How FuelK12 helped ClassDojo reach thousands of schools without losing the human touch.
From Teacher Adoption to Administrative Buy-In
ClassDojo’s early growth was fueled by teachers. Classrooms embraced the platform, and word spread quickly at the educator level. But as the company matured, a new challenge emerged: expanding adoption at the school and district level.
Administrators, many of whom associated ClassDojo primarily with classroom use, didn’t always see it as a solution designed for them. Changing that perception would require direct, thoughtful engagement at a scale ClassDojo hadn’t attempted before.
“Most administrators thought that we were not for them,” explains Dave Herron, Go-To-Market Lead at ClassDojo. “It was going to take a lot of extra work to shift their understanding of what we provide.”
An Experiment in Outbound—Without the Long-Term Risk
Outbound calling to schools was uncharted territory for ClassDojo. The questions were practical and pressing: Which schools should be prioritized? Would it be cost-effective to reach thousands of schools nationwide? And how could this be done without building a full SDR team before knowing whether the approach would work?
FuelK12 offered a way forward, one rooted in experimentation rather than commitment.
“FuelK12 gave us an option to experiment quickly without needing to make a long-term hiring decision,” says Herron.
Instead of building a sales organization from scratch, ClassDojo was able to test, learn, and iterate. The team scaled from just a handful of reps to 25 at peak, adjusting outreach strategies in real time.
Scaling Outreach Without Losing Speed (or Context)
What stood out wasn’t just the scale, but the pace. Campaigns could be tested quickly, then refined, or replaced, entirely based on what was working.
FuelK12’s distributed team made it possible to cover schools across all U.S. time zones, while dedicated leadership partners ensured alignment with ClassDojo’s goals.
“It’s allowed us to test much faster,” Herron notes. “If we’re not sure about something, we’re able to quickly experiment.”
FuelK12 functioning like part of the internal team, not an external vendor
Operating as One Team
Integration played a major role in that shift. ClassDojo is fully remote, relying heavily on Slack for day-to-day collaboration. FuelK12 was embedded directly into those same channels.
The same was true for sales infrastructure. FuelK12 worked inside ClassDojo’s Salesforce environment and used Outreach alongside the internal team, creating full visibility into activity, performance, and results.
“We could see everything that was happening within our source of truth for our sales team,” says Herron.
This level of transparency helped maintain trust and momentum as the program scaled.
Measurable Growth Across the U.S.
The results reflected the strength of the approach.
In the first year, more than 2,000 schools booked sales demos. The following year, that number grew to over 7,000—making FuelK12 the largest single channel driving demo bookings for ClassDojo.
“FuelK12 was the largest channel that booked those calls for us,” Herron shares.
What began as an experiment became a core part of ClassDojo’s go-to-market motion.
Why This Model Works in Ed-Tech
Education technology operates on a different rhythm than many industries. Sales cycles are seasonal. Decisions are collaborative. Trust matters deeply.
FuelK12’s model aligns naturally with those realities. It offers flexibility when demand fluctuates and enables personal, relationship-driven outreach at scale.
“Ed-tech is very relationship-based and trust-based,” Herron says. “Fuel K12 helps you put a personal touch on every relationship.”
A Scalable, Human Approach to Growth
For ClassDojo, the partnership with FuelK12 wasn’t just about booking more demos. It was about finding a sustainable way to reach schools personally, test new ideas quickly, and grow without overextending internal teams.
In a market where relationships matter as much as reach, that balance made all the difference.
