REGISTER FOR FUN RUN HERE!

Lace up your sneakers, Cougars! The IVE PTA is hosting a fun run fundraiser with the goal of raising $40,000 for programs in the school. And we need your help to make it happen!

Our annual fun run is our biggest fundraiser of the year; this is what pays for field trips, the art program, Popcorn Fridays, Cougar Store, teacher stipends, the Cougar Community Fund and so much more. Our fun run is more important than ever this year following budget cuts that impacted teacher allocations, Literacy Night support and our staff grant program. By helping us fundraise, you’ll play a critical role in rebuilding a system of support that allows educators at IVE to do their best work!

This year's fun run is coordinated entirely by parent volunteers instead of a contracted event company, and that means our school will keep close to 100 percent of funds raised. We hope you'll share our fundraiser with friends and family so they can support our school!

On this page, you'll be able to find out more about our fun run event, prizes and some important FAQs. Thank you for your support!

REGISTER FOR THE FUN RUN:

Visit ive.pledgestar.com to register a student. Once signed up, you'll be all set to send yourself an email through the PledgeStar website that will allow you to make a donation. You can also email and/or text friends and family through the site to tell them all about our fun run and how they can support our school community with a one-time donation! Students who sign up on the site and send a minimum of two pledge requests will have their name entered in our lunchtime prize drawings.

ALL ABOUT OUR PRIZES:

Our top-fundraising classes will earn some awesome prizes, and there's lots of fun in store for the whole school if we hit our $40,000 goal!

GRAND PRIZE: If IVE families can raise $40,000 by the end of our fun run event, teachers and school staff will participate in an inflatable race on May 1 while the whole school cheers them on! The deadline for raising $40,000 is 11:59pm on April 29 (fun-run day).

INDIVIDUAL PRIZES: Every student who signs up on the fun run website and sends a minimum of two pledge requests will have their name entered in our lunchtime prize drawings, even if they haven't raised any money yet! Students whose names are selected at random will get to spin the fun run prize wheel.

CLASS PRIZES: Classes that raise the most money leading up to the fun run will earn big rewards! Our winners will be announced after 11:59pm on April 29.

FAQS:

How much of my donation goes to the IVE PTA?

The 2026 IVE Fun Run is planned and coordinated entirely by volunteers. That means the people planning the fundraiser, creating flyers, sending emails, making lunchtime announcements, coordinating prizes and staffing the actual event (and more!) are parents at the school who are donating their time to ensure a successful fundraiser. Thank you, fun run volunteers! We appreciate you!

Because of our generous volunteers, almost all of the money raised during this fundraiser will go to our PTA. This is a big change from years past, when we paid Booster.com 40 percent of the money raised in exchange for putting on a full-service event that required almost no volunteer hours from parents at the school. Our PTA made the choice to rely on the generosity of volunteers in 2026 since this is a critical rebuilding year for our budget.

The IVE PTA will pay the PledgeStar platform a flat fee of $1,195 for hosting our fun run via their platform. The only other costs associated with our fun run this year are event and prize materials, as well as credit-card processing fees. We encourage donors to consider covering processing fees at the time of donation!

My child wants to be in the lunchtime prize drawing, but I can't donate at this time. Is that OK?

Yes! All students who have registered and sent a minimum of two pledge request will be entered in lunchtime prize drawings, regardless of whether their families have donated.

We hope families will cast a wide net when considering which members of their extended community might be excited to support students by making an donation. In the past, our runners of have been supported by parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, family friends, neighbors, older siblings, and even friends of extended family members who want to support our school. Every little bit truly counts; even a donation of $5 or $10 will help us reach our goal of raising $40,000!

Can my student run in the fun run if they aren't registered?

Yes, all IVE students will participate in the fun run on April 29.

What does my student need to bring to school on the day of the fun run?

Make sure your student wears comfortable athletic shoes and dresses in layers so they can warm up or cool down as needed. We recommend packing a change of clothes in case the field is muddy. And if there's a chance of rain in the forecast, make sure to bring a raincoat. And don't forget water bottles!

What if my child needs accommodations to participate successfully in the fun run?

Our goal is to make fun run day a great experience for all students! The fun run planning committee will work with school staff to find ways to make the event inclusive, safe and fun for all students at IVE. If there are specific requests or accommodations the committee can help with, please reach out at funrun@ivepta.org.

Can family members come watch the fun run?

Family members can register to attend as cheerleaders at the event on April 29. More information will be sent via email and posted on ivepta.org before the event. Please make sure you have completed your Issaquah School District background check for the 2025-26 school year prior to the fun run.

We also need event volunteers to help with the fun run! Reach out to funrun@ivepta.org for info on what's needed.

Is my child's information safe on the PledgeStar website?

Student names and class designations are not publicly available via the PledgeStar site. Your student's donation page will only be available to donors you have elected to email or text about the fundraiser. If you would prefer not to include your child's full name when registering, you could provide their first name and last-name initial instead. We request that a minimum of first names and last initials are included so we can successfully call on students during lunchtime prize drawings.

Is it safe to make a payment via the PledgeStar website?

PlesgeStar does not accept payments or store money for our fundraiser at any time; this platform simply provides our PTA with a website and data tools to run our fundraising campaign. All credit card payments are collected via our PTA's Stripe account. Stripe is a widely-known payment platform utilized by nonprofits, small businesses and large corporations. Major companies that use Stripe for payment services include Doordash, Amazon, Spotify, WordPress and CNN.

All payment data is processed via Stripe's encrypted system, and the IVE PTA does not have access to your credit card information at any point.

The IVE PTA pays a processing fee every time we accept payment via Stripe. Donors will be asked at checkout if they would like to cover the cost of that processing fee so our PTA will receive 100 percent of the donated amount.

Is the IVE PTA eligible for donation matching from my employer?

Yes, the IVE PTA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and is eligible for donation matching from many employers including Microsoft and Boeing. Requesting a match from your employer program is a great way to increase your impact.

How can I make a donation via check?

When you make a donation via ive.pledgestar.com, you will be asked if your donation is via check or credit card. If donating via check, select that option and enter your donation amount. You will then need to drop off your check at the IVE front office or mail it to the school c/o IVE PTA. Please make all checks payable to Issaquah Valley Elementary PTA. After submitting your donation, you will receive via email a code to include in the memo field of the check. This code ensures we can reconcile all checks received with donations logged online.

Can I make a general donation to support the fun run?

Yes, donations do not have to be linked to specific students. You can help us reach our $40,000 goal by making a general donation here. We appreciate community donations!