A Kind-a-Thon replaces physical activity with acts of kindness. Students complete kind acts over a set period, log them, and sponsors give a flat donation or pledge per act. It funds the school the same way a fun run does, but the activity itself is the character-education outcome rather than a means to it.
Why it works
- It ties directly to social-emotional learning goals schools already have, which makes it easier to get instructional time for.
- It includes every student regardless of physical ability, which no movement format fully does.
- It costs almost nothing to run — no course, no equipment, no facility.
- It gives donors something unusual to respond to, which helps a school whose community has seen several fun runs.
When to run it
Any time; often tied to a kindness week or a character-education unit.
Planning it, start to finish
- Choosing acts that are age-appropriate and genuinely voluntary
- How students log acts without it becoming paperwork
- Keeping it honest without turning it into surveillance
- Tying it to an existing character-education unit
- Celebrating without ranking children against each other
- Classroom and school-wide goals instead of individual totals
Working from a printable plan is easier than a thread — see the planning checklist and the pledge sheet template.
Kind-a-Thon fundraisers for every kind of group
What works changes with who is running it. See guidance for PTOs, booster clubs, elementary schools and more on fundraising by group.
You are not doing this alone
Every Get Movin' group is paired with a Personal Event Coach — a former PTO/PTA volunteer who has run this before. Get Movin's company president and all of its fundraising coaches are former PTO/PTA members, teachers and volunteers. For a Kind-a-Thon, that is someone who has run this format before and knows where it goes wrong.
Your coach:
- strategizes your budget goal with you
- brainstorms incentives that actually motivate your participants
- advises on promotion and timing
- steers you away from the pitfalls they have already watched other groups hit
You also get the FundHub Event Toolbox — 100+ guides, templates, playlists and printables. Meet the coaches.
The platform behind your Kind-a-Thon
FundHub is Get Movin's online donation platform, built specifically for schools, teams and community groups by former PTO/PTA leaders. It carries 35+ tools. These are the ones that matter most here:
- Personalized student webpages. A parent sets one up in about five minutes, and each page raises an average of $140.
- One-click sharing to social, email and text, plus a sharing report showing how many parents are actually using it.
- Volunteer Organizer. Post positions with dates, times and headcount; parents self-select their shift instead of a chain of emails.
- Incentive Tracker. Enter your incentives and FundHub produces the distribution list by class or student automatically.
- Instant, customizable donation reports for students, classes and the whole group.
- Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
See the full platform on the FundHub page, or book a walkthrough with a coach.
How Get Movin’ runs your Kind-a-Thon
- Book a call or a FundHub demo and get matched with your Personal Event Coach.
- Your coach helps you set the goal, pick the date and choose incentives.
- Your group page and student pages go live; parents set theirs up in about five minutes.
- Families share by text, email and social; the coach checks in through the campaign.
- Event day, with volunteers organized through FundHub.
- Funds arrive by automatic ACH transfer after the event.
What it costs and what you keep
Get Movin’ groups keep 95-97% of every dollar raised. Donors pay however they want — cash, check, credit or debit, PayPal, Venmo, or Apple and Google Wallet. Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
Full detail on the pricing page.
Common questions
How do you verify acts of kindness?
You largely do not, and trying to is the fastest way to ruin it. Use a simple log, trust students, and design the recognition around participation rather than volume so there is nothing to gain by inflating a number.
What counts as an act of kindness?
Give age-appropriate examples rather than a fixed list — helping at home, including someone at lunch, writing a note to a staff member. A fixed list turns it into a checklist; examples keep it genuine.
Does a Kind-a-Thon raise as much as a fun run?
It depends far more on participation and on how well families share than on the format. What it reliably does is include students a physical event leaves out and cost almost nothing to run.
How do you avoid making children compete on kindness?
Count at the classroom and school level, not the individual level. Publishing individual totals converts a character-education activity into a leaderboard, which teaches the opposite lesson.
Start your Kind-a-Thon fundraiser
Get Movin’ has powered 10,000+ events and raised more than $200 million for groups like yours since 2007, with 1,300+ five-star Google reviews.
Take a FundHub tour with a coach, or book your event. Questions first? Contact us or call 248-895-0206. Also useful: the free school grant guide, the parent and donor FAQ, and our fundraising webinars.