New fundraising tool helps Oklahoma student raise $1800 to live his dream of going to Washington, DC...without selling candy or magazines!

When educators and parents hear the word “fundraising,” they immediately think of candy bars, car washes and magazine sales – along with a ton of work. Why not let technology free up your time so that you don’t spend Saturdays hosting carwashes?

Meet Colby Rankin. Colby was a student who wanted to go on his class trip to Washington, DC after learning of all the amazing memorials and monuments that would be visited. But Washington, DC is a long way from Colby's quiet hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma. How was he going to make his dream happen?

After signing up for the tour, Colby and his mom learned about MyTour Fund.com, a free crowdfunding (fundraising) tool offered to participants traveling with School Tours of America.

They loaded a video onto his MyTourFund.com website and started sharing the page on Facebook. Pretty soon, their family and friends were sharing the MyTour Fund page with others. Colby and his mom even sent the video in an email to President Obama, who actually replied!

Donations came in over the next couple months, and when all was said and done, Colby had raised $1,800 for his tour!

If Colby's story sounds simple… it was. He gives a lot of credit for his success to MyTourFund.com. As he said, "It was an easy way to share about the DC trip and how much needed to be raised. And it was EASY for my friends and family to give."

The feeling of accomplishment Colby had when he returned from Washington, DC was unbeatable. Had he not fundraised, he said, "I don't think I would've appreciated it as much. This was my trip. I did this!"

If you want to earn money for your tour or group, do what Colby did and create a MyTourFund.com page. Here's what participant’s receive:

• A free fundraising site where every dollar raised is automatically applied toward the cost of the trip!
• A quick, easy, and effective way to share with family and friends!
• A simple method for family and friends to send money--even people far away can contribute. (Donors incur a small processing fee, but students keep every dollar donated).
• A feeling of empowerment for helping to pay for the tour!

Group Leaders now have the ability to create a collective MyTour Fund page to raise funds for the entire group! Educators love the stress-free approach of creating a page, sharing it, and choosing how to allocate the raised funds. The School Tours of America accounting team handles the money, so leaders can focus on the tour!

MyTourFund.com helps raise more money with less effort than traditional fundraising. Simply share with family and friends for help sending you on tour. With a little bit of creativity, you can utilize your MyTourFund.com page to PAY FOR YOUR ENTIRE TOUR.

START NOW to reach your funding goal! The sooner you start promoting your MyTour Fund page, the more people you can reach and the more money you can raise.

And remember: a fifth grader used MyTour Fund to help raise $1,800 and he still had plenty of time to hang out with his friends and play basketball and violin. There's no reason your fundraising can't be as successful as Colby…or even more.

Want to find out how you can use MyTourFund.com to help pay for your student trip? Complete the form below for more information.