In just four weeks, 1,956 fans responded to Adam Lambert’s call to action to give to classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org. Fan Groups created GivingPages within the Lambert Leaderboard; www.donorschoose.org/AdamLambert to compete for the most philanthropic group and individual givers. With prizes ranging from autographs to exclusive online chats with Adam, the fans rallied and gave over 5,400 donations to arts and music projects on DonorsChoose.org. Read more in the official press release; as well as E! Online and MTV News articles.
Winners: Fan group ONTD_AI raised the most funds with an amazing $82,000 (special thanks to fan group leader Julia)!
Our most generous individual donors were: 1. Maria from Florida: $8,406; 2. Debra from North Carolina: $6,088; 3. Becky from Alabama: $5,682; 4. Anonymous, Iowa: $5,445; 5. Monika from Maryland: $3,703; 6. Anonymous, Tennessee: $3,584; 7. Beth from Maryland: $3,513; 8. Sandra from Virginia: $3,211; 9. Barbara from Missouri: $3,151; and 10. Susan from California: $2,836.
Thank you to everyone who gave! And remember the giving doesn’t stop here. View this thank you video from Adam…
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The Great Give-Back Birthday Celebration at DonorsChoose.org has been underway since May, so the birthday team wanted to take some time to share great birthday stories for each month we’ve been celebrating.
In May- a group of staff members at the CAA Foundation donated their birthday to DonorsChoose.org- Creative Artists Agency Foundation’s Give Back Birthday.If you have a group of friends with birthdays in the same month, consider creating one page and celebrating together!
In June- a couple donates their upcoming wedding and birthday to public school students- how sweet! - Scott and Olivia’s Give-Back Page
For July- we highlight a 9 year old girl who is one of many young children donating their birthday for a good cause - Kaia’s Give Back Birthday
If you want to be our next great story, join in the celebration! Donate your birthday to support classroom projects at DonorsChoose.org, and then to invite all of your friends to the party.Click here to get started now!
Have your cake and donate too!
-The DC.org Birthday Team
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In an article titled “Tweet, Tweet, Ka-Ching: Twitter is Changing the Way Nonprofits Make the Ask,” Fast Company writer Lydia Dishman explores the ways organizations, like ours, are using Twitter, and other forms of social media to help in their awareness-building and fundraising efforts. She asks, “can non-profits raise awareness, increase membership, and–most critically–“make the ask” successfully on Twitter?” The answer for us: yes.
The article highlights our internal use of Twitter, a recent “Tweet to Beat” campaign with Tim Ferriss and our upcoming Social Media Challenge. The article also has a great round-up of how organizations like 12for12k, Twestival, The National Wildlife Federation, and LIVESTRONG are using Twitter, as well. Read more, here.
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This fall, math and science teachers from across five states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia) have an opportunity to receive half-funding for their classroom projects, thanks to a Double Your Impact campaign offer from the Merck Company Foundation. The Merck Company Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the global, research-driven pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., Inc.: The foundation’s overall mission is to create and support philanthropic initiatives to improve the quality of human life through charitable contributions, partnerships, and employee volunteering. Merck has a long and proud history of promoting science education in schools to help develop and train future leaders in science by stimulating interest and excellence from an early age and now they have chosen DonorsChoose.org as a conduit for educational support.
Thank you Merck for helping to bring these classroom projects to life!
To support projects in these states at half the cost, check out these projects.
The philanthropic throwdown of 2009 starts in just 10 days… You can visit the Social Media Challenge to see how the competition is heating up!
As you start to think about engaging your readers and followers to help low-income students this fall, make sure that you set out to have an awesome time doing it. Here are some tips from previous challenges:
1. Embrace social media by blogging, tweeting and Facebooking about your Giving Page. We’ve got some cool tools you can use this year from your DonorsChoose.org donor account. Once you’re logged in, and you’ve clicked on your Giving Page, you can follow the links to post your Giving Page on Facebook.
2. Offer to do something wacky if your readers reach a certain level of donations. Check out last year’s blog post for inspiration, like how Finslippy offered to reenact Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Which happened, by the way!
3. Say something feisty about the other bloggers in your Giving Group or about the singular awesomeness of your readers. A sense of competition, and of team pride, really helps to inspire donations.
4. Use the widget for your Giving Page. This widget will not only serve as a constant call-to-action for your readers, but as a public salute to the individual readers who have made donations through your giving page.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Social Media Challenge nears….
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Thanks to the generosity of the Koret Foundation, California teachers, both familiar with and new to DonorsChoose.org, will receive help in bringing their classroom projects to life. All teachers who are members of the California Teachers Empowerment Network (CTEN) and one lucky colleague will receive a $50.00 DonorsChoose.org giving card to use on books, microscopes, paintbrushes or whatever these teachers need for their classrooms!
CTEN is comprised of teachers dedicated to providing fellow teachers with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. CTEN believes that advocating for open dialogue and informed choices will empower teachers to experience greater satisfaction and success in this profession. We are grateful to the Koret Foundation for supporting these informed and dedicated professionals!
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3) Find your image on your hard drive, and open it.
4) You will see that your picture is selected. Click “Upload”.
5) You will now see your image in the pop-up box. Click “close” in the upper right. Note that it might take 15 - 30 minutes for your photo to appear on your Giving Page.
Troubleshooting
Did you receive an error that your photo is too small?
- If so, you can visit www.resizemyphoto.com, for a three quick and easy steps to resize your photo. Select the “400 pixels” option.
When your photo uploads successfully, it will look like this on your Giving Page:
Do you still have questions? If so, ask them in the “Comments” field of this blog, or on our Contact Form.
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So, you’ve checked out the Social Media Challenge, and you’re ready to throw your hat in the ring. Here are quick instructions on setting up a Giving Page:
3) Enter in the title, and customize your message for your readers and friends
4) Join a “Giving Group”, to join in the friendly competition!
5) Add a JPG or GIF image for your page. Your image should be at least 260 x 170 pixels high.
6) Choose which types of classroom projects you’d like on your Giving Page - whether you’re jazzed about Music & The Arts, Kindergartners, or projects in Arizona!
You should be all set! More questions? Ask them in the “Comments” field of this blog post, or on our Contact Form.
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We already know that DonorsChoose.org teachers are creative and dedicated to their students. But we love when we also get to witness a glimpse of the collaboration that takes place between teachers – like the teachers at Lincoln High School in San Francisco. Six teachers at the school have created a Green Academy for students, a three-year program for at-risk students who are interested in environmental issues and green collar jobs. Part of the program includes a Green Service Learning Elective, in which students will implement recycling programs, plant gardens and install solar panels!
Valerie Zeigler, a Green Academy teacher, has submitted a project to DonorsChoose.org requesting digital cameras that will allow the students to document their work and serve as ambassadors to their fellow classmates, families and other teachers. ABC -KGO in San Francisco spoke with Ms. Zeigler and her students about the program and the kinds of things they will learn thanks to the help of donors who support the Green Academy. You can see the clip and the students hard at work here!
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On August 31, SONIC kicked off their new Limeades for Learning program by making surprise visits to schools in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dallas and Fort Worth. SONIC staff and executives arrived unbeknownst to teachers to award large checks representing full funding of classroom projects posted by SONIC teachers.
Neil Kellogg, an Oklahoma City music teacher was one of the lucky teachers whose request for a portable digital recorder was funded during the SONIC school visits. “We’ve done some podcasts before using older technology, and this is going to make it a lot easier for the teachers to put something together quickly and get it on our Web site for people to see and hear,” Kellogg said.
Limeades for Learning allows drink buyers to vote on DonorsChoose.org teacher projects online using a special code. Sonic will spend $500,000 over the next five weeks to fund the top vote-getters.
The surprise school visits received a ton of positive media – a few stories and media clips highlighting the visits can be found below:
