A Skate-a-Thon is held at a roller or ice rink, with participants skating laps or a timed session and sponsors pledging per lap or as a flat donation. Like a Bowl-a-Thon, the venue supplies the infrastructure, which makes it viable for groups with no facility of their own. Rinks frequently run fundraiser nights and have an established process for them.
Why it works
- The venue supplies everything, so a group with no facility can run a substantial event.
- Rinks often already have a fundraiser night format and will help you plan it.
- It is a genuine outing rather than a school activity, which brings families who skip daytime events.
- Skating suits a wide age range in one session.
When to run it
Any time; roller rinks year-round, ice rinks seasonal in some areas.
Planning it, start to finish
- Booking a rink and asking about an existing fundraiser night format
- Skate rental and making sure it is never a barrier to participation
- Per-lap counting in a session-based environment
- Beginner support so first-time skaters still participate
- Safety equipment and rink supervision
- Combining it with a concession or raffle without complicating the pledge
Working from a printable plan is easier than a thread — see the planning checklist and the pledge sheet template.
Skate-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 Skate-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 Skate-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 Skate-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
Do rinks run fundraiser nights already?
Many do, and asking is the first call to make. A rink with an existing format has solved the logistics and often the pricing, which saves you most of the planning.
How do you count laps at a skating session?
Wristband punches or a simple counter at one point on the circuit. If counting proves impractical for younger skaters, score by session participation instead and let sponsors pledge flat.
What about children who cannot skate?
Supply beginner support and rink aids, and make sure the pledge structure has a flat option so a first-time skater's page works exactly as well as anyone else's.
Start your Skate-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.