got by sending out donation request letters through PledgeStar.”

Once the event concluded and donations were tallied, Cooper Mountain PTO wanted to practice the act of paying it forward. “We decided to put community support first,” says Ms. Hedges. “In addition to supporting teachers with the purchase of classroom technology, we partnered with staff to help families in need on our campus. We helped with rent, mortgage payments and even Christmas presents.”

Ms. Hedges discussed the process of getting the PTO and school on board with using an online fundraising platform and the concerns that often arise when paying for a service. “This year, we participated in PledgeStar’s pilot program to have donors cover the administrative fee. It was amazing. It’s hard to give up any money during a fundraiser, and the donations we raised this year with the pilot program covered the platform fee 100%.”

In these tumultuous financial times, Ms. Hedges reflects about the changing face of school fundraising. “It’s been awesome to see how we can keep fundraising significant,” she says. “If we weren’t using PledgeStar, I think it would be really challenging. Parents would definitely forget to donate, and I think the Cougar Run would have been somewhat disastrous. It’s almost ironic to think that in a period where we’d most likely be struggling to hit our targets, we are actually doubling them. I really attribute a lot of that to PledgeStar making it so easy, for families who are able, to give easily and give significantly.”

Kick Off The New Year With PledgeStar's Newest Feature That Makes It Free! Ask Us How.

See How One School Raised 20 Times More With PledgeStar!

Considering PledgeStar’s new fee coverage program where donors can opt-in to cover our fee but have cold feet? Well, now’s the time to pull the trigger on this revolutionary concept. The results are in from our Fall 2021 test pilot program and the consensus is an overwhelming YES!

Schools across the nation demoed our opt-in program—where donors can add an additional 10% toward PledgeStar’s and Credit Card fees at checkout—and every campus was successful. Amazingly, every school not only covered PledgeStar’s fees but had a substantial amount left over to offset and in most cases completely cover their credit card fees. The best part was all overages went right back to each school.

The numbers say it all:

• 100% of participating schools saw a net gain by using the program.
• Up to 54 percent of of donors opted in.
• Schools averaged an additional 5% in profit from the opt-in program.
• So, what are you waiting for? Call or email us to include the opt-in element with your fundraiser today!

Still unsure? Keep reading to see a school's experience with the opt in option and how they raised 20 times more that previous fundraisers!

St. Jerome School Raises 20 Times More With PledgeStar's Online Fundraising System!

When Principal Tom MacDonald was approached by new parent and experienced fundraiser Matthew McDonald about taking St. Jerome School’s annual Fun Run campaign online for the first time, he was slightly skeptical. The small K-8 campus in West Los Angeles had collected donations the old-fashioned way for years, and MacDonald was concerned about getting involved with a company that would potentially keep a large portion of the school’s profit.

What sealed the deal for Principal MacDonald was PledgeStar’s new option that asks donors to pledge an additional 10% to cover administrative fees—potentially making the service free for St. Jerome’s. “This was significant for us because we had no idea how much we were going to raise,” says Matthew McDonald. “The school had been living in a manual, paper environment for so long. We didn’t want to bring the principal a high-tech digital method that was going to suck up all his profit.”

“I had used the additional 10% option with another platform at another school a couple years ago and found it to be hugely successful,” says Matthew. “When we heard it was an option with PledgeStar, it was a no-brainer. We saw over 50% of people selecting that option. Since most donations tend to be in the $10-$50 range, when donors check the box [to add 10%] they’re making the judgement that it’s only an extra one to five dollars. It tends to be easy all the way around. When people commit to paying $20, they’re not going to think too much about paying an extra $2.”

Once the event kicked off, Matthew suggested setting a goal of raising 10 times more than the year before. In the end, St. Jerome’s leap of faith paid off: by partnering with PledgeStar, the October 2021 Fun Run actually raised 20 times more than the year before.

“This year’s Fun Run brought in more money than the entire last two school years' total fundraising efforts [St. Jerome raises funds in many ways, such as selling Christmas trees and gift wrap],” explains Matthew. “The principal was blown away. We thought this year would be a big improvement [using PledgeStar] but we didn’t expect it to reach this level.”

When asked if PledgeStar contributed to this massive donation increase, Matthew agreed. “Ultimately, PledgeStar's ease of use was a key factor. The easier you can make something, the better chance you’ve got to get donations. You can reach people using PledgeStar in multiple ways, quickly and easily—email, text, social media posts. It also makes the somewhat uncomfortable task of asking for money easier. PledgeStar handles the followup requests, the gentle reminders. We saw a flurry of donations come in after reminder notes were sent, so clearly they have an impact. If it were left to the individual, I’m sure you’d get a really low percentage of people wanting to hit up a family member or friend a second or third time,” Matthew adds.

The excitement at St. Jerome over the fundraiser’s success wasn’t limited to the principal and event organizers. Since the Fun Run was so successful, every student was able to participate in almost every incentivized reward related to the Fun Run. Special rewards like a lunchtime dance party, a movie night and even watching the principal shave his head were enjoyed by the entire student body.

In the end, Matthew says it was the support of PledgeStar that really contributed to the Fun Run’s success. “I didn’t want to sign up with a company and then get lost in the mix and only have a few days to fundraise. PledgeStar really helped us get through everything and had great answers for all our questions.”

The students at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington, have learned the valuable lesson that it’s often better to give than to receive. As Director of Development, Laura Rose, explains, the students and their families not only give their time but also share their good fortune each year simply because they care about their school. That giving took on an extra special meaning during this year’s annual Jog-A-Thon.

Charles Wright Academy has been using PledgeStar as it’s fundraising platform for several years. “It makes it really easy for families to participate,” Ms. Rose explains. “They only have to register once and don’t have to re-enter all of their information each year. The PledgeStar system gives them an option to send requests to everyone they did last year.”

Thanks in part to using the PledgeStar platform, Charles Wright Academy was able to surpass their goal of $20,000—raising almost $26,000 at this year’s event.

While many schools rely on prizes or incentives to motivate students, Charles Wright Academy takes a different approach with fundraising. “We’ve not done any big incentives [for the students] like prizes,” says Ms. Rose. “We’ve kept it focused on supporting their school. Everybody runs whether they’re participating in the fundraiser or not. It’s been a long-standing tradition for at least 30 years.”

Each year, the Academy designates Jog-A-Thon proceeds for a specific school need. Past projects have included new playground equipment, new bike racks, and even water bottle filling stations. This year, Jog-A-Thon proceeds helped with the extra expenses incurred to keep students safe and continue in-person learning on campus during the pandemic. Additionally, after witnessing so many food banks serving many more people than usual, the school made the decision to share their good fortune. “Normally all the money has gone toward the school for class parties or other special purchases,” Ms. Rose explains. “This year, we decided to give half of the revenue to one of our community partners, one of the local food banks [Emergency Food Network]. I think that fact contributed to people being much more generous this year,” says Ms. Rose. Charles Wright’s generous donation helped the food bank provide more than 60,000 meals to needy families in the community.

Charles Wright Academy parent, MarcKia Wilson, shared the school’s decision to pay it forward. “My son said, ‘Mom, if my family was in need, I hope that somebody in the community would step up to help us get back on our feet.’ He feels it’s our responsibility to give back to the community and help it grow because this is where we live.”

Ms. Wilson was also impressed with how easy it was to use PledgeStar. “A lot of parents have a lot going on—from work, to children—and the PledgeStar platform is simple. It was so easy that my son was able to pull email addresses from my contacts and put them in the system. It’s simple, quick, easy and I love that folks can leave little messages to support the kids.”