Features

Features That Help You Raise More

We're always thinking of new ways to maximize your fundraising potential. That's why PledgeStar raises more than any other online platform. You're leaving money on the table if you're not using these features:

Pledge Drives are difficult, because it's not easy asking family and friends for donations. PledgeStar makes it fun and easy by sending customized email pledge requests that look, feel, and sound like a personal appeal from your child. Because PledgeStar makes it so fun and easy, you'll invite more family and friends to participate, which results in more donations for your school.
PledgeStar's personalized messaging feature allows you to send pledge requests to family and friends who prefer messages over email, or whose email address you don't have. Families who use this feature raise 15% more donations than those that use email pledge requests alone.
While email and messaging are the most effective means of getting donations, PledgeStar lets you share your personal fundraising page on Facebook and X to reach family and friends through social media.
Chances are, you may not think of all the family and friends who would be happy to contribute. PledgeStar's online address book integration lets you see all your Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft online contacts and select which ones to send pledge requests. The more family and friends you reach, the more money you'll raise!
If your Jog-A-Thon accepts per lap donations, or your Read A Thon tracks per minute donations along with fixed donations, PledgeStar's per repetition donation option has you covered.
You never want to miss out on a donation because a donor sees a completed goal and decides their donation is not needed. Every fundraising page includes an optional, automatically increasing Goal Meter, encouraging donors to help participants reach their goal. Parents have the ability to override this feature and control the goal if they prefer.
With everything parents have going on, it's easy to get distracted. PledgeStar sends automatic email reminders to families who haven't finished setting up their fundraising page, which increases your Pledge Drive's participation. The more participants you have, the more money you raise!
With all the emails and messages in people's inbox, it's easy to overlook important messages. That's why PledgeStar automatically sends a polite reminder to re-engage family and friends who meant to donate, but didn't.
Donors have the opportunity to cover the fees incurred by the organization. This way, the organization receives 100% of the intended donation and can utilize the PledgeStar services for FREE!
Allow families and donors to translate their pages and letters into over 50 different languages when setting up their site or making a donation. Including translations can help extend your reach to non-English speaking donors, who would have otherwise not been able to donate!
If your event has business sponsors, PledgeStar makes it easy to include their logo and a clickable link to their website on your family pages.
Sometimes, parents need a little extra motivation to participate. Our School Goal Meter lets parents see how much more is needed to keep the programs they love.
A little healthy competition goes a long way. Some schools offer incentives to classes based on how much they raise. PledgeStar's Classroom Leaderboard feature lets parents see how much more their class needs to raise, which motivates parents to dig a little deeper.
Some donors prefer sending checks instead of making online credit card donations. PledgeStar has an option for schools to allow donors to pledge by check. Donors receive check delivery instructions and PledgeStar tracks the pledge and makes it easy to confirm it has been received. PledgeStar even helps by sending a gentle reminder to donors who forget to mail their check.
Allow donors to make a donation by paying with their PayPal account.
Many schools create their own video to accompany a new Pledge Drive announcement. PledgeStar allows you to embed your event video into the donation request emails, creating a rich and engaging experience for potential donors.
Donors are reminded to take advantage of donation match opportunities offered by their employers. If the donor's company offers donation matching, the donor may indicate the match is expected and have it automatically accounted for on the event site.

Features That Make it Easy

Wouldn't it be nice to know where your Pledge Drive stands at any moment? Your PledgeStar Dashboard includes a range of real-time, easy to understand information to help keep you on-track and manage what matters.

PledgeStar takes the hassle out of your Pledge Drive with its flexible reporting system.

The Prize Report lets you determine prizes by student, class or grade whenever you want. It includes money received online and offline. You can see when a student is eligible for a prize and what prizes have already been awarded.

Your treasurer will love PledgeStar's Deposit Report which details, using PTA standards, every donation your school receives, online or offline, and whether it was made by credit card, check or cash.

The Outstanding Pledge Report details online pledges that have been made, but not yet received. This allows you to know what's outstanding and determine the right time to have PledgeStar send reminder notices.

PledgeStar makes it easy to integrate money raised online and offline into the prize report. While online credit card donations get entered automatically, you enter offline check and cash donations through our easy to use offline donation entry form. Of course, PledgeStar does not charge a fee for donations made offline.

Some schools are happy with the proven, ready-made pledge requests PledgeStar provides, while others choose to craft their own message. Either way, PledgeStar has your back.

We provide every school with a well-designed, easy to understand instructional flyer to get your families started with PledgeStar. Download your Starter Flyer as a PDF file or copy it into Word so you can adjust it as you see fit.

PledgeStar optionally collects students' t-shirt sizes on the front end, so you don't have to worry about it on the back end.

Although we're always a phone call or email away, some folks are do-it-yourselfers. Your Administrator page includes quick and easy tutorial videos explaining every feature and how to use them.

If you choose to allow online donors to pay by check, keeping track of, and accounting for check donations is a snap with PledgeStar's online check entry form.

If you enable PledgeStar's per repetition donation option (pledges made per lap for a Jog-A-Thon or per minute for a Read A Thon, for example), we make it easy to record the number of repetitions completed and send your donors notices instructing them how to complete their donations. You can choose to enter every student's repetition count, or only students with per repetition pledges.

Event administrators who post class competition stats will love PledgeStar's Classroom Leaderboard, because families can view classroom results at any time on their own.

Need to see your Pledge Drive status while you're on the go? PledgeStar was designed to work just as well on your mobile phone as your desktop, so you can get real-time results whenever you need and wherever you are.

With PledgeStar, you work with a Pledge Drive Specialist dedicated to helping you squeeze every last dollar from your fundraiser, and if you need help, we're always a quick call or email away.

The less parents have to do, the more likely they are to engage. That's why PledgeStar makes it quick and easy to participate. Signing up your child and sending out pledge requests couldn't be simpler and takes only about 5 minutes.

PledgeStar makes it even easier for returning families by remembering donors entered the prior year.

Instead of entering your family and friends' contact information one by one, PledgeStar allows you select which ones to send pledge requests from your Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft online address books all at once. This also makes it less likely you'll overlook someone who might donate.

You may not have all your family and friends' email addresses or phone numbers, so PledgeStar makes it easy to reach them using Facebook and X.

One of the most fun parts of PledgeStar is getting notified when family and friends make donations. Students can see where each pledge request stands – if Grandma already made a donation or hasn't opened the email yet. PledgeStar will even let you know if the pledge request wasn't delivered because of an incorrect email address or mobile phone number, and let you correct it.

PledgeStar makes it easy for families with more than one child, because they only have to sign up once no matter how many children are participating. This way, donors receive one pledge request, and can make a single donation for all the children. Parents can see all pledge activity from their family page, including how the donations were split for each child.

For schools hosting a Read A Thon, families easily log their minutes, pages, books, etc. from their PledgeStar family page. If a teacher requests it, families can even print out a hard copy to turn in.

If your fundraising incentives include class competitions, PledgeStar makes it easy for families to see their classroom standing to help decide whether they should do more to help their classroom win.

Although your child will probably want to personally thank family and friends who donated, PledgeStar automatically sends a payment receipt attached to a simple thank you note as soon as the payment is received.

Allow families and donors to translate their pages and letters to over 50 different languages when setting up their site or making a donation. Including translations can help extend your reach to non-English speaking donors who would have otherwise not been able to donate!

You don't have to wait until you're in front of your computer to setup your family page or check your fundraising progress. PledgeStar was built to be mobile friendly, so you can do it whenever you want and from wherever you are.

Support is an often overlooked feature when selecting an online donation system, but don't worry, PledgeStar shines here as well. Instead of event administrators having to field questions from participating families, or families getting questions from their donors, we direct everyone to contact us online or by phone.

With PledgeStar's innovative One-Step Donation feature, donors receive a pledge request with a donation link specific to them. Clicking it takes the donor to their own personalized donation page, allowing them to securely complete their donation by entering just an amount, credit card number and expiration date. It doesn't get any quicker or easier than that!

Not everyone prefers making credit card donations online. That's why PledgeStar offers options to donate by check and PayPal, too.

Grandma doesn't want to get separate pledge requests from each of your kids and have to make separate payments. That's why PledgeStar sends a single pledge request including all your kids. Grandma can then make a single donation that covers all participating children, but parents and administrators see it split between the children.

To make tax time easier for donors, PledgeStar automatically sends a payment receipt that includes your school's tax ID number along with a thank you note.

PledgeStar makes it easy for donors to send an encouraging message after they make their pledge. Go get ‘em!

Allow families and donors to translate their pages and letters to over 50 different languages when setting up their site or making a donation. Including translations can help extend your reach to non-English speaking donors who would have otherwise not been able to donate!

Because PledgeStar was built to be mobile friendly, it's easy for donors to make donations right from their phone, whenever and wherever they want.

PledgeStar knows that every donation matters. Our friendly support staff takes great care answering questions from your donors online or by phone, so you never miss one.

SEE A SAMPLE FUNDRAISING PAGE IN ACTION

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