Short answer: Pick one purpose and one deadline, and make sure the money lands in your group's own account. Before choosing a tool, add up its real cost: processing fees take a share of every gift, and the share is largest on small gifts. Send an automatic receipt for every gift: donors need a record of any gift they deduct, and IRS rules require a written acknowledgment for a single gift of $250 or more. If you will actively ask donors in other states, check charitable solicitation registration first, and never post a student's full name or photo without the family's permission.
For many families, a link is now the easiest way to give to their school. A grandparent three states away can give in a minute, a parent can give from the pickup line and a busy treasurer doesn't have to count envelopes. But a link alone doesn't raise money: the campaign around it does. This guide is part of school fundraising ideas compared. It covers the online mechanics; for the letter and the ask behind a direct-give campaign, see fundraisers without selling, and for a single 24-hour push, see school giving days.
Four kinds of online campaign
| Campaign | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single donation page | One page with a goal, a purpose and a progress bar; shared by email, newsletter and social posts | An annual fund or a direct-give drive that replaces product sales |
| Short challenge | A one-week or 24-hour push with daily updates, a class participation race and often a matching pledge | Momentum and participation; see the one-week plan below |
| Class or student pages | Each class or family gets a page to share with relatives (often called peer-to-peer) | Reaching people outside the school; pledge events like a walk-a-thon often work this way |
| Recurring gifts | Donors choose a monthly amount that runs through the school year | Private schools and foundations with steady annual budgets |
Most parent groups do best with a single page and one or two short challenges a year. Student pages raise more from outside the school but bring more privacy questions, covered at the end of this page.
Choosing a giving tool without a sales pitch
There are many donation tools, from the payment features of your bank or accounting software to dedicated school fundraising sites. This guide names none of them. Instead, ask every option the same questions and compare the answers in writing:
- Where does the money go, and when? It should be deposited into your group's own bank account, in your group's legal name, on a schedule you know. Avoid any setup where gifts sit in a personal account, even briefly.
- What does it cost per gift? Get the processing fee (usually a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction), any platform fee, monthly fees and payout fees. Ask whether the tool shows donors an optional "tip" to the platform at checkout, and how that is worded, because donors may think the tip goes to your school.
- Can donors cover the fee? Many tools offer a checkbox that adds the fee to the gift. It helps, but it isn't a substitute for knowing the cost.
- Does it send receipts automatically? They should carry your legal name, EIN, the amount and date, and a statement about goods or services (see receipts below).
- Who owns the donor list? You should be able to export names, emails and amounts, and the provider shouldn't use your families' details to market to them.
- What does it collect about students? Ask what student information is required, who can see it and whether it can be deleted after the campaign.
- Is it approved? Some districts must approve tools that use the school's name or students' information. Ask the principal before you open an account with any provider. The district approval guide explains what usually needs sign-off.
If a provider is offering "free" service, ask how it is paid. The answer is usually donor tips, a share of the gifts or the use of your contacts, and you should know which before families see the page.
What processing fees really cost
Card processing usually charges a percentage of each gift plus a fixed amount per transaction. The fixed part is why small gifts lose a larger share than big ones. The rates below are an example; use your provider's actual rates.
Example At a rate of 3% plus $0.30 per gift:
| Gift | Fee | School receives | Fee as a share of the gift |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25 | $1.05 | $23.95 | 4.2% |
| $50 | $1.80 | $48.20 | 3.6% |
| $100 | $3.30 | $96.70 | 3.3% |
| $250 | $7.80 | $242.20 | 3.1% |
Example A campaign receives 300 gifts averaging $60, a gross of $18,000. At 3% plus $0.30, fees are $540 plus $90, which is $630, or 3.5% of gross. The school nets $17,370. If the same tool also took a 5% platform fee, another $900 would come off, and the cost would rise to 8.5% of gross.
Two habits keep the number honest. Record gifts at the gross amount and fees as an expense, so the treasurer's books show both; the budget guide explains why gross matters. And compare the online fee with the cost of the alternative: counting cash and checks costs volunteer time, but no percentage. Offering checks alongside online giving is still worth doing for donors who prefer it.
A one-week online giving challenge
A short, public deadline is what turns a donation page into a campaign. One week is long enough for every family to see the ask several times and short enough that nobody forgets it. The match that unlocks midweek, the class participation leaderboard and the forward-to-family day work the same way in a week as in a single day, and the giving day guide sets them out with message templates. What changes online, and over a week:
- Test the page before launch. Make a real $1 gift from a phone and check the receipt, the deposit and the donor export. Fix anything confusing before families see it.
- Write all seven messages in advance, each linking to the same page: launch, first update, leaderboard, match, forward-to-family, quiet reminder, countdown. Spread them across email, the school newsletter and the class channels teachers already use.
- Post the total at least once a day from the tool's own report, so the progress bar and your updates never disagree.
- Close on time, switch the page to a thank-you message rather than taking it down, and report the total and what it buys within a week. The results and thank-you letter generator drafts the family letter and the donor thank-you.
Receipts the IRS expects
Online gifts follow the same IRS rules as checks. Under IRS Publication 1771, donors need a bank record or a written communication from your group for any gift they deduct, so a receipt for every gift is good practice; a single gift of $250 or more needs your contemporaneous written acknowledgment; and a payment over $75 that brings something in return needs a written disclosure with a good-faith estimate of its value. The same publication says an acknowledgment can be sent electronically, such as by email. Those rules are set out in thanking donors and the IRS rules. The online part is the template: set up the tool's automatic receipt before launch with your group's legal name (not just the school's name), the amount and date, your EIN (not an IRS requirement, but many groups include it), and a line such as "No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution" when that is true. If donors at a set level get a thank-you gift, change the line for that level. Put one line about employer matching gifts in the receipt too; the employer matching gifts guide explains why the legal name matters.
Donors in other states
A link travels further than a backpack flyer, which raises a question most school groups never face on paper: charitable solicitation registration. The IRS notes that some state statutes require organizations to register with a state agency before soliciting that state's residents for contributions, and it points to the National Association of State Charity Officials for which states require it.
Start with your home state, where rules differ a great deal. Ohio's charitable solicitation law, for example, exempts booster clubs organized for public school students, and charities with gross revenue of $25,000 or less that pay no one to solicit, from registering before they solicit (Ohio Revised Code 1716.03), though Ohio has separate charity filing rules that can still apply. Other states draw their exemptions differently, and a group exempt in one state may not be in another. Your state attorney general's charity office publishes its rule and can tell you whether your group must register or file.
Then think about the reach of the campaign. A page that families share with their own relatives is very different from a campaign your group actively promotes to donors across the country. The IRS page doesn't address online donation pages specifically, and states take different views on when a web page or an email counts as soliciting their residents. If you plan to advertise beyond your community, or a large share of gifts comes from out of state, ask your state attorney general's charity office and an accountant before you launch, not after.
Student privacy on a giving page
A giving page is public, and anything on it can be copied. Keep students' details off it unless families have agreed:
- Use first names only, or class names, on leaderboards and student pages.
- Get written permission before posting a photo or video of a student, and check the school's media list for families who have opted out.
- Never show a student's location, schedule, teacher's full name next to a photo, or contact details.
- Collect only the student information the campaign needs, and delete it when it ends if the tool allows.
- Let families share a student page privately rather than listing every page in a public directory.
The student privacy guide for fundraisers explains what to check with the school before posting anything about students.
This page summarizes IRS publications and general practice; it isn't legal or tax advice. Whether your group must register before soliciting donations, at home or in other states, is decided by each state's attorney general or charity office. Your district may need to approve a giving tool that uses the school's name or student information, and your treasurer or accountant should confirm receipt wording and how fees are recorded.
Sources
- Publication 1771: Charitable Contributions, Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements (Rev. 11-2023), Internal Revenue Service (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Charitable solicitation: state requirements, Internal Revenue Service (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Ohio Revised Code 1716.03: Exemptions from registration requirements, FindLaw (mirror of the Ohio Revised Code) (accessed 2026-10-30)
Frequently asked questions
What do online donation processing fees cost a school?
Most card processing charges a percentage of each gift plus a fixed amount per transaction, and some tools add a platform fee. In our example at 3% plus $0.30, a $25 gift loses 4.2% and a $250 gift 3.1%, and 300 gifts averaging $60 cost $630, or 3.5% of gross. Get each tool's full fee list in writing and record gifts at the gross amount, with fees as an expense.
Do we need to send receipts for online donations?
Yes, in practice. IRS Publication 1771 says a donor needs a bank record or written communication from the group to deduct any gift of money, and it says an acknowledgment can be sent by email. A single gift of $250 or more needs a written acknowledgment stating whether goods or services were provided, and a payment over $75 that brings a benefit needs a written disclosure with a good-faith estimate of that benefit's value.
Does a PTA need to register to accept online donations from other states?
It depends on the states and on how you ask. The IRS notes that some states require charities to register before soliciting their residents, and points to the National Association of State Charity Officials for details. Start with your home state's rule, then ask your attorney general's charity office and an accountant before you promote a campaign to donors outside your community.
Can we post student photos on a school fundraising page?
Only with the family's permission, and only what the campaign needs. Use first names or class names, check the school's media opt-out list, and never post a student's location, schedule or contact details. Ask the school what its policy allows before you build student or class pages, and delete student information after the campaign if your tool allows it.
How long should an online giving campaign run?
Short campaigns with a public deadline usually hold attention best. A one-week challenge gives every family several reminders without fading into the background, and a 24-hour giving day concentrates the energy further. Longer annual funds work too, but plan them as a series of short pushes, each with its own update and deadline, rather than one open-ended link.