Top Fundraising Platforms for Parent-Teacher Organizations

I built Big Nest to handle almost any organization, but even I will tell you that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Here is a list of the top platforms that can help your school group run its fundraiser.

Most software fits into two categories: platforms that allow any nonprofit to raise funds and software built specifically for schools. The latter typically allows you to link a donation with a student and a classroom. In my opinion, that’s the best fit for a parent-teacher organization because it saves you so much time. When donations count toward individual or classroom prizes, you don’t want to spend hours manually associating donations with kids. That’s why I prefer software that can show this student-classroom-donor triangle of data.

General Nonprofit Fundraising Platforms

Whether you’re a PTA, PTO, or PTG, chances are you’re a nonprofit. That’s good news because there’s a lot of software geared toward helping nonprofits manage donations. Let’s examine the top fundraising software that can help any nonprofit. This can be adapted to your organization with a little work.

These solutions typically don’t offer the ability to link donations to specific students or classrooms, but they may provide a cost-effective way to manage donations for your organization. Frankly, PTOs are scrappy—scrappier than most startups I’ve worked with. With the right crew, you can make this work.

CheddarUp Pro

• Annual Fees: $350 (but free if you’re using MoneyMinder)
• Processing Fees: $0.65 per transaction + 2% of each donation

CheddarUp is designed to support a wide range of nonprofit needs. They charge a flat annual fee and a per-transaction fee. However, if you’re also using MoneyMinder for bookkeeping, you get CheddarUp at no extra cost. MoneyMinder costs around $200, making this a terrific package deal.

CheddarUp doesn’t offer specialized features for linking donations to students or classes, but if your school is on the smaller side, link donations manually may not be that time consuming. CheddarUp is a solid option if you’re looking for a more general-purpose fundraising platform.

PayPal Giving Fund

• Annual Fees: None
• Processing Fees: Zero fees for donations, but donors must use a PayPal account

PayPal allows charities to launch Giving Fund. There are a few caveats. First, you need to keep your money with PayPal for at least a month. That’s no biggie if you’re raising funds for next year’s budget, but if you’re looking to spend the money soon, you’re out of luck.

My other issue with PayPal Giving Fund is that donors must have a PayPal account to contribute. Normally, you can configure PayPal to accept both PayPal and credit cards. Not so with PayPal Giving Fund. PayPal Giving Fund is as much about generating more PayPal accounts as it is about helping charities.

Since PayPal doesn’t link donations to students or classrooms, you’d need a way to manually track participation, such as asking donors to leave a note with the student’s name when they donate. If you don’t need advanced tracking and want a simple, no-fee option, PayPal Giving Funds might be worth considering.

Zeffy

• Annual Fees: None
• Processing Fees: Free (100% funded by optional donor tips)

Zeffy is a completely free platform that sustains itself by encouraging donors to leave a tip to support the service. It’s a great option, as there are no processing fees deducted from donations. When donors check out, Zeffy encourages donors to add a percentage of their donation to cover processing fees. The suggested tip can be high—starting around 15%.

But I have to admit: it’s hard to beat Zeffy for simplicity. If your PTG doesn’t need to track donations by class or by student, Zeffy is a great option.

Platforms That Link Donations to Students and Classrooms

Fundraising can get onerous when you’ve got a large student body and need to ensure that classrooms and students get credit for their donations.

The platforms that link each donation to a specific student or classroom are especially helpful. Here are a few platforms that offer this functionality.

PledgeStar

• Annual Fee: None
• Fees: $0.49 per transaction + 1.99% of the donation, capped at $995

PledgeStar allows you to group donations by student and class, making it easy to track participation and offer classroom incentives. PledgeStar’s pricing structure is unique: once you’ve reached $995 in fees, they stop charging processing fees.

If your PTG regularly hosts large-scale fundraising events, PledgeStar’s fee structure might help you save on costs over time. For example, if your school raises $50,000, paying $995 equates to a 1.99% processing fee. That’s better than most online payment processors offer.

MyBooster/Choose Booster/Boosterthon

• Annual Fee: None
• Fees: 15%-40% (varies depending on your school’s needs)

MyBooster is a polished fundraising platform popular with schools and PTGs. Their fees are on the higher end, but MyBooster offers the ability to track donations by student and class. In fact they offer a very broad array of services. The price tag is usually the only downside

MyBooster is best suited for PTGs with robust fundraising needs and large budgets.

Big Nest

• Annual Fee: $300
• Processing Fees: Stripe fees (with the option to recoup fees)

Big Nest supports grouping students by class, and donors can include student names in their donations.

Although there are payment processing fees (from Stripe), donors are encouraged to add a few extra dollars at checkout to cover their cost. You can set the amount suggested yourself, but the defaults are calibrated to ensure you don’t lose any money on payment processing. In fact, many schools end up covering costs or even coming out ahead.

I’ll add that Big Nest goes beyond fundraising, allowing you to integrate online payments for a storefront, events, and after school programs. Overall the goal of the platform is to be a one-stop-shop for parent-teacher groups.

Choosing the Right Platform for Your PTG

There are so many platforms available to help your PTG manage donations and fundraisers. Some, like Big Nest, PledgeStar, and MyBooster, provide specific tools to connect donations to students and classes. Others, like Zeffy and PayPal Giving Funds, offer more general-purpose fundraising solutions.

Ultimately, the right choice depends on your PTG’s goals, budget, and whether tracking donations by student and class is essential for your fundraising efforts. Each platform has its pros and cons, so take the time to evaluate what matters most to your organization.

No matter which platform you choose, the goal is to make donations easy and maximize the funds you raise to support your school community. Whether that’s with Big Nest or another platform, I hope you find a solution that fits your PTG’s needs.

Happy fundraising!