15 best online fundraising platforms for schools

From fun runs to classroom wish lists, the right platform can make or break your next school fundraiser. Whether you're a PTA leader, teacher, or school administrator, you need fundraising tools that are easy to use, light on logistics, and big on results.

That’s why we reviewed 15 of the best online fundraising sites for schools. These solutions can help you save time, increase student and parent participation, and hit your fundraising goals faster—with less stress and way more fun.

How we evaluated school fundraising platforms (so you don’t have to)

You have enough on your to-do list without comparing dozens of fundraising tools. So we did the homework for you, focusing on the everyday needs schools face—like tracking donations without spreadsheets, boosting family participation, and lightening the load on already overextended staff and volunteers.

Here’s the criteria we used to evaluate school fundraising software:

• Popular with real schools 🏫 We looked at top-rated platforms actually used by K–12 schools, PTAs, and booster clubs, not just general donation software.
• Easy for everyone to use 🙌 If it can’t be set up in under an hour (without calling IT), it didn’t make the list.
• Built for families 🎉 We prioritized mobile-friendly donation forms, engaging campaign features, and tools that make it simple for families to get involved.
• Transparent pricing (mostly) 💵 We looked for platforms that are upfront about their costs, whether they’re free, flat-fee, or percentage-based. A few tools require a custom quote, but we included them if they’re widely used by schools and their value is easy to assess.
• Helpful bonus features 🚀 We highlighted standout features that save time, improve results, or solve problems you didn’t even know you had.

Top 15 fundraising platforms for schools at a glance

1. Givebutter: Best free, all-in-one fundraising platform for schools of every size
2. Snap! Raise: For school sports teams
3. GiveCampus: For private schools
4. RallyUp: For creative, prize-based school fundraisers
5. Vertical Raise: For school teams, arts programs, and clubs
6. OneCause: For school auctions and live events
7. Cheddar Up: For collecting school payments, forms, and sign-ups
8. BoostMySchool: For school stores and branded giving pages
9. Classy (GoFundMe Pro): For large-scale and district-wide campaigns
10. Donately: For schools with an existing website
11. BetterWorld: For prize-based fundraising
12. Fundly: For crowdfunding campaigns
13. SchoolAuction.net: For high-budget schools & big auction events
14. 99Pledges: For a‑thon-style fundraisers
15. SchoolFundr: For elementary school fundraising 

1. Givebutter: Best free, all-in-one platform for schools of every size 

Givebutter brings together everything schools need—from donation forms and silent auctions to CRM tools for managing parent contact lists—in one easy-to-use platform. Whether you're a PTO president planning your next event or a development director juggling multiple fundraising efforts, Givebutter makes it simple to raise more with less time and stress.

💰 Price: Givebutter’s core fundraising tools are free to use thanks to optional donor tips. Schools keep more of what they raise, since 95% of donors choose to cover standard processing fees. 

📚 Standout features for schools

• Easy-to-embed donation forms
• Live supporter feeds and donor shoutouts
• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Ticketed events and auctions
• Text-to-donate and scan-to-donate
• Built-in email marketing
• Recurring donations
• Team fundraising and live leaderboards 

🎒 Students love: Seeing their name and fundraising total climb the live leaderboard after every donation—plus adding fun GIFs and messages to their donor feed.

💛 Parents love: Quick, secure checkout with Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and ACH, along with mobile-friendly donation pages and instant tax receipts.

What users like about Givebutter 

Givebutter gave us an easy platform to use for school fundraising. Setting up the fundraiser took less than an hour, and we were able to customize it exactly how we wanted. The ease of sharing truly made our fundraiser a success. We raised $10,000 more than we did last year with a different platform, and I think a lot of it had to do with how easy it was for users to share the fundraiser. — Randi R., School Support Specialist & Givebutter user

What users dislike about Givebutter

The only downside was trying to figure out how much money may be taken out after we reached our goal. It took us a little longer to find the answer, but support was great! — Randi R., School Support Specialist & Givebutter user

2. Snap! Raise: For school sports teams

Snap! Raise (a Snap! Mobile platform) is an online fundraising solution built for youth sports teams.Tailored for athletic teams, ROTC units, and extracurriculars, Snap! Raise helps coaches and advisors run large-scale fundraisers without the paperwork.

To motivate students and save coaches time, Snap Raise also offers team incentives like custom gear, participation prizes, and championship banners.

💰 Price: Snap! Raise fundraisers typically keep around 80% of what they raise, with the rest going toward platform and service fees.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• 28-day team and club fundraising campaigns
• Participant onboarding and outreach tools
• Real-time dashboards and reporting
• Multi-group management across seasons

🎒 Students love: Not having to sell products or go door-to-door. They can raise money simply by sharing their campaign link with friends and family.

💛 Parents love: The simplicity. With no paperwork, no event planning, and secure online payments, they can donate in seconds.

What users like about Snap! Raise

I love how quickly you can start the fundraiser 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 P., Snap! Raise user

What users dislike about Snap! Raise

Families dislike the 20% charge taken out. They want their full donation to go to the program. This turns them away when they are aware of that charge. — Snap! Raise user

3. GiveCampus: For private schools

GiveCampus is a robust fundraising platform built specifically for private K–12 schools, colleges, and education foundations. With advanced tools for donor management, volunteer engagement, and campaign customization, it’s ideal for institutions that need powerful back-end features and have the budget to match.

‍💰 Price: GiveCampus costs start at $1K per year. Additional fees apply for advanced tools, integrations, and custom branding.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Recurring giving and gift matching
• Volunteer management 
• Event registration and management tools

🎒 Students love: Creating and sharing personal fundraising videos, which help them connect with donors and feel directly involved in their campaign’s success.

💛 Parents love: Mobile-friendly donation forms with Apple Pay and Google Pay, making it fast and convenient to support their child’s school.

What users like about GiveCampus

GiveCampus makes it easy to give admin rights to those who need it. I enjoy being able to pull lists for events and easily check on registration numbers without having to request these things. — Gail D., Assistant Director of Network Engagement & GiveCampus user

What users dislike about GiveCampus

GiveCampus requires many add-on features to make full use of their products, thus increasing the cost. Their contracts can be cumbersome. For example, contracts for crowdfunding and giving forms are set up separately. Using less in one doesn't allow you to utilize the extra to cover overage in the other. — Todd M., Director of Advancement Services & GiveCampus user‍

4. RallyUp: For creative, prize-based school fundraisers

RallyUp is a versatile fundraising platform for schools that want to go beyond basic donation forms. With support for raffles, sweepstakes, a-thons, auctions, and product sales, RallyUp is great for boosting participation with fun, reward-driven campaigns.

💰 Price: RallyUp is free when donors choose to cover transaction fees via an optional tip model. Schools can also opt for a flat-fee plan.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Raffles and sweepstakes
• A-thons (walk-a-thons, read-a-thons, etc.)
• Silent auctions
• Product sales and donation forms
• Custom fundraising pages

🎒 Students love: Participating in class-based raffles or reward-driven competitions, where every share or entry feels like part of the game.

💛 Parents love: Prize-based fundraisers like sweepstakes and a-thons that are exciting, easy to share, and fun for the whole family.

What users like about RallyUp

Our PTO used RallyUp for our recent school fundraiser silent auction, and we couldn't be happier with the experience! From the get-go, the platform was incredibly user-friendly for both our organizers and our bidders. Setting up the auction items was a breeze—the interface was intuitive, and adding descriptions and photos was straightforward.  — Lauren N., PTO Event Chair & RallyUp User

What users dislike about RallyUp

The ability to delete an item and refund the bids. This would be handy if an artist manager or someone wanted to pull down an item that was already live. You never know, mistakes can happen, so it feels like that one thing would make a difference in when we could launch. While no one wants to disappoint a fan who bid on something already by cancelling a bid, there should be a way to have this. — Shelly H., Executive Producer & RallyUp user

5. Vertical Raise: For school teams, arts programs, and clubs

Vertical Raise is a digital fundraising platform tailored for athletic programs, performing arts groups, and school clubs that want hands-on, high-impact campaigns. Each fundraiser includes a dedicated rep to guide setup, outreach, and strategy—making it feel more like a partnership than just a tool.

💰 Price: Vertical Raise charges a 20% platform fee, plus an additional ~4% processing fee (typically passed to donors), for a total cost of around 24% of funds raised. This covers access to a dedicated fundraising rep and campaign support services.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Team-based fundraising
• Elementary and middle school-friendly campaigns
• Individual and group donation tracking
• Built-in text, email, and social media outreach
• Funds Manager Pro for multi-campaign oversight and reporting

🎒 Students love: Getting personalized pages, seeing real-time progress, and working as a team to reach shared goals.

💛 Parents love: Simple mobile checkout, prize incentives, and structured, professionally supported campaigns.

What users like about Vertical Raise

This fundraiser was completely painless, and it was nice to run something that was out of our hands and all done online. It was simple and well laid out. — Kelsey, Vertical Raise user

What users dislike about Vertical Raise

My main issue is the amount that is charged as a service fee. 30% of the funds raised is close to a third of what we hustle to raise. — Matt O., Vertical Raise user

More to explore

Find fundraising inspiration from real schools →

6. OneCause: For school auctions and live events

OneCause is a fundraising platform built for schools and nonprofits that host in-person, virtual, or hybrid events—especially auctions, galas, and fund-a-need campaigns. It’s a go-to for mobile bidding, easy ticketing, and strong donor engagement before, during, and after big events.

💰 Price: OneCause offers custom pricing, with subscription plans starting around $500/year and higher-tier packages (like Professional Auction & Event) reaching up to $2,995/year. For schools that prefer a pay-as-you-go model, OneCause charges a 5% platform fee, capped to limit total costs. Processing fees (typically 2.7–4.35% + $0.30–$0.35 per transaction) also apply, though donors can opt to cover them.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Silent and live auctions
• In-person, virtual, and hybrid fundraising events
• Mobile bidding and ticketing
• Paddle raises and donation appeals

🎒 Students love: Seeing classroom projects or clubs featured as auction beneficiaries and hearing shoutouts during live fund-a-need moments.

💛 Parents love: Mobile bidding and seamless ticket purchases make it easy for supporters to contribute—even if they can’t attend in person.

What users like about OneCause

We have used OneCause software for our annual auction event for the last five years. Overall, it has greatly improved our event and created an easy experience for our guests both in person and online. The event manager, support team, and on-site help the day of the event have been very responsive and useful for us. I would certainly recommend OneCause to someone planning an auction event. — Paul B., OneCause user

What users dislike about OneCause

I wish that I had more options regarding how to communicate with my supporters. There are odd restrictions about what can be sent via text/email and how long those can be. As well, I would like the ability to create my own mailing list. It was also difficult to get my volunteers logged into their accounts. This needed to be done ahead of time. — Sydney G., Resource Development Assistant & OneCause user

7. Cheddar Up: For collecting school payments, forms, and sign-ups

Cheddar Up is a user-friendly fundraising website for schools, PTAs, and parent leaders to collect payments, forms, RSVPs, and waivers in one place. From spirit wear and school lunches to class dues and ticket sales, Cheddar Up replaces paper forms and scattered payment links with a single, streamlined checkout experience.

What makes Cheddar Up stand out is its dual focus on payments and administrative automation—no more spreadsheets, Venmo threads, or paper trails to chase down.

💰 Price: Cheddar Up offers a free plan with unlimited collections and pages. Paid plans include Pro at $15/month and Team at $35/month. Transaction fees apply: Standard debit or credit card transactions incur ~3.5–3.95% + $0.45–$0.95 per transaction, while ACH payments typically carry lower fees. Higher-tier plans include lower fees, custom branding, and advanced reporting.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Merchandise sales
• Annual giving
• School lunch payments and club fees
• Form collection, waivers, and RSVPs

🎒 Students love: Easy-to-navigate shops for spirit wear and event sign-ups, with clear visuals and quick checkout.

💛 Parents love: Paying for everything—lunches, dues, shirts, events—on one mobile-friendly page, with receipts and forms handled automatically.

What users like about Cheddar Up

For our soccerathon, we collect everyone’s t-shirt size. And for after-school enrichment, we have to collect signed waivers. With Cheddar Up, collecting payments plus that information is simple. It’s SUCH a clean platform. — Andrea F., After-School Enrichment Coordinator & Cheddar Up user

What users dislike about Cheddar Up

‘More customization of the landing pages would be nice, but it's still pretty decent, not really even that bad. — Rishabh R., Cheddar Up user

8. BoostMySchool: For school stores and branded giving pages

BoostMySchool is a fundraising platform designed for K–12 private and independent schools, with a strong focus on online stores and branded giving experiences. Schools can easily create mobile-friendly spirit wear shops, sell event merch, and host giving days with donation pages matching their school’s branding.

💰Price: BoostMySchool uses custom pricing with no setup fees. Schools pay a small platform fee plus a 1.1% processing fee, with optional donor tipping to offset costs. 

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Giving days
• Online school stores for spirit wear and event merchandise
• Branded landing pages with real-time donor feeds and recognition tools

🎒 Students love: Participating in giving day competitions or school-wide challenges with live, class-based progress updates.

💛 Parents love: Having one easy place to donate, register for events, and shop for school gear—without juggling multiple platforms.

What users like about BoostMySchool 

BoostMySchool has been a great tool to illustrate the impact parents have and to inspire some healthy competition! For the first time, we were able to track parent giving by class easily (it was cumbersome and next to impossible in Raiser’s Edge). — Ellie B. Director of Annual Giving & BoostMySchool user

9. GoFundMe Pro (previously Classy): For large-scale and district-wide campaigns

GoFundMe Pro, previously known as Classy, is a robust fundraising platform built for school districts, education foundations, and large-scale campaigns. With advanced reporting, CRM integration, and high customization needs, it’s ideal for organizations running complex initiatives like capital campaigns or giving days. For those needing enterprise-level support, GoFundMe Pro delivers the tools to match.

💰 Price: GoFundMe Pro offers custom pricing for nonprofits, with typical plans starting at around $299/month (or approximately $4K/year, plus standard payment processing fees of 2.2%–2.5% + $0.30. Pricing varies based on organization size, features, and required add-ons.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Peer-to-peer and team fundraising
• Giving days, capital campaigns, and recurring giving
• Custom event pages and ticketing

🎒 Students love: Joining team-based fundraising campaigns that show progress in real time and boost participation.

💛 Parents love: The sleek, professional donation flow and ability to give in honor of a student, teacher, or classroom initiative.

What users like about GoFundMe Pro

Classy works great for us because it integrates perfectly with our CRM (Salesforce), the customer service is excellent, and the end-user experience is great and getting better. It's comforting to know Classy is always on the leading edge of innovation. — Brandon B., GoFundMePro user

What users dislike about GoFundMe Pro

The design-yourself options for pages are a bit limited. One hurdle is that when you want to design a custom page (with video, different styles of graphics, etc.), you sometimes have to work with a Classy designer to build that for you. That is very expensive for a small nonprofit. We had a custom page designed because we wanted to add a video banner, and it cost over $1,000 for Classy to build. I wish they allowed you to customize the look in more ways! — Lauren A., Director of Marketing & GoFundMe Pro user

10. Donately: For schools with an existing website

Donately is a flexible fundraising software ideal for schools that already have a website and just need a clean, customizable way to accept online gifts. With embeddable forms, hosted donation pages, and basic donor analytics, Donately makes it easy to plug reliable giving functionality into your school’s existing tech setup.

💰 Price: Donately offers a free plan with a 4% platform fee, or paid plans starting at $19/month with lower fees. Payment processing via Stripe adds 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for credit cards or 0.8% for ACH.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• One-time and recurring donations
• Donation form embeds and hosted pages
• Custom branding and fields
• Donor analytics and CRM integrations

🎒 Students love: Helping their school by sharing a mobile-friendly donation page that’s easy for family and friends to use.

💛 Parents love: Quick, secure giving embedded directly on the school’s website—no redirects or confusion.

What users like about Donately

The user interface for the giver is easy to use and clean, and looks good on our website. We love that there's an option to make a recurring gift and that we can fairly easily change the interface. — Emily S., Pastor & Donately user

What users dislike about Donately

The monthly fees are high for our organization, but the fee upon completion of a campaign is one of the lowest. — Cory P., Nonprofit Director & Donately user

11. BetterWorld: For prize-based fundraising

BetterWorld is a fundraising platform for schools and PTAs that want to run auctions, raffles, sweepstakes, and donation campaigns—all powered by an optional donor tipping model. 

While both BetterWorld and Givebutter both offer 0% platform fees, BetterWorld specializes in auctions and giveaways, while Givebutter also offers tools like peer-to-peer fundraising, built-in email/SMS, and donor CRM. But BetterWorld is still a great choice for free fundraising focused on prize-specific events.

💰 Price: BetterWorld is free to use, with no platform fees. Schools only pay standard processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), which donors can cover via optional tipping.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Online auctions and raffles
• Sweepstakes and giveaway campaigns
• One-time and recurring donations
• Branded fundraising pages

🎒 Students love: Participating in school raffles with exciting prizes and seeing leaderboard activity.

💛 Parents love: Low-cost fundraising with simple campaign setup and donation options—all mobile-friendly and easy to share.

What users like about BetterWorld

It’s free, no charges, plus it comes with a higher percentage of the money we get through fundraising across various platforms. — Abhitendu M., Associate & BetterWorld user

What users dislike about BetterWorld

Our fundraising depends on the auction feature, but it was a disaster during our program. Many attendees could not place bids due to a pop-up asking them to accept terms and conditions, but there was no visible way to agree.  — Akshay Y., Software Developer & BetterWorld user

12. Fundly: For crowdfunding campaigns

Fundly is a crowdfunding platform that helps schools raise money for specific initiatives like classroom supplies, field trips, or student-led causes. It’s quick to set up, easy to share, and simple to manage—making it a great fit for one-off or grassroots campaigns.

💰 Price: Fundly doesn’t charge platform fees, instead relying on optional donor tips. Standard payment processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30 apply. Larger campaigns benefit from lower platform fees: 4.9% base, which drops to 4.4% for $50K+, 3.9% for $500K+, and 2.9% for $1M+ raised. 

📚 Standout features for schools:

• One-off classroom or student fundraisers
• PTA and teacher-led donation drives
• Media-rich donation pages with social sharing
• Progress tracking and donor wall

🎒 Students love: Sharing their campaign page and watching the progress bar grow as donations roll in.

💛 Parents love: The quick setup and mobile-ready pages that make it easy to support a cause and spread the word.

What users like about Fundly

If it works well, it's nice that people can just enter the amount they want to donate all from the comfort of their own couch. A one-time donation typically works fine. — Hannah K., At-risk Ministry Leader & Fundly user

What users dislike about Fundly

There is quite a learning curve when it comes to getting the software to do what you'd like it to do when running reports and creating communications. — Mindelei W., Administrative Support Services Coordinator & Fundly user

13. Schoolauction.net: For high-budget schools & big auction events

SchoolAuction.net is an auction software designed for schools hosting in-person or online fundraisers. 

While it’s one of the most expensive platforms on this list, it’s best suited for private schools, foundations, or high-budget public institutions with dedicated advancement teams and advanced event needs.

💰 Price: Pricing starts at $79 per event (plus 3% performance + 3% processing fees), with annual plans ranging from $1K–$2K/year for unlimited events and premium features.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Live and silent auctions (virtual or in-person)
• Ticketing, seating charts, and guest check-in
• Paddle raises and fund-a-need drives
• Item procurement and mobile bidding

🎒 Students love: Seeing classroom art, performances, or donated experiences featured as auction items that raise money for programs they care about.

💛 Parents love: Well-run events with intuitive mobile bidding, guest check-in, and easy ticket purchases.

What users like about SchoolAuction.net

I've been running school silent auctions for over 10 years and have used a variety of tools to do so. This is by far the best product we've ever used. From guest management to ease of checkout to donor item entry, everything is a breeze. — Amy C., Schoolauction.net user

What users dislike about SchoolAuction.net

We have two main fundraising events a year that we use SchoolAuction.net for. Being involved in the event setup/implementation process for the first time this year, I did feel a bit overwhelmed with the different areas that needed to be completed, not knowing what were pertinent info and fields to complete or how things would or wouldn't appear on the end-user web interface for our event. — Brandon P., SchoolAuction.net user

14. 99Pledges: For a‑thon-style fundraisers

99Pledges is built for schools running tried-and-true fundraisers like walk-a-thons, read-a-thons, fun runs, and other pledge-based events. Instead of collecting paper forms and manually tracking donations, each participant automatically receives an individual or team fundraising page, ready to share with family and friends.

💰 Price: 99Pledges is free to use with 0% platform fees and no setup costs. Standard transaction fees apply: 3.49% + $0.49 per donation. There are no contracts, and most schools pass fees to donors so they keep 100% of what’s raised.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• A-thons (read-a-thons, spell-a-thons, etc.)
• Individual and team pledge pages
• Automated receipts and donor thank-yous

🎒 Students love: Having their own donation link to share and watching their progress bar climb with every pledge.

💛 Parents love: A simple, paperless pledge system that makes donating and sharing a breeze.

15. SchoolFundr: For elementary school fundraising 

SchoolFundr is a lightweight fundraising platform for schools and student groups that need a quick way to launch donation pages without any complexity.

💰 Price: SchoolFundr has no platform or subscription fees. Schools only pay standard processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), with optional donor tips funding the platform.

📚 Standout features for schools:

• Team or classroom fundraisers
• Flat donations via custom donation pages
• Group leaderboards and progress tracking
• Branded pages with student/team info

🎒 Students love: Seeing their name and group appear on the leaderboard as donations come in.

💛 Parents love: Fast setup and a simple link to support their child’s class or team—no registration required.

Time-saving tips

Craft a donation appeal for your school fundraiser →

Your school fundraising just got smarter with Givebutter

The right fundraising platform can transform your next campaign from a stressful scramble to a celebration-worthy success. While other tools focus on just one piece of the puzzle, Givebutter brings together everything your school needs—donation forms, peer-to-peer and team fundraising, live auction and event tools, and email marketing software—in one comprehensive platform.

Whether you're a teacher, PTO leader, or development director, Givebutter's scan-to-donate QR codes, text-to-give options, and mobile-friendly pages make it easy for busy families to give anytime, anywhere. 

Create your free Givebutter account today and discover why thousands of schools are choosing the platform that helps them raise more for the students and programs that matter most.