Customer Snapshot
- Events Hosted in 2025: 6
- Participants: 500+
- Amount Raised: $3,500+
Why VSU Cross Country Switched to RunSignup
Valdosta State University’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country programs host multiple community races each year, including the popular Valdosta 5K and Blazer Races. While these events have long served as a key fundraising source, the team faced growing inefficiencies and steep fees with their previous fundraising platform, SNAP! Raise.
By switching to RunSignup, Valdosta unified event registration, fundraising, donations, race promotion, and participant engagement into one streamlined platform—while keeping significantly more of their revenue.
The Challenge: High Fees and Fragmented Tools
Before adopting RunSignup, VSU relied on SNAP! Raise for fundraising. The platform’s fee structure quickly became a major pain point:
- 20%of total funds raised were taken if the fundraising goal was met
- If the team did not meet their fundraising goal, the fee jumped to a staggering 40%
Beyond the fundraising costs, the team also lacked a centralized solution for:
- Hosting multiple races and promoting them cohesively
- Collecting donations directly at registration
- Sharing event information, awards, route maps, and team details
RunSignup’s all-in-one platform offered an opportunity to solve these operation roadblocks while boosting fundraising impact.
The Solution: RunSignup’s Registration and Fundraising Tools
Valdosta State University Cross Country turned to RunSignup to consolidate race management, simplify communication with participants, and eliminate the heavy fundraising fees they experienced on SNAP! Raise. With RunSignup, the team brought registration, donations, event promotion, and essential race-day tools into one easy-to-manage platform—while keeping substantially more of the dollars raised.
One of the biggest improvements was RunSignup’s transparent, flat 4% processing fee on all donations. Unlike SNAP! Raise—where the team lost 20% of funds raised if they hit their goal and 40% if they didn’t—RunSignup’s straightforward pricing gave Valdosta complete control and confidence over their fundraising. No penalties, no escalated fees, and no surprises. As a result, far more of each contribution now directly supports their athletes.
RunSignup also helped elevate the professional appearance and usability of Valdosta’s event pages. With custom pages, the race director created clear sections outlining awards, race details, and team information. They also used an external link back to the university’s website to highlight the team roster, making it easy for supporters and participants to learn more about the athletes benefiting from the races.
As the team became more comfortable with the platform, they began using additional RunSignup tools to improve race-day operations. VSU now uses the RaceDay CheckIn App manage participant check-in efficiently on race morning, reducing lines and manual processes. After each event, results are published directly on the event page, and finisher certificates are automatically generated for participants to download and share.
The team also uses RaceDay Photos feature, allowing race photos to be uploaded and associated with participants after the event. This provides runners with easy access to their photos while keeping everything centralized within the same platform.
To guide runners and reduce course-related questions, the team embedded the Strava course map component, giving participants a familiar, interactive way to preview the route. This simple addition increased confidence for runners of all experience levels.
Finally, Valdosta leveraged RunSignup’s Event List feature to promote all of their races in one place, helping cross-promote upcoming events and increase participation across their full race calendar. The ability to showcase multiple events on a single platform strengthened brand consistency and visibility within the local running community.
Together, these tools created a streamlined, modern race experience—while maximizing the fundraising impact of every event.
The Result
By moving to RunSignup, VSU’s cross county program acheived:
- Dramatically increased fundraising (without worry about how much they would lose in fees)
- A centralized race hub
- Better communication with RunSignup’s free email
Switching from SNAP! Raise to RunSignup empowered VSU’s cross country teams to improve event execution, simplify race promotion, and keep more of the money raised – all while providing a better participant experience.
For schools, athletic programs, and community race organizers, VSU’s success illustrates how RunSignup can streamline operations and increase fundraising impact.