RAISE-365

Review by eFreeware

Raising money for a school, a sports team or a community group usually means the same scramble: someone has to pick a product, hand out order forms, chase payments and then guess whether the whole thing is actually working. The people running it are parents and volunteers, not professional fundraisers, and the paperwork tends to pile up faster than the money does.

RAISE-365 is an Android app from the developer Raise 365, released in July 2021 and updated as recently as October 2025. It sits in the Events category and is built around one job: running a fundraising campaign for a school, a team or any group that needs to raise money. It is free, carries no ads and has no in-app purchases, which matters when the whole point is that every dollar raised should reach the cause.

What a campaign looks like inside the app

The developer describes the app as a system for creating campaigns and following them from start to finish. That framing is the most useful thing to understand before installing: this is not a donation button or a simple collection pot. It is meant to hold the campaign itself, from the moment a group decides to raise money to the point where the results are counted.

The products being sold are digital discount cards. Instead of candy bars, wrapping paper or magazine subscriptions, supporters buy a card that carries discounts, and the app is the framework that organizes that effort. The developer's stated goal is a campaign that is both successful and profitable, with an experience that stays easy for the people running it.

That combination shapes who the app is built for. A group that already knows what it wants to sell will find the structure useful; a group hoping to collect plain cash donations is looking at a different model.

Discount cards that pull in local businesses

The discount cards are not limited to one neighborhood. The developer says they connect communities and businesses across the country, so a card can carry offers from a wide set of merchants rather than a handful of shops near the school gate.

The pitch runs in two directions. Businesses get exposure to the communities buying the cards, which the developer frames as helping them thrive, and the people who buy a card get savings when they use it. For a fundraiser, that is a useful story to tell: the buyer is not simply donating, they are getting something back.

I would expect this to be the strongest part of the offer for groups that have struggled with physical product sales. The digital card model avoids the physical product logistics that come with traditional sales.

Tracking a fundraiser while it runs

Following a campaign from beginning to end is the second half of what the app does.

That tracking is where an app can genuinely help, especially for a team with several people involved. The system supports multiple products, so discount cards are not necessarily the only thing a group can run through it.

The app is rated for Everyone and sits in the Events category, which fits its role as an organizing tool rather than anything aimed at a narrow audience.

What the app asks of a group

The trade-offs here come from the model rather than from the software. A campaign depends on people buying discount cards, so the app is a tool for a product-based fundraiser, not a general-purpose way to collect money for any cause. If a group's plan does not involve selling something, the approach described by the developer will not match it.

The card model also assumes buyers who will use the discounts. A card only feels worth the price if the offers inside it are relevant to the person holding it. The developer's claim that the cards reach communities and businesses nationwide is a broad one.

On the practical side, RAISE-365 is free to install, shows no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so there is no cost barrier to trying it with a campaign. The app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times and holds a 3.7 average across 307 ratings, a middling score that suggests a mix of experiences rather than universal enthusiasm.

The groups this fits best

The stated focus is schools, teams and any group that wants to raise money, which covers a lot of the volunteer fundraising that happens every year: a choir trip, a youth league season, a classroom project, a club that needs new equipment. These are exactly the situations where a handful of parents end up doing the administrative work, and where a single app holding the campaign is more appealing than a folder of forms.

It suits organizers who want the fundraising product decided for them. The discount card is the centerpiece, the businesses are already part of the network, and the app's job is to keep the campaign on track. Someone who enjoys building a custom fundraiser from scratch may find the structure tighter than they want.

It also suits groups that would rather not handle physical goods. Digital cards give supporters something they can actually use after the drive is over.

A free option for school and team fundraisers

RAISE-365 is worth installing if you are organizing a fundraiser for a school, a team or a community group and the discount card model appeals to you. It costs nothing to try, there are no ads or purchases inside it, and the tracking is part of what the app offers.

The app's limits are the limits of its model. It is built around selling digital discount cards, so the campaign has to fit that shape, and the value of a card depends on the businesses taking part where your supporters live. If that matches how your group raises money, this is a reasonable place to start; if your fundraiser looks nothing like a card sale, the fit will be poor.

For a volunteer with a campaign to run and no budget for software, a free app that organizes the whole effort is an easy thing to try before the next drive begins.