Why Paddlit
Most fundraising platforms make their money from yours, with a percentage of every donation or a "tip" asked of your donors. Paddlit is one flat price, and it never touches the money.
Every ticket, gift and pledge goes from the payment processor straight into your organisation's bank account. It never passes through Paddlit, so there's nothing for us to take a percentage of, and we never ask your donors for a tip.
At checkout, a box already ticked adds the card fee to the gift, so the whole amount reaches your cause. Donors can untick it, and you can turn it off.
Guests save a card when they buy a ticket or at the door. The morning after, one press collects every pledge on a card and sends every receipt. No invoices, no weeks of follow-up.
A ticket sold becomes a guest with a bidder card. Their pledge becomes a receipt, and every gift builds their history with you. No spreadsheets passed between five tools.
That's more than 9 years of Paddlit Standard, kept for your cause. Card fees apply on any platform; on Paddlit, donors can choose to cover them when they pay on your page.
Follow the money
Donations, tickets and pledges don't pass through Paddlit's accounts. They go from your guest's card to a certified payment processor, and from there straight into your organisation's own bank account.
How it works
Your event gets its own page in your colours. Every seat sold becomes a guest on your list, with a bidder number and a card for their phone. Have a list already? Bring it in from a spreadsheet.
One tap adds the bidder card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Guests can save a card for the night, so their pledges are easy to settle. Reminders go out on their own.
Type a name or the number on their card. A name sticker prints right there, and if a guest wants to save a card, the volunteer can do it on the spot.
A guest raises their number and a volunteer locks it in. Anyone else can scan the code on the big screen, or text GIVE on plans with texting, to give in seconds, in the room or at home.
The big screen counts up with every pledge and every gift, with your sponsors' logos alongside.
Review the night's pledges and press one button: the cards on file are charged and receipts go out, with the tax-deductible amount for registered nonprofits. One more press sends anyone without a card a link to pay.
Features
Sell single tickets, whole tables and sponsorship packages from your own event page. Buyers name their guests at checkout or send each one a link to fill in, and everyone gets their own bidder card.
When a sponsor buys a package, they upload their logo and it goes straight onto the big screen. Their reserved table and bidder numbers are held for them, and their name appears on your event page.
Guests carry their number in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. On iPhone it pops up on the lock screen at the venue, and the table and number update on the card by themselves.
Send cards to everyone at once or one at a time, schedule reminders, and see who has added their card. Texts come from your organisation's own number, and guests reply STOP to stop them.
Search by name, number or table, add walk-ups on the spot, and print name stickers on a label printer. Several iPads can work the door at once.
Volunteers tap an amount and lock it in. A second tap for the same guest gets a double-check, and every pledge can be changed or voided with Undo.
Put a code on the big screen and on table cards. Anyone can scan it, or text GIVE to your number on plans with texting, and give in seconds with Apple Pay or Google Pay, from the room or from home. Each gift joins the total as it arrives.
A display page made for your projector or streaming setup. It counts up as pledges and gifts land, shows progress to your goal, and thanks your sponsors.
Team chats for the door and the collectors, direct messages, and announcements. Mention #143 and anyone can tap it to see that guest's table and arrival. Collectors and managers see their pledges too.
Door staff see "Visa ending 4242" on the guest's card and can update it with them in person: typed into the iPad, or the guest scans a code and uses their own phone. Or send a link to do it later.
Nothing is charged until you say so. Review the list, press the button, and the cards on file are charged. One more press sends anyone without a card a text and an email with a link to pay. Cheques and cash can be marked paid by hand.
Every payment gets a receipt in your name, with your thank-you message. For registered nonprofits, it shows your tax ID and the tax-deductible amount, with the value of dinner taken off, the way the IRS asks.
Every ticket, sponsorship, pledge and gift builds one record per donor, across all your events. See who's new, who's back, and who gave last year but not yet this year. Year-end giving statements go out in one press.
Where the money came from, what's still to collect, how many came back from last year, and how this year compares. Download every payment, pledge and gift as a spreadsheet for your accounts.
The morning after
A pledge made in the excitement of the room is easiest to collect the next day. Paddlit gets it done while the night is still fresh.
For your guests
Guests buy, give and pay on pages with your logo and your colours. They never create an account, never download an app, and never get bounced to another website to pay.
Built for volunteers
The door sees check-in. Collectors see pledges. Big buttons, plain words, nothing to configure on the night.
Volunteers sign in with a six-digit code sent by email or text. Invitations walk them through setup.
At shift change, the next volunteer taps Switch volunteer and enters their PIN. Everything they do is under their own name.
Guests pay on their own phones. If someone hands over a card, it's typed straight into the iPad, and the number is never kept on it.
Privacy and safety
Everyone sees only what their job needs, and every change is recorded under the person who made it.
Pricing
Taking payments, selling tickets and online giving come with every plan, even Free. Every plan has unlimited volunteers, and every new organisation gets 14 days of Standard free.
For trying Paddlit, or a small first event.
Everything for one event, no subscription.
For organisations running a few events a year.
For bigger nights and your own brand everywhere.
Prices are before sales tax, added where it applies. Bigger nights, or several chapters under one account? Talk to us.
Questions
Can't find yours? Ask us.
Where the money goes, what it costs, and how pledges get paid.
No. Paddlit is a flat subscription. Payments go straight from your guests' cards to your organisation's bank account; Paddlit never holds the money and never takes a percentage or asks your donors for tips.
No, never. Every payment is made to your organisation's own account with a certified payment processor, which pays it straight into your bank, usually two working days later. Paddlit never holds, pools or pays out your money, so there's no settlement from us to wait for. We're paid separately, by your subscription.
Only the payment processor's card fee: 2.9% + 30¢, or 2.2% + 30¢ once a registered nonprofit is approved for the lower rate. Paddlit adds nothing on top, and donors paying on your page can tick a box to cover the fee so the full gift reaches you.
An owner sets it up once, in about ten minutes, without leaving Paddlit: your organisation's details, your bank account and one responsible person. Money arrives in your bank about two working days after each payment.
Guests can save a card when they buy a ticket or at the door. After the night, a manager reviews the pledges and presses one button to charge the cards on file; nothing is charged automatically. If a card doesn't go through, the guest gets a text and an email to update it, and one more press sends anyone without a card a link to pay. Cheques and cash can be marked paid by hand.
Yes, for registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits on any plan: confirm your nonprofit status once, and receipts show your tax ID and the tax-deductible amount. When a guest gets something back, like dinner, its value is shown and taken off, as the IRS requires. Donors can also get one statement at the end of the year listing everything they gave.
What guests need, what you need, and who can give.
No. Their bidder card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which is already on their phone, and they pay on your page with Apple Pay, Google Pay or a card. Guests without a phone just give their name at the door.
Phones or iPads for your volunteers, a laptop for the big screen, and, if you want name stickers, a label printer at the door. No card machines: guests pay on their own phones.
Yes. Every event gets a donation page and a code you can show on the big screen or print on table cards. On plans with texting, guests can also text a word like GIVE to your number. Gifts join the total as they arrive.
Yes, from Event Pass up. Create packages with what's included, such as a logo on the big screen, a reserved table and held bidder numbers, and sell them on your event page. A sponsor's logo goes up on the big screen as soon as they upload it.
What's free, what's included, and how quickly you can start.
Yes, for registered nonprofits: one event a year and up to 150 guests, with tickets, online giving, wallet cards, check-in, pledges collected by card and the big screen. Every new organisation also gets 14 days of Standard free, with no card needed.
It depends on your plan: one a year on Free, three on Standard, as many as you like on Pro. Each event has its own guests, volunteers and settings, and returning guests and donors are recognised from one event to the next.
Sign-ups open soon. Until then, book a demo and we'll show you around. Once you're in, add your logo and colours and create your first event; the 14-day trial needs no card.
Yes. Import it from a spreadsheet and Paddlit sends each guest their bidder card. Tickets sold on your event page join the same list.
Book a demo
We'll walk you through a night from the first ticket to the last receipt, using your own event, and show you what you'd keep compared with what you use today.
Thanks, there. We'll be in touch.
We'll email to find a time that suits you.