Custom Online Pledge for Starlight Foundation

Background

Starlight Children’s Foundation’s Fans Pledge campaign transforms every goal scored by a supporter’s favourite sporting team into a donation that helps bring happiness to seriously ill children across Australia.

While highly successful, the campaign relied on a fundraising model that extended well beyond Raisely’s native capabilities. Previous custom integrations had become increasingly complex, difficult to maintain, and vulnerable as the platform evolved.

Working alongside both Starlight and Raisely, OSKY redesigned the entire pledge workflow, replacing fragile legacy processes with a scalable, maintainable solution that ensured the campaign was ready for future fundraising seasons.

About Starlight

For more than 30 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has helped brighten the lives of seriously ill children through play, creativity and social connection.

The Fans Pledge campaign is one of Starlight’s most innovative fundraising initiatives, allowing supporters to pledge a donation for every goal scored by their chosen sporting team. Because donations depend on live sporting results rather than fixed amounts, the campaign requires functionality beyond a traditional online donation platform. Starlight Foundation – Fans Pledge Case Study.pdf

The Challenge

Although Raisely provides an excellent platform for traditional fundraising campaigns, the Fans Pledge model introduced several unique technical challenges.

The campaign required the system to:

• Calculate each supporter’s donation after match results were confirmed.
• Securely store payment details without charging supporters upfront.
• Automatically generate personalised supporter graphics for social media.
• Support different donation experiences for individuals and corporate sponsors.
• Keep supporter subscriptions synchronised as pledges changed or were cancelled.

Earlier solutions relied heavily on third-party automation tools that had become increasingly difficult to maintain over time. With the next campaign approaching, Starlight needed a more robust and sustainable solution that could continue evolving alongside the Raisely platform.

Our Solution

OSKY worked closely with both Starlight and Raisely to redesign the entire pledge workflow with a focus on reliability, maintainability and long-term scalability.

Modernised Automation

Legacy workflows were replaced with a streamlined automation platform using n8n, reducing complexity while making the overall solution easier to manage and extend.

The new automation now:

• Calculates final pledge amounts once match results are confirmed.
• Automatically applies optional Pledge Protect calculations.
• Updates supporter subscriptions when pledges are modified or cancelled.
• Keeps fundraising data synchronised across connected systems.

Introducing Pledge Protect

OSKY developed a new optional feature called Pledge Protect, allowing supporters to nominate a guaranteed minimum donation regardless of match results.

This gives supporters greater flexibility while helping Starlight generate more predictable fundraising revenue, even during low-scoring games.

Tailored Supporter Journeys

Recognising that individuals and businesses engage differently, OSKY created dedicated pledge experiences for each audience.

• A fan pledge page with standard donation options.
• A corporate pledge page with higher contribution levels, making it easier for businesses to participate and maximise their support.

Personalised Social Sharing

Every time a pledge is made, the system instantly generates a customised social media image featuring the supporter’s pledge amount, their chosen team, and official club branding. This encourages supporters to celebrate and share their commitment, helping raise awareness organically.

Smarter Payment Processing

Rather than charging supporters immediately, payment details are securely stored when the pledge is made. Once sporting results are confirmed, donations are automatically calculated and processed for the correct amount through Stripe, creating a seamless experience for supporters while ensuring complete accuracy.

Outcome

The new solution provides Starlight with a modern, reliable fundraising platform that is significantly easier to manage and ready for future campaign growth.

Key outcomes include:

• A simplified and more maintainable automation architecture.
• Improved platform reliability through modern integrations.
• Reduced reliance on fragile legacy workflows.
• A more predictable fundraising model through the introduction of Pledge Protect.
• Greater operational independence for the Starlight team through simplified automation management.
• Successful delivery ahead of the campaign launch, allowing the Fans Pledge programme to relaunch with confidence.

Client Feedback
“We’re delighted to have worked with OSKY. Their professional effort ensured a smooth transition to the new system and made managing our pledge campaigns easier than ever.”

Looking Ahead

The Fans Pledge project demonstrates how OSKY helps organisations extend platforms like Raisely beyond their standard capabilities without compromising maintainability or long-term sustainability.

By combining custom development, intelligent automation and user-focused design, OSKY delivered a future-ready fundraising solution that enables Starlight Children’s Foundation to continue engaging supporters and raising vital funds with confidence.

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