99Pledges: The Ultimate Guide

If you’re looking for an easy and modern way to organize, promote, and track a school fundraiser, going digital is one of the best options. Enlisting the help of a company to set up a website page for your fundraiser to make it easier to collect donations is an unbeatable way to streamline a fundraiser and increase earnings.

Among the available options, 99Pledges is one of the most popular and effective choices for online fundraising. In our modern era, utilizing a website like 99Pledges to run your fundraiser means that you will have the power to reach a wider audience. So, it’s really a no-brainer!

What is 99Pledges?

99Pledges is an online fundraising platform that offers schools the opportunity to manage a variety of fundraisers, from walk-a-thons to read-a-thons, via an easy-to-use web page that tracks fundraising metrics and even assists with marketing. This company provides a simple and intuitive interface so that setting up your fundraising campaign is as easy as possible.

99Pledges is designed is to help your school run an “a-thon” type of fundraiser, such as a jog-a-thon or hoop-a-thon. Students engage in a specific event and donations are provided via a per-pledge method.

For example, for a read-a-thon fundraiser, donators can pledge to donate a specific amount for each book that a student participant reads in a determined period of time. 

Choosing the right something-a-thon for your fundraiser can be a fun decision to make. Consider what the funds are being raised for and try to create a theme based on that.

For example, if the fundraiser is for a little league baseball team, consider a hit-a-thon! Donators pledge an amount per baseball hit by players in an exciting public competition event. 

99Pledges also makes it easy to spread the word about your fundraiser on a variety of social media platforms, as well as your school’s website. Plus, they provide reports and analytics so that you can track the fundraiser’s success throughout the duration. That way, you can adjust promotion efforts accordingly.

In short, 99Pledges provides everything you could possibly need to manage a prosperous fundraising campaign online.

How Does it Work?

Setting up a 99Pledges campaign takes only minutes. Once you have determined what kind of fundraiser you want to hold, 99Pledges will help you set up the main page for the class or team raising the funds. Then, each student participant will automatically get their own donation page so that donators can support their young “a-thon” participants. 

Once you’ve set up pages, 99Pledges makes it easy to share the campaign across a vast array of digital platforms. Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as email and SMS, are among the available marketing options.

Then, start collecting your donations! 99Pledges utilizes PayPal as their fund disbursement platform, which makes the entire process secure and simple.

During the fundraiser, 99Pledges will provide tracking reports and statistics for each participant, as well as the overall fundraiser. This will allow you to track the overall effectiveness of your fundraiser. You can also monitor the donations on each individual student page. This type of reporting, provided at no extra cost, is a huge benefit to using 99Pledges.

When the fundraiser is over, getting paid is quick and easy. 99Pledges sends the raised funds to your school’s PayPal account 24 hours after the fundraiser ends. This streamlines the accounting process for fundraiser coordinators. It also takes away the pressure of traditional fundraisers that often intake funds from a variety of sources. 

How Much Does 99Pledges Cost?

The best thing about 99Pledges is that it’s a free platform. You don’t need to pay any fees or enroll in a paid subscription to set up an account. You can get started on your school’s fundraiser right away!

The fundraiser host is only responsible for standard payment processing fees. This includes a 2.9% standard credit card and PayPal fee (plus $0.30 per transaction).

What’s more, you can track cash and check donations for free! Simply sign in to your admin account and log the physical cash/check donations for your campaign. 99Pledges has no other costs, and there’s also no contract involved in the process. It really is as easy as that!

How to Maximize Donations with 99Pledges

Because 99Pledges has a $0 startup cost and 0% platform fee and takes only minutes to set up your fundraiser page, it allows you to focus on the most important part of your fundraiser: spreading the word and maximizing donations. The hassle of organization and reporting is off your school’s shoulders. This streamlines the fundraising process overall.

99Pledges automatically helps with maximizing donations. The platform provides donators with a safe and secure way to donate via debit and credit card payment. You can still accept cash and checks (and track them in 99Pledges for free). But, providing potential donators with an easy web-based payment process might help you attract funds from a wider range of individuals.

After all, fewer people carry cash around with them nowadays. Furthermore, writing out checks seems to be becoming a thing of the past! By giving donators the chance to do a quick and easy card payment, you are making it easier than ever to raise much-needed funds for your school.

Use Reporting to Maximize Donations

Another great way to maximize donations with 99Pledges is by utilizing the individual participants’ pages and extensive reporting system. You can use them to create healthy competition for students participating in the fundraiser. Coordinators can offer rewards and prizes to students for reaching specific donation milestones. This will encourage them and boost their eagerness to promote themselves and raise funds.

Prizes can be as simple as fun school supplies like novelty erasers and colorful pens, or they can be as exciting as small-amount gift cards to local businesses. Large prizes could even include something like this Lego Guardians of the Galaxy Ship. It’s up to you to decide how to encourage your participants. 

On top of providing individual incentives for participating students, consider promising a big reward for the entire class or team if the main fundraising goal is reached. For example, if your students meet or exceed the overall fundraising goal, provide them with a pizza party, ice cream party, or movie night. It’s a great way to teach students the value of hard work and reward them for their dedicated efforts.

99Pledges Reviews

The best part about 99Pledges is that it comes highly recommended by countless users who have experience with the platform. They have enlisted the help of 99Pledges for their own school fundraisers, sometimes more than once! Check out the following testimonials from real schools and organizations that have used 99Pledges.

We absolutely love 99Pledges and enthusiastically recommend them to everyone.” Jerabek Elementary, CA (Total raised with 99Pledges: $35k)

Our last event was the most successful in our fundraising history!” Evergreen Little League, WA(Total raised with 99Pledges: $15k)

We’ve had great success with them before and we are definitely using them for our hit-a-thon again this spring.” Soundview Little League, PA (Total raised with 99Pledges: $13k)

99Pledges helped us double the results of a fundraiser that already had great results!” Lincoln Elementary, FL (Total raised with 99Pledges: $185k)

In general, 99Pledges is well-loved and highly recommended by those who have used it to start and manage their fundraising campaign. It’s considered a fantastic alternative to services like GoFundMe. It’s great for schools and small organizations like little leagues and youth groups. 

FAQ

Still have more questions about 99Pledges? Read through the following frequently asked questions. You’ll see what makes it such an easy, helpful, and streamlined way to run your school’s next fundraiser.

Is 99Pledges Legit?

Yes! 99Pledges is totally legitimate. It is a completely secure way to collect and track donations from a variety of sources, whether it is via credit card, cash, or check. 99Pledges does not charge a startup fee or a platform fee. This means it’s completely free to set up and manage your fundraiser. The only cost associated is the 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction standard credit card and PayPal fee.

99Pledges has been used by many schools and organizations to raise substantial funds since 2012. You can rest assured that they are absolutely legit and a fantastic choice for managing your next fundraiser.

How Do You Track Earnings?

The best part about using 99Pledges is that tracking earnings is so much more simple than trying to do it on your own the traditional way. All web and mobile donations are tracked automatically through the 99Pledges website. Donations are shown on the class/team page, as well as on the individual participants’ page. When a donator sends money via credit or debit card, it’s tracked right away.

For those who would still prefer to donate via cash or check, 99Pledges makes it easy to track that fundraising incoming (with no fees involved). Simply login to your admin account with 99Pledges, go to the Donations tab of your fundraising campaign, and add the cash or check donation from there. It will be added to the total amount raised and can also be associated with a specific student.

One of the benefits of the way 99Pledges tracks your earnings is the reports they generate for the fundraiser admin for free. With the earnings reports, you can monitor the progress of your fundraiser throughout the course of the event. You can create fundraising milestone incentives for students and also indicate whether you need to step up your promotion efforts!

How Long Does it Take to Receive Funds?

99Pledges is great at getting the funds you raised into your pocket quickly and without any fuss. There’s no need to wait 5-7 business days or longer for any kind of processing and handling.

Amazingly, 99Pledges will send you the funds within 24 hours of your fundraiser ending! Depending on the processing time of your bank or deposit service, you could have your funds in just 1-2 days. 

99Pledges disburses your funds via PayPal. Make sure that the host organization has a PayPal account set up with a secure and reliable bank account connected to it. Using PayPal offers additional benefits as a fundraiser organizer. Down the road, you can use PayPal’s income tracking services for tax purposes. This makes fundraising and collecting donations effortless.

Conclusion: Is 99Pledges Worth It?

All in all, the facts are undeniable: 99Pledges is absolutely worth it. Not only does it make setting up your “a-thon” type of school fundraiser an easy and quick process, but it provides you with the marketing tools you need to share the fundraising campaign on a variety of digital platforms.

The inclusion of social media in the 99Pledges process is unbeatable. This integration means the relatives and friends of student participants can share the fundraiser on their social accounts. Social sharing can increase the fundraiser’s promotional reach to other members of the community… and possibly even further! Depending on the age of participating students, they can also share it on their own social media accounts.

Furthermore, 99Pledges is a free platform. This means they don’t charge any fees to set up or monitor a campaign. Generating reports and tracking cash/check donations is also free. The only thing you pay when you use 99Pledges is the standard credit card and PayPal fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which goes directly to the payment processor. 

At the end of the day, 99Pledges is worth it because it provides you will all of the tools you need to run a successful fundraising campaign. Plus, it does a considerable portion of the management and monitoring for you. This allows you to focus on promoting the fundraiser and accomplishing the most important thing: raising funds for your cause!

It’s no wonder why 99Pledges comes highly recommended by countless schools and organizations. It’s one of the most effective ways to track the success of your fundraiser and maximize donations.

So, what are you waiting for? Check out 99Pledges for your next fundraiser and see for yourself how it can help your school reach its next fundraising goal.

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