For its March 2021 fundraiser, the Bathgate PTA took its endeavors indoors with the campus “Fun Run” reimagined as a Read A Thon. Armed with two school-wide goals—$25,000 earned and 250,000 minutes read—the students hit the ground reading. Though their goals were hefty, Bathgate families managed to exceed expectations and raise $55,000, more than double their original goal! Students had some amazing—and low cost—incentives that motivated them: virtual bingo with the principal, a tricycle race among the teachers filmed and later viewed in each classroom, and a teacher-created TikTok featuring said teachers dancing to “Chicken Wing” by Viral DJs. As an additional incentive, when the student body hit $25,000 in donations, the school mascot “Beau the Blazer” came to life and greeted students during drop-off and pickup! With PledgeStar managing the accounting end of the Read A Thon, the small but mighty group of Bathgate volunteers had time to go above and beyond expectations to create an unforgettable experience for Bathgate students during an emotionally challenging year.

When all was said and done, it was clear that PledgeStar won “best fundraising platform” for Bathgate’s students, teachers, and families. “At a school with 600 kids, tallying all of the money by hand is time consuming, and an event this size is difficult to coordinate. PledgeStar does the work for you,” said Sarah Menchaca, Bathgate PTA’s president. “You can run reports with a couple clicks, and PledgeStar lets you know how much money you’ve earned each day.” Menhaca explained that the school needed far fewer volunteers since the platform was so user-friendly and was able to take tasks off the hands of event volunteers.

With the help of PledgeStar, Menchaca explained, Bathgate was able to reach a broader audience and raise money without enforcing socioeconomic discrimination. “We are definitely using PledgeStar again,” said Menchaca, “and next time we’ll also use their translation element. We have a diverse student body, and this feature would be incredibly useful to us.”