Inline checkout means donors never leave the page — that alone drives 30–50% more per participant. No passwords, no forms, no friction. Free for 30 students or 30,000 walkers.
Whether it's 30 students or 30,000 walkers — the same four steps. No IT, no consultant, no manual.
Donors who abandoned the payment form. Students whose pages sat empty. Pledges you chased for weeks and never collected. The average walk leaves 30–40% of potential donations unrealized. Here's where it goes.
A school PTA and a national charity walk need the same things: participants who raise money easily, donors who give in 10 seconds, an organizer who gets paid without the hassle.
You don't have an IT department. You have a Tuesday night and a volunteer committee. This was built for exactly that.
Currently paying for TeamRaiser, DonorDrive, or Classy? We replace every feature you actually use — for free — with better mobile conversion and zero fees.
Four groups touch your walk-a-thon. We built for all of them.
Whether you're on paper pledge sheets, 99pledges, or paying $60K/year — here's the straight picture.
| Feature | walk-a-thon.com | 99pledges / PledgeStar | TeamRaiser | Classy / GFM Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to org | $0 — free forever | 5–8% of donations | $30K–$80K/yr | $3.6K–$30K/yr + fees |
| Setup time | ✓ 10 minutes | 30–60 min | 4–12 weeks + consultant | Days–weeks |
| Per-lap pledges (automatic) | ✓ Fully automatic | ✓ | ⚡ Add-on | ✕ |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | ✓ First on screen | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Magic links (no password) | ✓ Built-in | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Inline checkout | ✓ Always inline | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Teams + captain dashboard | ✓ Full dashboard | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Abandonment recovery | ✓ Automatic | ✕ | ✕ | ⚡ Pro only |
| Branded receipts | ✓ | ⚡ Varies | ✓ | ✕ @classy.org |
| Salesforce integration | ⚡ Q3 2026 | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
We raised 40% more the first year we switched. Half our parents paid in under 10 seconds with Apple Pay. We'd been leaving thousands on the table and didn't know it.
Per-participant fundraising went up 28% the first event. Our previous platform cost $45,000 a year. This costs nothing. That's $45,000 that now goes to research instead of software.
Our family team raised $4,820 — more than double what we raised the year before. Having a shared goal and a real team page changed how seriously everyone took it. It stopped feeling like a donation form.
We'd rather tell you what's missing than have you find out later.
Organizations pay nothing. Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢. Donors optionally tip. That's the whole model.
How we make money: Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. We earn an optional donor tip (15% pre-selected, no-tip always visible). Organizations keep 100% of everything else.
Set up in 10 minutes. Get paid in 2 days. No platform fee — whether you have 30 students or 30,000 walkers.
Running a large nonprofit walk? See our enterprise page →