Our school raised over $100,000 and all we did was read....

"Our school raised over

$100,000 and all we did was

read."

1Think about it...Your kids are already doing it. All your kids have to do is read for 30 minutes a day for 10 days. 2 It's easy as pie.

The hardest part is making the decision to raise money. From there we provide everything you’ll need. 3We make it fun.

Our system was designed for kids. It’s fun, encourages participation and even includes prizes and rewards.

Read-a-thon Fundraising Company was created by caring parents who felt that schools

should focus more on reading than on fundraising. To that end we began to develop this web-

site and all of the tools we provide for students, teachers, administrators and schools to raise

money while promoting reading, education and accomplishment.

Website: www.read-a-thon.com Email: [email protected]

How it WorksRead-A-Thon is an easy fun way to engage kids in reading while your school, class,

or individual raises money.

Sign UpGive us some basic information about your school or group. If

you are a school and want to track results by class we will ask

for a list of your teachers. Add all of your readers and you are

ready to go.

Get SupportersWe provide all the tools to contact as many potential donors or

supporters for your readers as possible. Tools include email

widgets, Facebook, Twitter and other social media along with

print materials. Donors are asked to support your reading effort.

Donors pledge and pay online so there’s no cash collection by

your readers.

ReadSet aside a 2 week period for reading. Successful schools and

classes provide a daily 30 minute reading time during class so

that every reader participates. The goal is for each reader to

complete 10 30-minute reading sessions.

Reap the Rewards!Your readers will earn RAT Bucks for each sponsor they recruit.

RAT Bucks are used to purchase prizes in our Rewards Center.

The school or class will earn real money while promoting

reading skills.

Frequently asked Questions?How do I run a Read-a-thon?

How do I get started?

Read-a-thons are simple to start. You just go to our home

page and click on the Get Started button. The sign up

process is easy to follow.

How long does a Read-a-thon last?

Our Read-a-thons require 10 30-minute reading sessions.

Most schools hold their reading sessions during class time

so their actual reading time lasts for 2 weeks. However

successful groups allow 2 weeks before the first reading

session to take advantage of all of the promotional tools so

their readers can attain as many sponsors as possible.

When should I hold a Read-a-thon?

The great thing about our program is that you can hold an event any time of the year. Since we sug-

gest you hold reading sessions during class time the best time to hold your event is when you are able

to schedules those 10 reading sessions.

How do we raise money?

You raise money from sponsors who support your reading efforts. Sponsors are people like friends and

family who care about your education. You get the most sponsors by using our free tools you that

include tutorials, email campaigns, Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Sponsors either donate or pledge money for each reading session.

What books do our readers use?

The great thing about our program is that you can choose the books your readers will read or they can

read their own choices. The important thing is the reading time not the reading materials.


Frequently asked Questions?How do I run a Read-a-thon?

How much money can we raise?

There is really no limit to how much you can raise. But let's use as an example a 1,000 student

elementary school. If each student completes 10 reading sessions and gets 10 people to pledge $2.50

per reading session the school would raise $250,000.

Is there a limit to the number of readers we have?

Read-a-thon was set up to accomodate the needs of an entire school so there is no limit to the number

of readers who can participate in your fundraiser.

Can I upload my reader list?

Right now you need to manually enter each reader's name. However we are working on launching

upload tools that will allow administrators to upload lists using spread sheets and data files.

Tell Me About the Prize Center

How does your prize center work?

As readers get sponsors we give them RAT Bucks as a reward. It's our way to offer an incentive to

your readers to get as many sponsors as possible. For the first 5 sponsors we give the reader 100

RAT Bucks per sponsor. After 5 each sponsor becomes more valuable and is worth more and more

RAT Bucks.

Can I see a Sample Prize Store?

The prizes in the Prize Center change periodically. We try to add exciting new items when we find

them and drop prizes readers don't seem to want. Here is a link to a sample prize center.

How do readers get their prizes?

Readers spend their RAT Bucks on any prizes they want to purchase. Ten days after your Read-a-thon

ends we close the prize centers and pull all of the prizes purchased and ship them to your group.

What Do I Need to Know About Sponsors?


Frequently asked Questions?Continued...

How do we find sponsors?

We offer all the tools you need to recruit sponsors including social media tools, email campaigns and

print materials. Readers go to their Get Sponsors page and follow the easy instructions. Potential

sponsors include parents, grand parents, aunts & uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors and more.

Do sponsors need to pay online?

Our system requires that sponsors pay online using a credit or debit card so that we can track dona-

tions. That's necessary for all of our reporting tools to work accurately and for us to be able to offer

prizes and incentives for your readers to get as many sponsors as possible.

Most parents, group leaders and principals prefer our online donation system so that children are not

collecting nor handling money.

Getting Paid After Your Read-a-thon

How do we get paid?

Read-a-thon processes payments every Monday. If you are due a payment a check will be mailed to

you.

When do we get paid?

We will send your group its first check on the first Monday once 10 days have passed since your

read-a-thon has ended. Your first check will include 80% of the money you are to receive. You will

receive the balance of the funds 30 days after your fundraiser ends. We hold the 20% reserve to

account for any credit card charge backs since all donations are paid online. We need to make sure no

fraudulent donations have been charged.

Are there tips for holding a great Read-a-thon?

Should we offer prizes for our readers?

We believe readers need to have the incentive to read so we offer a prize center. Readers earn RAT

Bucks for every sponsor they get. At the end of the event the readers spend their RAT Bucks and

purchase any prizes they choose.



Offer in school reading time

The great things about read-a-thons are that they are relevant for schools. It makes so much sense to

offer daily reading time to your students. The best schools schedule all 10 reading sessions during

class time so everyone participates.

Fun kick off meeting

We currently provide a fun Kick Off Video for you to play for your readers one week before your first

reading session is scheduled. We will be adding 4 additional videos for groups wanting to play a new

video each day leading up to the reading session.

Utilize all promotional tools

Make sure your readers utilize all of the tools available to them to gather the largest number of spon-

sors. The tools include email campaigns, facebook, twitter and other social media.

Check reporting functions regularly

In your admin dashboard you will be able to see any readers that have not attracted any sponsors and

others that have not complete any books. You should identify those people and do your best to get

them started. The higher your participation rate the better your results will be.

Why Use Read-a-thon.com?

Why should we use your program?

We have developed a tried and proven fundraising program to insure your group raises the most

money possible. We essentially manage your fundraiser for you. Here are some of the benefits:

1. We provide all of the print materials you need to promote your read-a-thon

2. We provide promotional video tools to motivate your readers

3. We provide a prize center and tracking system to motivate your readers to get the most sponsors

possible



4. We offer a tutorial for each reader to help them contact all the potential sponsors possible

5. We provide the best resources for reaching out to and communicating with sponsors

6. We collect all payments through our secure online payment system

7. We provide a daily to do list to make sure you and your readers stay on task

8. We provide complete record keeping for every person associated with your event

9. We incorporate social media and email campaign tools

How Much Does it Cost to Use Read-a-thon.com?

Read-a-thon charges a fee equal to 25% of donations and pledges that covers:

The cost for credit card processing

Prize centers and other incentives

All print materials

Social media promotional tools

Email campaigns and other sponsor recruitment tools

Complete record keeping suite


About Read-A-ThonRead-a-thon Fundraising Company was created by

caring parents who felt that schools should focus

more on reading than on fundraising. To that end we

began to develop this website and all of the tools we

provide for students, teachers, administrators and

schools to raise money while promoting reading,

education and accomplishment.

We purchased the www.read-a-thon.com domain in

2004 and began planning for the day when we could roll out what we considered a turnkey program.

We provide everything you need start to finish. You build a main Read-a-thon page that highlights your

specific campaign. Then each reader in your group builds a personal page. Each reader is asked to

participate in 10 different 30 minute reading sessions.

We give your readers a wide range of tools to get sponsors to donate money to support their reading

effort. Most people understand how important reading is and will gladly donate money to support a

read-a-thon.

The main reason we started the Read-a-thon Fundraising Company was to provide a system in which

schools could raise an enormous amount of money by simply promoting reading.

Consider the following:

Start with a 1,000 student elementary school. Get each student to agree to read for 30 minutes in a two week period. Using our promotional tools each reader gets at least 10 people to pledge $2.50 for each reading session. How much money do you think that school would raise? The answer is $250,000.

We will continue to add to our suite of tools to help your school raise as much money as possible so

you can really focus on reading and learning!

Our school raised over $100,000 and all we did was read....

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