Schoolfundr vs Zeffy: Fees, Features and School Fundraising Compared

Schoolfundr, now part of Hometown, has no platform fee, but Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 comes out of each gift. Zeffy is free, with student pages, tickets and a donor CRM in one account.

Zeffy is trusted by 100,000+ nonprofits

Zeffy VS Schoolfundr

Zeffy VS Schoolfundr: What nonprofits should know before choosing.

Pricing

Completely free. Always. But how? →

2.9%.

+ $0.30 per gift for Stripe processing, deducted from each donation. No platform fee.

On a $100 donation

100.

Your nonprofit keeps all $100.

$96.80.

kept from a $100 card gift, after Stripe processing.

Processing fees

$0 in credit card and transaction fees. Zeffy covers these. How? →

2.9%.

plus $0.30 per donation, paid by the school out of each gift.

Platform fees

Zeffy never takes a cut. You keep 100% of every donation.

$0.

No platform fee. Donors are asked for an optional tip.

Monthly fees

0/month.

No subscriptions, no paywalls. Every org, big or small, gets full access for free.

$0.

No subscription and no contract.

Other fees

We've never charged a single cent to nonprofits and we never will.

No setup fee. Offline cash and check gifts carry no processing fee.

What it means

Zeffy pays the card processing itself, so a $100 gift to your school arrives as $100. A donor's optional contribution never comes out of it.

Schoolfundr has no platform fee and runs on donor tips, but Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 comes out of every gift your school receives.

Sources

How Zeffy is free

Pricing · FAQ

Team & school campaigns

Free fundraising pages for any class, team or club, open all year.

School campaigns with student pages, a-thons and a dedicated expert.

Participant pages

A page for each student, with their own goal and photo.

A participant page for each student.

A-thons

No pledge-per-activity a-thon.

Activity-based fundraisers (a-thons).

Sharing

Students share their page by email, text or social media.

1-click sharing by email, social and SMS, plus automated messaging campaigns.

Leaderboards

Leaderboards for teams and students, embeddable on your site.

Not publicly mentioned.

Cash & checks

Recorded against a student's page, so their total stays right.

Logged toward the goal, with no processing fee.

Campaign expert

No dedicated expert. Chat and email help are free.

A dedicated fundraising expert on every campaign, at no charge.

Getting the money

Paid to your bank every Monday or monthly.

When the fundraiser ends: bank transfer or debit card through Stripe, or a mailed check.

What it means

Zeffy gives every class and team its pages and rankings at no cost and pays out weekly, without a-thon pledges or a dedicated expert.

Schoolfundr adds a-thons, SMS sharing and a fundraising expert per campaign, and releases funds once the fundraiser ends.

Sources

Peer-to-peer

Schoolfundr · FAQ · Pricing

All-in-one fundraising

Everything between campaigns: monthly gifts, events, merch and members, in one free account.

Campaign-based. Ticketing is a separate Hometown product.

Recurring donations

Recurring gifts on a monthly, quarterly or yearly schedule.

Not publicly mentioned.

Ticketing

Paid and free events, group tickets and app check-in.

Through Hometown Box Office, a separate product, at no cost to schools.

Raffles

Raffles with numbered e-tickets, where your state permits them.

Not publicly mentioned.

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes with free entry, open across the US.

Not publicly mentioned.

Auctions

Silent auctions, open online or at the event.

Not publicly mentioned.

Online store

Spirit wear and merch with stock tracking.

Not publicly mentioned.

Memberships

PTO or booster memberships that renew automatically.

Not publicly mentioned.

Donor CRM

Every family's gifts and tickets on one free record.

Not publicly mentioned. Dashboards with CSV export track each fundraiser.

Tax receipts

Sent automatically for each gift.

Automatic donor receipts.

What it means

Zeffy runs the rest of the school year from the same account: monthly giving, events, spirit wear and PTO memberships, all free.

Schoolfundr sends receipts and tracks each fundraiser. Tickets go through Hometown Box Office; a store and memberships are not on its pages.

Sources

Donations · Ticketing · Store · Memberships · Donor CRM

Schoolfundr · FAQ

Payment Methods

Every main way to pay, and your school pays nothing for any of them.

Cards through Stripe, at 2.9% + $0.30 per gift.

Cards

Card processing is on Zeffy, not your school.

Credit and debit cards, at 2.9% + $0.30 per donation.

Apple Pay & Google Pay

Accepted on forms, tickets and the store.

Not publicly mentioned.

ACH / bank transfer

Bank transfer for US donors, at no fee.

Not publicly mentioned.

In person

Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android, no reader needed.

Not publicly mentioned.

Donor-advised funds

DAF gifts of $1,000 or more in the US, free.

Not publicly mentioned.

Payouts

Weekly on Mondays or monthly, never a payout fee.

At the end of the fundraiser, through Stripe or by mailed check.

What it means

Card, wallet and bank payments to your school cost nothing on Zeffy, and the money arrives every week or month.

Schoolfundr passes Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 on to your school for each card gift and pays out once the fundraiser ends.

Sources

Payment processing · Tap to Pay

Pricing · FAQ

Support

Free chat and email for every school, and calls you can book.

24/7 chat and a dedicated fundraising expert, at no charge.

Help center

A library of 500+ articles.

A help center, plus webinars and videos.

Chat

Starts with AI and hands off to a person.

Available 24/7 from the chat button.

Answers in 2 to 6 business hours.

With Schoolfundr+ (no extra cost), a dedicated advisor by email.

Phone

No public phone line. Calls on request.

With Schoolfundr+ (no extra cost), a dedicated advisor by cell phone.

Campaign expert

None.

A dedicated fundraising expert on every campaign.

What it means

Zeffy answers every school by chat and email at no cost, and sets up a call on request.

Schoolfundr offers round-the-clock chat and an expert per campaign. Schoolfundr+ adds an advisor by email or cell phone.

Sources

Contact

Support · Schoolfundr+

Zeffy is 100% free, always.

Calculate savings

How is Zeffy free?

Why Zeffy over Schoolfundr?

Every dollar for your school, every month of the year

💳

The whole gift, not minus Stripe

Schoolfundr deducts Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 from every donation. Zeffy covers card processing, so a $100 gift reaches your school as $100.

🏫

Beyond one campaign

Schoolfundr runs campaigns. Zeffy also runs your tickets, spirit wear, PTO memberships and supporter list, all year, in one free account.

🏃

If your school runs a-thons

Schoolfundr builds activity-based a-thons and gives each campaign a dedicated expert. Zeffy offers neither today; it gives you free student pages and leaderboards instead.

Questions nonprofits ask when choosing between Zeffy and Schoolfundr

What is the difference between Schoolfundr and Zeffy?

Zeffy is a free platform a school can run its whole fundraising year on, with a donor CRM built in. It covers card processing, so your school keeps the full gift, and the same account runs tickets, a store and memberships. Schoolfundr, now part of Hometown, is a school crowdfunding platform for teachers, coaches, athletic directors and PTAs. It has no platform fee and runs on optional donor tips, but Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 is deducted from each gift.

What fees does Schoolfundr take?

Schoolfundr charges no platform fee, subscription or setup fee. Stripe's processing, 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, is deducted from each donation, so your school pays it. Donors are asked for an optional tip, which funds Schoolfundr. On a $100 card gift, your school keeps $96.80. Offline cash and checks carry no fee. On Zeffy, the same $100 gift arrives as $100. See how Zeffy is free. Source: hometown.com, October 2026.

Is Schoolfundr part of Hometown?

Yes. Schoolfundr is now part of Hometown, which also sells school ticketing (Box Office) and school websites. Schoolfundr's product, pricing and support pages now live on hometown.com, announced as "Schoolfundr + Hometown: Same Mission, More Impact".

Can our school run raffles, ticketed events or a spirit-wear store on Zeffy?

Yes, all in the same free account. Sell tickets with group tables and QR check-in, run a raffle where your state allows it or a sweepstakes in any US state, and sell spirit wear with sizes and stock. Every buyer joins your supporter list. Your school stays responsible for its state's raffle and sweepstakes rules.

Can a PTA, booster club or school team use Zeffy?

Yes, if it has an EIN and a bank account in the organization's name. It does not need 501(c)(3) status: any 501(c) type qualifies. A team or club that operates informally, without its own EIN, is not eligible.

What does Schoolfundr offer that Zeffy doesn't?

Activity-based a-thons, a dedicated fundraising expert on every campaign, 24/7 chat, automated messaging campaigns with 1-click SMS sharing, and Schoolfundr+, an add-on at no extra cost for athletic directors, with organization-level reporting and an advisor by email or cell phone. Zeffy has no a-thon pledges or dedicated campaign expert today.

Is Zeffy really free?

Yes. Zeffy pays the card processing itself, and your school pays no platform, card or payout fee. Donors may add an optional contribution for Zeffy, on top of their gift and never taken out of it. See how Zeffy is free.

What is the difference between Schoolfundr and Zeffy?

What fees does Schoolfundr take?

Is Schoolfundr part of Hometown?

Can our school run raffles, ticketed events or a spirit-wear store on Zeffy?

Can a PTA, booster club or school team use Zeffy?

What does Schoolfundr offer that Zeffy doesn't?

Is Zeffy really free?

Still undecided?

Keep comparing — and see why nonprofits choose Zeffy

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CauseVox

100,000+ nonprofits trust Zeffy — and keep their fees at $0.

For 7+ years, Zeffy has supported nonprofits with free, user-friendly fundraising tools.

As a startup nonprofit with only two members, and no funding (yet) we’d need something with low (or no) fees. Zeffy was a dream come true.

Masey, Loose Ends.

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“We were incurring a ton of fees for our past fundraising platform and Zeffy has helped us receive so much more of our donations.”

Zeffy has been invaluable in helping me track our donors, sales, events, and revenue in one spot. The coolest thing about Zeffy is it really is free!

Everything about Zeffy suits us starting with (of course, NO fees) but also the ease of use and customer experience as well as their client support!!

Zeffy is very easy to use and ensures that every dollar quickly gets into our account.. A huge help to our work!

Zeffy is very simple, allows for a lot of customization and seamlessly integrates into our website. The fact that all of this is free is still wild to me.

We couldn't believe there was a free payment platform for our Girl Scout group. Zeffy took ZERO fees from us, which is huge when you run on very small amounts of money.

We were ready to sell tickets in less than 30 minutes. The reporting capabilities were better than some other paid-for sites.

Since using Zeffy, our conversion rate of donations has skyrocketed. It's an easy platform to use. Plus customer support has always been responsive and helpful!