Why the

When schools are choosing a fundraiser, it’s completely understandable to look at the lowest-fee first. After all, if one fundraising platform says it only charges 10%, that can sound pretty appealing. On paper, it feels like a no-brainer. Less cost = more money for the school, job done. Cue the celebratory coffee. But as anyone who’s ever organised a school fundraiser knows, things are rarely quite that simple. Because the real question isn’t just, “What’s the fee?”, it’s:

• What does the school actually get for that fee?
• How much support is included?
• And most importantly… how much money will the school raise in the end?

That’s where some schools can get caught out. A budget fundraising option may look great at first glance, but if it comes with fewer inclusions, hidden costs, more DIY work and weaker results, it may not be the bargain it first appeared to be. Because in school fundraising, “cheap” and “good value” are not always the same thing.

A Low Fee Only Tells Part of the Story

There’s no doubt a low advertised fee sounds attractive. So when a provider leads with a low percentage as their big selling point, it’s easy to see why some schools take notice. But fundraising success is not determined by one number sitting in bold at the top of a webpage.

While a fee might look potentially good, it can represent poorer value overall if the school receives less support, less excitement, fewer participation tools, fewer included resources, volunteer burnout, or a weaker event experience. What’s worse is the hidden costs that aren’t apparent until you sign up.

A successful school fundraiser needs more than a payment page and a polite wave goodbye. It needs a turn-key solution that raises a lot of money and lowers stress, as well as the right support available behind the scenes. Without those things, a low fee can end up being a fairly expensive shortcut.

What Schools Should Really Compare

When comparing fundraising providers, schools should look beyond the headline percentage and ask a few smarter questions. Not all fundraising models are created equal. Some providers focus mainly on the platform itself, leaving the school to devise their own promotional program and event resources. This means a lot more work for the coordinator and is one of the biggest hidden costs in school fundraising. A lower-fee platform can sometimes shift more responsibility back onto the school with more DIY promotion, follow-up, chasing families, event organisation, and pressure on staff or volunteers to keep everything moving. A fundraiser that looks cheaper financially can end up costing far more in time, energy, stress, and missed opportunities.

This is where you want to know up front everything else you have to pay for. Some fundraising platforms claim to only charge a low percentage but then add a charge onto every amount donated to cover their platform and credit card fees. Then there’s the rest of the expenses needed for any promotions (like toys, flyers, posters and banners), as well as materials on the day (colour powder and sunglasses). Unfortunately, it’s the schools that don’t promote the event well that raise the least amount of money, because at the end of the day, the key to raising funds is promote, promote, promote.

Australian Fundraising’s platform is ST4S compliant. So what does that mean? Our platform has been vetted by Catholic and Government Education Departments to ensure that there is no identifying information about the student, and they can’t be found online. Unfortunately, not every platform is this careful. This is also why we host the data here in Australia, as opposed to some who ship that offshore to another country. Some other platforms mention on their privacy page that all data belongs to them even after the fundraiser finishes, while others don’t even have one.

The Hidden Cost of a “Budget” Fundraiser

When schools hear “low fee,” it’s easy to assume they’re getting the better deal. Unfortunately, this usually accompanies a much lower result, and  the biggest hidden cost of all can be the money the school never ends up raising. That’s the part people often don’t calculate at the start. The visible fee is easy to compare, but the invisible cost of reduced participation, lost momentum, extra workload and a weaker final result is harder to measure, but often much more significant. So while a fundraiser might look cheaper on paper, it can still cost the school more in time, energy, and missed fundraising potential.

What Happened When Some Schools Switched

This is where the conversation gets very real. Would you rather keep 90% of $5,000 doing everything yourself, or 60% of $15,000 with less work and less stress? We’ve seen examples of schools that previously used a lower-fee platform doing a DIY fun run thinking they would save money and raise more, then they switched to us and we’re amazed. There are too many to mention, but here are two notable examples:

• Caningeraba State School in Burleigh Waters doubled the money they made when they decided to do a colour fun run fundraiser with Australian Fundraising instead of a DIY one with another platform. You can read all about it here.
• Then there was Quinns Rocks Primary School in Western Australia. Based on the previous experience fundraising, doing it on their own with no support, they would have been impressed if they raised $5,000. With our turnkey program and intuitive online platform, they raised $25,000. This meant $15,000 in their bank account at the end, instead of under $5,000, and with less stress. Click here to read more about it.

And the stories go on. Saving a few percent means very little if your school raises a lot less. And once you look at the difference in final funds raised, the “cheaper” option can start to look not especially cheap at all.

Real Value Comes From the Full Fundraising Experience

At Australian Fundraising, we believe schools deserve more than a budget platform. They deserve a fundraising partner that helps them raise more, stress less, and create a better experience for their whole community. That means giving schools more than just a way to collect donations. It means providing a complete fundraising system designed to support success from start to finish.

The smarter question for schools to ask when comparing fundraising options isn’t “Which provider has the lowest fee?” It should be “Which fundraiser is most likely to help us raise more?” Don’t judge a fundraiser by the fee alone, as tempting as a low fee can be.

Schools deserve to see the full picture before making a decision so they understand what is included, what is expected of them, how much support they’ll receive, how the fundraiser will engage their community, and what result they’re realistically likely to achieve.

If you would like to know exactly what you’re missing out on, be sure to ask your online provider some hard hitting questions about what is and isn’t included, and what their best average amount raised per student is. If it’s below $100 a student, you’re not making the most of your fundraiser.