Schools are under more financial pressure than ever, from replacing outdated tech and repairing playgrounds to keeping arts and sports programs afloat. Whether you're raising money for prom, uniforms, or basic classroom supplies, fundraising isn't optional anymore; it's essential.
But here’s what most school communities don’t realize: The wrong fundraising platform could quietly cost your school thousands of dollars in fees taken directly from your donations.
If you don’t have a dedicated fundraising team or rely on your PTO or PTA to lead the charge, this is for you. While the days of bake sales and paper pledge forms are fading fast, digital fundraising is easier than ever with tap-to-pay options, automated tools, and donor-friendly dashboards.
But not all platforms are created equal. And in many cases, the "convenience" comes at a steep cost. We’re here to help you with a full breakdown of fundraising platforms that bring your school fundraising ideas to life.
This guide is made specifically for small to mid-sized schools, PTAs, PTOs, booster clubs, and volunteer-led teams that need powerful fundraising tools without heavy fees (or any fees at all).
The following schools will find this especially useful:
We’ll walk you through the best low-fee and zero-fee fundraising options, and show you just how much your school may be losing in platform and transaction fees without realizing it.
These schools can’t afford to lose 5–20% of what they raise, and we’re making sure they don’t have to.
The platform your school chooses doesn’t just process donations, it determines how much of your hard-earned funds you actually keep.
Here’s the reality: Raise $10,000 with most platforms, and you could lose $450 or more in fees. That’s equivalent to:
Zero fee doesn’t mean losing out on features you need. Here’s what to look for when you’re evaluating your current fundraising platform or choosing a new one that doesn’t leave you short on critical funding.
While many fundraising platforms are built for scale, they usually come with fees and complex features that may be better suited to large institutions with dedicated fundraising teams. A simple platform makes a huge difference if you’re struggling with bake sale-level budgets or leaning on volunteers.
We've broken down the best simple and low-cost options available to keep up with fundraising trends and get everything you need from a fundraising tool that fits your budget. Take some time and review what aligns best with your fundraising goals and mission, noting any fees or feature upgrades that can lower your overall impact for students and programming.
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, maximizing the impact of your fundraising efforts. 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, such as the Community Music School of Santa Cruz, love Zeffy’s platform and have seen results, including raising $47,664 for youth programs and scholarships, while saving an additional $2,383 in fees.
While Zeffy is versatile, other platforms offer more intricate integrations with different 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.
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 per month for 1,000 donor reports and 5,000 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)
Bloomerang is a powerful donor management platform, but its features and cost are likely more than most small private schools need. The higher price is designed for organizations that need in-depth donor tracking, analytics, and long-term fundraising strategy tools.
That cost investment may not be needed for many small schools just trying to raise funds for programs, events, or supplies. Zeffy, by contrast, offers an entirely free platform with no transaction or subscription fees, which is perfect for small schools that still want a wide variety of campaigns and fundraising tools.
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 school fundraising platforms for schools.
Snap! Raise can simplify 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
Snap! Raise is popular with school sports teams because it handles many fundraising logistics for you. Teams get a dedicated rep, built-in email outreach, and a streamlined setup.
If your team is open to managing a bit more independently, Zeffy is a powerful alternative that’s 100% free, with no fees taken out of your donations. It's easy to use and works great for ticket sales, auctions, raffles, donation pages, merchandise sales, or direct donation drives.
For teams that want to maximize what they keep and have more of a long-term fundraising partner, Zeffy is a wise, budget-friendly choice that gives you complete control over your fundraising.
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 school fundraising platform may not be worth the cost.
Platform fees range from $495 to $995, according to the software review site G2. Processing fees default to 3.5% + 35¢ per transaction, 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.
BetterWorld is one of the best crowdfunding sites for education. With this transparency-focused online school fundraising platform, booster clubs, and students can follow up campaigns with photos and videos that show supporters exactly which improvements their gifts have 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 increase 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 find it easy to 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)
BetterWorld supports both crowdfunding and event ticketing, making it a versatile option for schools wanting to run multiple types of campaigns on one platform. However, while BetterWorld offers a solid mix of features, keep in mind that it still charges standard transaction fees (2.9% + 30¢), and some users find the customization and reporting tools a bit limited.
If keeping costs as low as possible is a priority, Zeffy is a strong alternative. It also supports event ticketing, raffles, crowdfunding, and even e-commerce, but without any platform or transaction fees. That means schools keep 100% of what they raise, which can make a big difference—especially for smaller events or grassroots campaigns.
Classy's unlimited event landing pages are quick and easy to set up, and they are specifically designed for 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 lack event support and more robust outreach programs.
Classy offers three tiers with customizable features, but the costs are not 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, helping schools raise more. Schools can also boost donor satisfaction with customizable campaign pages and seamless event experiences.
One case study illustrates how the Claremont Middle School PTA supports an annual event that has generated nearly $ 1 million over the past decade. This resulted in the hiring of additional staff to support students, the establishment of an after-school program, and the provision of school supplies to the community.
DoJiggy's fees are higher than the average school fundraising platform, and some reviews indicate that their donation pages can be challenging 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, which are 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.
When school budgets fall short, the pressure lands on already-overworked volunteers, parents, and teachers to fill the gap. But most small schools don’t have the time, staff, or resources for grant writing marathons or expensive event planning.
You need fundraising ideas that are:
So, what type of fundraising ideas truly stand out among students? You might start with Zeffy’s free education fundraising idea generator to see what aligns best with your goals and grade level.
Here are some more creative and enjoyable ideas to engage students at every school level while raising money and encouraging participation in charitable events:
A grant is another great way to add funding for anything your school is trying to accomplish. Specific government, private foundation, and corporate grants can align well with education efforts and help you jump-start your goals or projects.
A few tips for finding the best grant:
If you’ve never put thought into this before, you’re not alone! It’s a great time to see what goals you do have in place, and see if there’s anything that feels important when you’re reviewing your options.
Start by answering these key questions to flesh out your school fundraising idea:
Once you’ve clarified what, why, and who your school fundraising event is, 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 the features you desire 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:
Zeffy checks all of the boxes for school fundraising as a reliable platform for any way you like to engage your community and scale over time. It’s also the only zero-fee option, which schools need to see the full value of your fundraising efforts.
When it switched to Zeffy, Shrewsbury PTO accepted digital payments for the first time, immediately eliminating payment processing fees. Using Zeffy’s simple and free fundraising features, such as online donation forms, eCommerce, and Tap-to-Pay, they raised $42,686 and saved $2,134 in fees.
Real user feedback: “Everyone is loving the electronic option — no more paper trails!”
By switching from Square to Zeffy, Westerner Band Boosters eliminated nearly $3,400 in annual fees. Now, they sell event tickets, raffle tickets, and merch to raise funds for their school band, and volunteers can easily participate in helping out the cause.
Real user feedback: “Fees savings make a huge impact on our students.”
Torrey Pines Elementary uses Zeffy to raise six figures annually for student programs, saving nearly $14,000 in platform and transaction fees in the process. They’re able to set up campaigns quickly and engage donors to fund big projects and count on every cent they raise going directly to the students they serve.
Real user feedback: “Zeffy lets us keep every cent. No other platform does this.”
Schools everywhere are discovering what happens when you stop losing money to fees and start keeping 100% of what you raise. Whether you’re a PTO, music booster club, or school foundation, Zeffy’s free tools make online fundraising simple, modern, and budget-friendly (because it’s actually free).
When raising money for your school, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Before making your decision, take some time to refine your fundraising strategy and consider how to maximize the benefits of your platform’s features. Here's a quick look at school fundraising trends to keep in mind:
When you're working with a bake-sale budget, every dollar matters. And yet, most platforms quietly take 5–20% of your hard-earned donations in fees that could’ve paid for field trips, sports gear, art supplies, or even lunch for students in need.
That’s why schools across the country are switching to Zeffy to save thousands in fees and funding their mission, where their hard-earned money belongs.
With Zeffy, you get:
Whether you're a volunteer-run PTA, a booster club juggling events, or a principal with no dedicated fundraising team, Zeffy lets you do more with what you already have. Switching is quick and easy so you can start your next fundraiser with Zeffy today and ditch the fees and complicated tech for good.
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