PTA
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A-Thon Fundraisers
Set your next fundraising record with an A-Thon
Fun runs, read-a-thons, walk-a-thons, and more. Set up your A-Thon in minutes, collect pledges online, and keep 100% of what you raise.
Trusted by thousands of schools and organizations
A-Thons outperform every other type of fundraiser
... and it's not even close! With FutureFund, everything you need to run a successful A-Thon, collect pledges, and get paid is in one place.
Raise more than $50 per participant
Our most successful school groups raise north of $250 per participant!
No door-to-door selling
Students collect pledges online from family and friends, awkward sales pitches not required.
Built-in leaderboards
Fuel friendly competition between students, classes, and grades. Watch participation soar.
Built-in messaging and communications
Everything you need is in one place - easy!
Amador Valley Football
Raises $34,000 with a Lift-a-Thon
In August 2025, one school football team in Pleasanton, CA raised over $34,000 in a single two-week Lift-A-Thon. This helped them to wipe out the debt they owed their school district and provide them with discretionary funds to upgrade equipment and purchase new uniforms.
Every fundraiser is always free when you power it with FutureFund, so every pound you lift and every dollar you raise goes where you need it most.
Join the thousands schools using FutureFund
Schools that sign up get full access to all of FutureFund's features—it's free and it always will be.
Run any type of A-Thon you can imagine
FutureFund supports every type of pledge-based fundraiser, from fun runs to chess-a-thons and everything in-between. Pick an activity your students love, and we'll help you turn it into a powerful fundraiser.
The classic school A-Thon. Students collect pledges, then run or walk on event day. Great for all ages and fitness levels. Perfect for spring or fall when the weather cooperates.
Students collect pledges per book, chapter, or minutes read. Runs over 1-2 weeks with no event day needed. Builds literacy while raising funds. Ideal for elementary and middle schools, and can be run any time of year.
Students collect pledges and dance the night away. Works as a standalone event or combined with a school dance. High energy, high engagement, and a memorable experience for students.
Lift-a-thons, swim-a-thons, serve-a-thons, hoop-a-thons, kick-a-thons, and more. Perfect for sports teams and booster clubs. Athletes collect pledges based on performance, then compete on event day.
Math-a-thons, spelling bees, trivia challenges. Students collect pledges per problem solved, word spelled, or question answered. Combines fundraising with academic achievement.
Everything you need to run a successful A-Thon
No more juggling spreadsheets, payment apps, and email lists. FutureFund puts all your A-Thon tools in one place.
FutureFund is free for schools.
We fund our platform through small fees paid by donors when they pledge. This keeps the financial burden off your school and ensures every dollar raised goes to your students.
We fund our platform through small fees paid by donors when they pledge. This keeps the financial burden off your school and ensures every dollar raised goes to your students.
Your free FutureFund A-Thon comes fully equipped:
- Accept donations via credit card, Apple/Google Pay, or cash.
- Your group gets a fundraiser page that shows off your progress.
- Every student gets their own individual donation page.
- Track incoming donations, participating students, donors, and more.
- Create financial reports and provide transparency for your stakeholders.
- Link your bank account and accept wire payments.
- On-demand support from our America-based support team.
We get this a lot. There's no catch. FutureFund is free for schools, and we're made exclusively for K-12 groups like yours.
As a privately owned company founded by former PTA volunteers, we built FutureFund because we saw how much schools were losing to fundraising fees. Since 2014, we've helped more than 6,000 school groups raise over $19 million.
We're proud to support volunteers and educators who are shaping the next generation of students.
As a privately owned company founded by former PTA volunteers, we built FutureFund because we saw how much schools were losing to fundraising fees. Since 2014, we've helped more than 6,000 school groups raise over $19 million.
We're proud to support volunteers and educators who are shaping the next generation of students.
Step-by-step A-Thon guides and personalized support included
We've helped thousands of schools run successful A-Thons. Our library of guides and our expert team are here to help you do the same.
Our America-based support team is available Monday through Friday during regular business hours. They can help with everything from setting up your campaign to troubleshooting pledge collection to maximizing participation.
Good news: we've powered thousands of them. We know you're busy and probably don't have a background in event planning, so we've set you up with:
- Step-by-step guides for every type of A-Thon, from fun runs to read-a-thons
- Ready-to-use templates for emails, flyers, and social posts
- AI assistance to help you write announcements and updates
- Direct access to our expert team
We've worked with hundreds of first-time A-Thon organizers. You're in good hands.
Yes. We have templates for fun runs, read-a-thons, walk-a-thons, and more. Each template includes sample campaign copy, email sequences, promotional flyers, and timeline suggestions. Just customize with your school's details and you're ready to launch.
Here's why schools switch to FutureFund
Fun run companies routinely take 40-50% of what your school raises. If your A-Thon brings in $20,000, you could lose $10,000 to fees before seeing a dime.
With FutureFund, you keep 100%. Small transaction fees are paid by donors, so every lap run, every book read, and every dollar pledged goes directly to your school.
With FutureFund, you keep 100%. Small transaction fees are paid by donors, so every lap run, every book read, and every dollar pledged goes directly to your school.
Many schools switch to FutureFund after realizing how much they're losing to fees.
Since our platform is free, you can run a single A-Thon with us to compare results. Schools that switch typically keep 40-50% more of what they raise because they're no longer paying a company to organize the event.
Since our platform is free, you can run a single A-Thon with us to compare results. Schools that switch typically keep 40-50% more of what they raise because they're no longer paying a company to organize the event.
Switching is simple. There's no contract to sign with FutureFund, so there's no contract to break with us later. Import your student roster, set up your A-Thon campaign, and you're ready to collect pledges. Most schools are up and running in a single afternoon.
If you need a hand, our world-class American support team is here to help!
If you need a hand, our world-class American support team is here to help!
Join over the 6,500 schools using FutureFund
Schools that sign up get full access to all of FutureFund's features—it's always free and it always will be.
Everything your A-Thon needs in one place
Individual pledge pages
Every participant gets their own page to share with family and friends.
Real-time leaderboards
Track top fundraisers by student, class, or grade. Fuel friendly competition.
More ways to pay
Including Apple/Google Pay, credit cards, cash, and checks.
Corporate matching
Help donations go twice as far by inviting employers to participate.
Tax-deductible donation receipts
Automatically issued to donors after every contribution.
Clear financial reports
Generate them in seconds and save time for your treasurer.
Built-in messaging
Send targeted fundraiser updates, requests, and thank-you notes to show the impact of each donation.
Ready-to-use A-Thon templates
Including campaign pages, emails, social media posts, and more!
Accessible for everyone
7-languages built in, with AI translation for 190+ more
Frequently asked questions
Most schools have their A-Thon campaign live within 30 minutes. Once you've created your FutureFund account and connected a bank, you can customize your campaign page, set your goal, and start accepting participant registrations right away.
Yes! Your fundraising campaign will remain active until you remove it from your school’s online store. During this time, visitors will be able to make donations.
Adding different donation options can be a good way to encourage participation from donors with different abilities to contribute, while still suggesting amounts that will be useful to your campaign’s goals.
Yes—FutureFund lets you show the names of people who have donated to your fundraiser by enabling the Donor Wall feature in the admin.
Yes! Even when your Donor Wall is active, anyone who makes a donation to your fundraising campaign will have the option to enter the name they want displayed next to their contribution. They can enter “Anonymous” if they want to keep their name hidden.
- If you want donations to your fundraising campaign to be tax-deductible, you’ll need to select the appropriate option in the campaign editor. When you do, FutureFund will automatically issue receipts to all donors.
FutureFund is built to comply with all major financial regulations and data privacy laws governing PTAs and school groups in the United States. This includes Federal and state-specific legislation, such as:
- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA)
- The California Consumer Privacy Act
- Assembly Bill 1584
- The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS)
Our platform also uses current technologies designed to provide extra layers of security when handling sensitive information. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
Yes. Add as many team members as you need. Each person gets their own login, and you can assign different permission levels based on their role. Your treasurer might have full access to financial reports, while a communications volunteer only needs messaging tools.
Transitioning leadership is simple. Add new board members, transfer admin rights, and remove outgoing volunteers, all from your account settings. Your campaign history and data stay with your organization, not with individual volunteers.
Yes. You can create separate campaigns for different groups within your school (classroom funds, sports teams, clubs) and assign specific people to manage each one. Everything rolls up to your main organization dashboard for easy oversight.
Yes. FutureFund accepts CSV imports, so you can upload your existing parent and student lists in minutes. If you're switching from another platform, our support team can help you export and import your data.
FutureFund includes built-in messaging tools for email and text communication. You can also copy campaign links to share through your existing channels, including school newsletters, Facebook groups, or any other platform your community uses.
Absolutely. Your data belongs to you. Export donor lists, transaction histories, and financial reports anytime in CSV or PDF format.
Donors see a small platform fee (about 2.5%) and credit card processing fees (about 2.4%) added to their donation at checkout. This covers payment processing and platform costs. The fee is clearly shown before they complete their donation, and many donors choose to cover it because they know 100% of their gift goes to your school.
You can request a payout anytime during or after your campaign. Funds are deposited directly into your connected bank account within 3-5 business days. There's no minimum balance required to request a payout.
No. FutureFund is free for schools, and we don't charge setup fees, monthly fees, or payout fees. The only cost is the small transaction fee paid by donors, which is always shown transparently at checkout.
Most volunteers spend 3-5 hours total over a 2-3 week campaign. That includes setup, promotion, monitoring, and wrap-up. FutureFund handles the technical work, so you can focus on engaging your school community.