A Read-a-thon is a better way for schools to raise money.

Instead of spending time selling overpriced fundraising products, students focus on reading. Students commit to completing 10 reading sessions, ranging from 10-30 minutes a day for 10 days. They can choose any book they want to read.

Readers build personal Read-a-thon pages that they share with friends and family using social media, email or text. Those friends and family are asked to support the reader by making a one-time online donation.

Unlike other fundraisers, a Read-a-thon does not require many volunteers. There is no cash to handle; no record keeping; and nothing to sell.

Your school or group along with your readers keep 90% of the money donated. The school receives 75% of all donations and readers keep 15% of what they personally raise to spend on prizes in our online prize center. There is also an option to eliminate the prize store.

Our staff is available to help every step of the way. You can reach us by phone, email or chat

So Where Does All the Money Go?

Your School or Group gets to keep 90% of all the money raised.

How Read-a-thon Works

Step 1: Get your teacher and reader information into our system.

All we need is your teachers’ names and email addresses and the names of the students participating in their class. You can add this information directly online through your admin control panel by uploading spreadsheets or by entering them individually. You can also send your information to us and we would be glad to help you get your information into the system.

Step 2: We will print all of your materials for free

Once all of your information is in the system, we will print personalized materials for you to hand out to all of your participants including:

Personalized Student Take Home Sheets by Class
Personalized Student Reminder Sheets by Class
Green Reminder Bracelets for each Student
Customizable posters for your campus
Local Business Support Packet

Step 3: Hand out your materials to your readers

Once you receive all of your materials you can distribute them to each of your classes. We recommend that you send home the first Reader Take Home Sheets along with the green reminder bracelet one week before you start your first reading session. We have also provided Reader Reminder Sheets to send home the day of your first reading session.

Step 4: Readers get parents to help them activate personal pages

Each reader has a personal Read-a-thon page that includes two elements. It includes a dashboard to help readers and their families stay up to date with all Read-a-thon information and tools. The other page is the Reader Donate page. This is the page readers tell friends and family about their reading adventure. This is the page that asks those people to make a one-time online donation to support the reader and your fundraiser.

Step 5: Holding reading sessions for your readers

Our program is designed for readers to complete 10 reading sessions during a suggested two week period. So what is a reading session? You decide. You are in complete control of reading sessions. You can assign specific reading assignments or allow readers to choose their own reading materials. We provide session timers for readers, teachers and admins if you want us to track reading sessions. The most successful schools hold their reading sessions during class time. Most students spend some time during the day reading so our system allows you to simply monetize what you are already doing.

Step 6: Encourage participation and raise lots of money

One of the most important aspects of our Read-a-thon is encouraging participation. You can increase participation by making it a well-known group event. Get your readers excited to read as much as possible and share their participation by getting their parents to use the tools in their dashboards so that friends and family can make donations to support your fundraiser. Admins can watch donations arrive in real time and they will find everything they need to run their Read-a-thon inside their admin dashboard..