# Group fundraiser money tracker: a printable sheet Canonical URL: https://www.evenoutapp.com/templates/group-fundraiser-money-tracker Updated: 2026-10-06 A group fundraiser tracker logs each contributor's pledge, what they have paid, how, when it was deposited and whether you thanked them. Three formulas run it: progress is received divided by goal, outstanding pledges are pledged minus received, and the gap to goal is goal minus received. On a $2,500 goal with $1,640 received, progress is 65.6%. Key points: - Log pledged and received in separate columns. A pledge is a promise, and only received money counts toward the goal. - Progress is received divided by goal, outstanding pledges are pledged minus received, and the gap to goal is goal minus received. - On a $2,500 goal with $2,100 pledged and $1,640 received, progress is 65.6%, $460 is outstanding and $860 is still to raise. - Cash left in the box plus cash deposited must equal the cash received in the log. Two people count, and every deposit gets a dated line. - EvenOut tracks shared costs that people owe each other. It does not track donations toward a goal. ## How to use this template Use this sheet when money is coming in toward a goal, such as a team trip, a class gift or a neighborhood event. It differs from a [club dues tracker](https://www.evenoutapp.com/templates/club-dues-tracker), where every member owes the same fixed amount, and from splitting a cost that is already known. Here each person gives a different amount, and nothing is owed until someone has promised it. 1. **Write the goal in the totals block first.** Without a goal there is nothing to measure progress against. 2. **Log each pledge** with the date, the contributor and the amount pledged. A pledge is a promise, so Received stays empty until money arrives. 3. **Log each payment** in Received with the method: cash, app or check. A contributor who pays in parts gets one row per payment, with the pledge entered on the first row only. 4. **Record what happened to the money.** In the second table, write the date it was deposited and the date you sent the thank-you. 5. **Update the totals after every deposit.** The three formulas, in plain words: - **Progress** is received divided by goal. - **Outstanding pledges** are pledged minus received. - **Gap to goal** is goal minus received. ## The template ### Money in | Date | Contributor | Pledged | Received | Method | |---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ### After it arrives Keep each contributor on the same row number as in the first table. | Contributor | Date deposited | Thank-you sent | |---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ### Totals | Line | How to get it | Amount | |---|---|---| | Goal | Set at the start | | | Pledged | Sum of the Pledged column | | | Received | Sum of the Received column | | | Progress | Received divided by goal | | | Outstanding pledges | Pledged minus received | | | Gap to goal | Goal minus received | | ### Cash box | Date | Cash in | Deposited | Left in the box | Counted by | |---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Keep the three amount columns as running totals. Cash in comes from the rows of the log with the method "cash", and Left in the box is the latest count. The rule: cash left in the box plus cash deposited must equal cash in. ## A worked example with a $2,500 goal Say a group sets a goal of $2,500. On Oct 20 it holds 18 pledges that total $2,100, and it has received $1,640: $420 in cash and $1,220 by app or transfer. | Line | Working | Result | |---|---|---| | Progress | $1,640 divided by $2,500 | 65.6% | | Outstanding pledges | $2,100 minus $1,640 | $460 | | Gap to goal | $2,500 minus $1,640 | $860 | The $860 gap has two parts. $460 has been promised and not yet paid, and $400 ($2,500 minus $2,100) has not been promised at all. Chase the $460 first, because those people have already said yes. Now the cash check. Say $300 of the $420 was deposited on Oct 14, and two people counted $120 in the box on Oct 20. Then $300 plus $120 is $420, which matches the log. If the count had come to $110, the $10 difference means a payment was logged wrong or cash went somewhere unrecorded, and it needs finding before the next deposit. ## What to agree on ### Who counts and who deposits Two people count cash together and both write their names in the Counted by column. One person keeps the deposit log and writes the date and amount of every deposit. Agree a rule for how soon cash goes to the bank, so the box never holds more than the group is comfortable with. ### Collecting by app Collecting through a payment app comes with that app's own rules, so read them first. As of October 2026, PayPal's page on pools says: "You cannot use a pool to raise money for charity or for other fundraising purposes." Its help page adds: "All money in the pool belongs to the pool creator." Cash App's Terms say an organizer "may only use Pools to solicit contributions for personal use" and list "raising funds for charities" among the barred uses. Check the current terms before you plan a fundraiser around a pool. The guides to [Cash App Pools](https://www.evenoutapp.com/guides/cash-app-pools) and [PayPal Pools](https://www.evenoutapp.com/guides/paypal-pools) go through the rules. Whichever way a payment arrives, it goes in the log with its method, the same as cash and checks. ### Thank-yous and records Write the date you thanked each person, so nobody is thanked twice or missed. This sheet tracks amounts only. It does not cover donation receipts or tax. When the fundraiser ends, the Received total is the figure for the fundraisers line under receipts in a [club treasurer's report](https://www.evenoutapp.com/templates/club-treasurer-report). ### Where EvenOut fits EvenOut tracks shared costs that people owe each other, with a payer and a split for each expense. It does not track donations toward a goal, and it records payments without moving money. If the group also splits its own costs, such as a van rental or supplies, an EvenOut group can hold that part, and [how to collect money for a group gift](https://www.evenoutapp.com/guides/how-to-collect-money-for-a-group-gift) covers the options for a smaller collection. ## Frequently asked questions ### What if someone gives more than they pledged? Raise their pledged figure to match what they gave, so outstanding pledges never drop below zero, and note the change in the row. If Sam pledged $50 and gave $80, pledged becomes $80. Received is always the figure that counts toward the goal. ### How do you log a pledge that is paid in two parts? Give each payment its own row with its own date and method, and enter the pledge on the first row only so it is counted once. Say Priya pledges $150, pays $100 cash on Oct 3 and $50 by transfer on Oct 17. Row one shows pledged $150 and received $100. Row two shows pledged $0 and received $50. ### Can this run in a shared spreadsheet? Yes. Put the goal in one cell and the three totals under it. Progress is the sum of the Received column divided by the goal cell, formatted as a percent. Outstanding pledges and the gap to goal are two subtractions from the same sums. Keep one row per payment so the sums stay right. ## Sources - PayPal Help: What are Pools? - PayPal: Pool money - Cash App: Terms of Service (U.S., last updated September 11, 2026)