In 2013, Wagon Wheel Elementary’s fundraising consisted of gift wrap sales, See’s Candy sales and a Jog-A-Thon that raised about $18,000 in donations from parents, family and friends using a traditional cash and check collection system.

In the Spring of 2014, PTA President Kim Bernabe added PledgeStar’s online fundraising system to their Jog-A-Thon “just to see if it would make a difference.” When their donations rocketed past $32,000, it was clear that PledgeStar was the way to go. That success gave Kim the confidence to propose a radical idea. She wanted to eliminate all fundraisers except for one: a Fall Jog-A-Thon.

“Both the gift wrap company and See’s took 50% of what we raised. With the Jog-A-Thon, we keep it all,” Kim explained. If the Jog-A-Thon raised enough money to cover the PTA’s 2014-2015 costs, she promised they would not hold another fundraiser until the next school year. "Parents were skeptical," she said, "but they agreed. How nice would it be to only have one fundraiser?"

The Fall 2014 Jog-A-Thon proved to be a huge success, raising over $55,000.  Not only did it bring in more money, but it proves online fundraising is superior to the old cash and check collection system. Students who collected donations online brought in over $45,000 of the $55,000 raised.

“PledgeStar is a huge key to our success, because the system works easily and everybody loves it.” said Bernabe, “It’s just such a great system.”

With PledgeStar’s help, Bernabe was able to keep her promise: Only one fundraiser!