How to create a campaign
Step-by-step walkthrough from sign-in to publishing your first square fundraiser.
A solo SquareFundr campaign takes about 5 minutes to set up. Here's the full walkthrough.
1. Sign in
If you don't have an account, sign up at /auth with your email. You'll get a confirmation email — click the link to activate your account.
2. Click "Create"
From your dashboard, click the orange Create New Campaign button. (If you're running a fundraiser for a team where every player should have their own page, click Start an Organization instead — see the org guide for that flow.)
3. Add your campaign info
- Title: keep it short and specific. "Marching Band Trip to Disney" beats "Help us out!"
- Description: explain what you're raising for, by when, and why. The more concrete, the more donors give.
- Image: upload a high-quality photo. Team / event photos do better than logos.
4. Configure the grid
- Rows × Columns: 10×10 (100 squares) is a great default. Match the size to your goal: at $10/square, 100 squares = $1,000.
- Football board: turn this on to tie the board to a real NFL or college game — the grid locks to 10×10, you pick the game from the schedule, and the numbers draw on game day. See Football boards.
- Pricing:
- - Fixed — every square is the same price. Easy.
- - Sequential — square #1 is $1, #2 is $2, etc. The classic "100 days" raffle layout.
- - Manual — set custom prices per square.
5. Choose how you get paid
The create form asks which payment methods the campaign accepts: Card (connect Square from Dashboard → Profile → Card payments), PayPal (enter your PayPal email — new campaigns use the default saved on your profile), and Cash, with optional Venmo, Zelle and Cash App handles shown to donors. Turn on any combination. Either way the money goes straight to your own account — SquareFundr never holds the funds and takes no cut. Full details: How you get paid.
Square charges 2.9% + 30¢ per online donation (a $5.00 donation arrives as $4.55), and donors can choose to cover that fee so the full amount reaches you.
6. Publish and share
Click Create Campaign. You'll get a sharable URL like squarefundr.com/fundraiser/your-slug. Share it on social, text, and email. Each donor picks their squares, pays by card, PayPal or cash, and the grid updates live.
7. Track and follow up
The dashboard shows live progress. After your fundraiser ends, post a celebration message and thank donors — they're more likely to give again next year if they see results.