How to Run a Donations or Crowdfunding Fundraiser

SuccessFund only sends funds to bank accounts owned and managed by schools, districts, or other approved organizations. Funds are deposited on a weekly basis, and in most cases, districts allow donation dollars to be used immediately after the deposit arrives — but always follow your district’s specific use-of-funds process when requesting access.

Here’s how the payout process works:

• Contributions are aggregated over a 7-day period, then SuccessFund initiates a transfer.
• Transfers typically take 3–5 business days to arrive in the designated account.
• Most deposits arrive on Fridays, and on average, the total time between a transaction and a deposit is about 8 days.

To view your payout status at any time:

1. Go to your campaign and click the Results tab.
2. Click on the Payouts report to see a detailed list of all transfers, including dates, amounts, and payment status.

SuccessFund does not charge any subscription, upfront, monthly, or annual fees, nor will schools or districts receive invoices. Creating fundraisers and getting them approved online is free. Campaign organizers won't be charged a portion of the amount raised at the end. Instead, a $1 + 5% fee is applied to each payment. For in-person transactions using SuccessFund card reader, that fee is discounted to as low as 15 cents at checkout.

Here’s how it works:
Online Donations: If a donor makes a $100 donation to your fundraiser, they will see a $6 fee at checkout. Donors can choose to cover this fee, which they do over 90% of the time. If they prefer, they can opt to deduct the fee from their donation amount.

For product sales, the fee is still $1 + 5%, but it operates slightly differently. The 5% is subtracted from the product price, and the $1 fee is added at checkout. For example, if you’re selling gourmet cookies for $20 and need to net $20 from each transaction, we recommend raising your price to $21 to cover the fee.

For in-person sales using a SuccessFund card reader, the transaction fee is discounted for smaller amounts. For a $1 bottle of water or a $2 hotdog, the patron would see a 15-cent fee. Remember, this fixed fee covers the entire transaction, not just the individual product.

Card readers can be purchased at https://www.successfund.com/readers.

Cash and other offline transactions: You can easily log, track, and report cash and other offline transactions using the SuccessFund mobile app. These transactions don’t incur any fees and can be viewed anytime under the Results tab, under the Transactions report.

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Most likely. Districts across the country are raising and keeping more funds by using SuccessFund for crowdfunding, concessions, school stores, sponsorships, banners, camps and clinics, tickets, and hundreds of other types of campaigns. SuccessFund is a DIY platform, so it's crucial to help your students spread the word by sharing the link to your campaign. Unlike other platforms, SuccessFund doesn’t take a portion of the fundraiser at the end. Instead, it charges a simple transaction fee of $1 + 5% for online transactions, with discounted fees for in-person payments using a card reader (patrons pay as low as 15 cents for transactions of $2 and below). For donations, the fee is paid entirely by the patron, and they often (90%+ of the time) increase their payment to account for the fee, making SuccessFund a home run for school groups raising money.