By Mike
Thursday,
May 29, 2008 at 8:36pm
We were delighted by “yertle,” a former high school teacher who chose DonorsChoose.org as the subject of her Haiku Friday post:
am so far behind
in reading and in writing
so overwhelming
hard to jump back in
both with life and with blogging
don’t know where to start
a new addiction
check out DonorsChoose.org
I can’t stop giving
funded 5 projects
supporting math and science
helping feels so good
One of our Ops staff wrote, “I guess a sense of rueful contemplation and references to the wind rustling through the cherry blossoms aren’t requirements for haikus? Good to know.”
Inspired by yertle’s example, I composed this haiku, written from the perspective of a DonorsChoose.org teacher. Apologies to Basho.
I got an email:
My project has been funded.
Bliss overwhelms me.
Feel free to leave your own DonorsChoose.org haiku in the comments.
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By Mike
Friday,
Apr 18, 2008 at 3:27pm
Many of our generous institutional funders have funded half a classroom project’s costs, encouraging donors to make up the other half. We’re pleased to announce the first half-off sale using DonorsChoose.org’s new “match offer” technology. The Pumpkin Foundation / Joe and Carol Reich, known for their efforts to support charter schools throughout New York City, are offering to fund 50% of all projects at the city’s charter schools if someone like you provides the remainder. By completing these projects, you will double the impact of your donation. Click here to see all the projects eligible for the NYC Charter School Match Offer. The sale will continue until the grant is used up.
You can find out more about how Match Offers work over on our FAQ page. (Note, we’re still wrestling with what to call this new philanthropic beast — Double Donations? Red Zone Funding? Half-Off Sale? Eleemosynary Price Reduction Event? — so watch this space for its future name, or better yet leave your suggestions in the comments!) We’re hoping that The Pumpkin Foundation / Joe and Carol Reich grant will lead the way, and more foundations and companies will promote certain kinds of projects and match their grants with your donations.
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By Mike
Friday,
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:19pm
Stephen Colbert has challenged the nation to “vote” in the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary by funding a Pennsylvania classroom project in honor of either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama (or, if you’re undecided, both!)
Last fall, the Colbert Nation gave $66,000 to South Carolina classrooms in support of Stephen’s presidential run. As of high noon today, donors have given $37,158 in honor of their favorite candidate! Do Senators Clinton and Obama have the keystones to do for the Keystone State what the Colbert Nation did for the Palmetto State? Let’s find out. Right now Obama is in the lead — this is your chance to show your support in the “straw poll that makes a difference”!
The “Democralypse!” Challenge has been picked up by The Philadelphia Inquirer, dotCommonweal, I’ve Made a Huge Tiny Mistake, and End Politics as Usual. We’re sure there will be more linkage coming as Colbert heads to Philadelphia.
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By Mike
Friday,
at 11:24am
Thanks to our JSON (or “Jason,” as we like to call it around here) feed, DonorsChoose.org proposals are now part of A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms by Peter Deitz of Social Actions. You can cast a vote for this mashup as part of the NetSquared Mashup Challenge until this Monday 3/24. I’m personally very excited about this, as I’ve been pushing for micro-philanthropic integration for some time now and this a first step forward.
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By Mike
Friday,
Feb 8, 2008 at 8:24pm
A Letter From a Rhode Island Teacher to Her Fellow Teachers:
Everybody’s doing it?
Are you?
38,500 teachers around the U.S.A. have posted projects on DonorsChoose.org. So far over $19,408,436 has been funneled into public school classrooms around the country thanks to the generosity of patrons who wish to transform classrooms.
I first used DonorsChoose.org in October 2004 when I started teaching fifth grade in East Harlem, NY. Since that time I have had fifty seven proposals funded equaling $31,620.65! That’s right… over $30,000 just for my students. These funds have transformed my teaching allowing me to expand my classroom library to include poetry books, novels with strong girl characters, and a rug for our Meeting Area. In addition I been granted money for special programming (yoga and theater sessions for my students), as well as money for field trips to museums, zoos, and other cultural sites around New York City. I even received the funds I needed to publish and market a book of my students’ writing (Deal With It: Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women) last year!
Proposals submitted on DonorsChoose.org have a 62% success rate of being funded. The average cost of my proposals has been $500 dollars and I strongly recommend making your first proposal $500 or less. The process is easy and generally only takes 20 minutes, including an essay of 400 words or less and shopping for the classroom materials, which is similar to shopping on amazon.com, except you don’t put your credit card number in at the end of the transaction.
I take full advantage of the amount of proposals I’m allowed to have up on DonorsChoose.org. I eagerly await the unfunded proposals I have up now being funded in the coming weeks. It’s a great feeling to get an e-mail from DonorsChoose stating that a proposal of mine has been funded. It brings an instant smile to my face and lets me realize that this world is a better place thanks to the donors who fund proposals like mine.
DonorsChoose.org will help you post your proposals and get materials for your classroom. Just go to the Teacher Inquiries page if you need help and someone from DonorsChoose.org will answer your question. What could be better than that?
Be sure to think out of the box. Use your imagination. Anything is possible with a well-written proposal.
Good luck!
–Stacey Shubitz, Two Writing Teachers
Stacey is just one of the tens of thousands of teachers who have successfully used DonorsChoose.org. Be the next DonorsChoose.org Success Story — write your proposal today!
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By Mike
Friday,
Oct 19, 2007 at 12:00pm
In case you missed it last night on Comedy Central, here’s Craig Newmark and Stephen Colbert discussing DonorsChoose.org:
Colbert Report - Craig Newmark
Here is the VotersChoose challenge if you want to cast your vote in the “Straw Poll that Makes a Difference!”
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By Mike
Wednesday,
Sep 26, 2007 at 3:21pm
If you’re in New York City, the hottest ticket in town this week is the Blackboard Benefit, with all proceeds going directly to DonorsChoose.org projects! The event is this Thursday September 27, from 7 to 11 p.m. Click here for more details.
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By Mike
Friday,
Sep 14, 2007 at 2:43pm
If you’re in New York City in September, keep a look out for The Treats Truck, a mobile bakery that roams the city dispensing incredibly delicious treats. All through September, 10% of the daily specials sales will go toward DonorsChoose.org! Check their site for the schedule. Here, our own Yaritza is getting a box of goodies for the DonorsChoose.org staff.
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By Mike
Wednesday,
Sep 5, 2007 at 3:39pm
- Kara Swisher interviews Charles about our national expansion. Click on the video, it’s just like having breakfast with Best!
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Smart Mobs, onLine at onPhilanthropy, Whitney Tilson, The Episcopal Café, The New Jew, Social Actions and Gift Hub pick up on the Wall Street Journal article.
- After the Jump Fest has a roundup of the benefit concert for DonorsChoose.org. Yours truly was interviewed by soft communication and the Merry Swankster before the event, which got picked up by the New York Times, the New York Press, The New Yorker, etc. Lots of flickr pix too. The concert was a lot of fun — special thanks to all the bloggers who put it together, and to Ra Ra Riot who donated their EP and swag proceeds to DonorsChoose.org.
- Andy Sernovitz says “There is no charity quite like Donors Choose.”
- Ivory Tower Due calls us “An Example of Rational Charity.”
- Tom Williams at GiveMeaning, our northern cousin, looks forward to the future of on-line philanthropy in 2017.
- Amy Bowllan at School Library Journal points out that teachers in New Orleans still need resources, two years after Katrina.
- Where-Rabbit notes that DonorsChoose.org is one solution to the Miss Teen South Carolina question — why is it that Americans can’t find the USA on a map?
- Life in the Vertigo Waldens rallies the birders to support a birding project.
- Teachers (and Friends of Teachers) blog! Quodlibets, Bici Vecchia, katie, Gold Hill Elementary Blog, and San Francisco Schools are blogging about DonorsChoose.org.
- philidendron discusses an alternative to DonorsChoose.org — dumpster diving! We hope it doesn’t come to that for all the teachers going back to school this week.
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By Mike
Tuesday,
Aug 28, 2007 at 5:47pm
First, from the great state of Delaware:
TEACHERS SPEND OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS TO PREPARE CLASSROOMS
Teachers nationwide spend an average of $475 of their own money on classroom supplies and materials each year, according to a study prepared by Quality Education Data Inc. for the last school year. The biggest portion of that spending is for first day of class preparation, reports Edward L. Kenney in The News Journal (Del.). When school districts go through tough financial times, especially in districts facing a triple-punch of spiraling energy and health care costs and, often, failed referendums, teachers sometimes have to spend a little more. But veteran educators look for summer sales to spruce up their classrooms and motivate children, and hoard supplies during good years to make things last during bad ones. The lower the grade, the more teachers tend to spend. Some teachers save receipts because they are allowed to deduct up to $250 on their federal income taxes.
And, from West Virginia:
SCHOOLS MUST PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES
Teachers can provide parents with lists of supplies their child may want to have at school, but they can’t require them to buy anything essential to their education, according to a new statewide policy, reports the Associated Press. The West Virginia Board of Education outlined the policy in a memo to county school boards just in time for back-to-school shopping. State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said any textbooks, paper, writing utensils and other materials that are an “integral, fundamental part of the elementary and secondary education” must be provided free. Non-essential items that are commonplace in schools, such as backpacks, tissues and hand sanitizer, are not considered integral, Paine said. Schools also can request that any additional equipment needed for performance-based classes, such as band, orchestra and dance, be provided by parents. However, if a student can’t afford to buy instruments or costumes, the county school system must have a plan in place to allow the student to participate. No child, Paine said, can be denied participation in any curricular offering because his or her family is poor. Before the policy, use of school supply lists varied from county to county based on local interpretation of a 1995 state Supreme Court opinion, Randolph County Board of Education v. Adams. The state policy is “in alignment” with the high court’s opinion, Paine said.
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