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By Daphra
Thursday,
Nov 19, 2009 at 4:55pm
In his updated book, “Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World” Matthew Bishop, American Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief of The Economist, and his co-author Michael Green, discuss how private money can help solve even the most difficult public problems. In the wake of last year’s global economic turmoil, he notes that the fiscal fallout of 2008 will scale back public budgets and government ambitions for at least a generation. Instead, Bishop suggests, government is being replaced by new players in the field of giving: private foundations and innovative non-profits.
In this new release, Bishop argues that online giving marketplaces, like DonorsChoose.org, GlobalGiving and Kiva, are quickly revolutionizing the realm of Philanthropcapitalism. In Chapter 13 of his book “We are all Philanthropcapitalists Now,” he notes that organizations like these are the ultimate agents of change in “mass philanthropy” since they have successfully democratized giving, allowing every global citizen to be a philanthropist. He writes “through sophisticated aggregation of their individual philanthropic decisions, these sites will also allow “microphilanthrocapitalists” with only a few dollars to give to achieve some of the ‘hyper-agency’ of a Bill Gates or George Soros, including by acting more effectively as a community and by forming new sorts of partnerships with the mega-philanthropists themselves”
This is the heart of the new approach to solving social problems that he believes is needed, based on creative partnerships between business, nonprofits and government. He writes, “A group of wealthy entrepreneurs and business leaders is increasingly taking the initiative in creating these innovative new solutions. Rejecting the idea that business is about short-term profits, damn the consequences to society and the environment, these philanthrocapitalists think the winners from our economic system should give back and that business can do well by doing good.”
We are honored to be included in the company of such great organizations in the book and are humbled by Matt Bishop’s recognition of how DonorsChoose.org is enabling everyday individuals to become philanthrocapitalists.
Interested in learning more about the book and how DonorsChoose.org fits into Bishop’s argument? Check out his website Philanthrocapitalism.net. The book is now available in paperback.
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By Daphra
Wednesday,
Nov 18, 2009 at 12:19pm
Huffington Post employees recently teamed up with DonorsChoose.org, volunteering their time to process Donor Thank-You Packages at our NYC headquarters for a memorable afternoon! The team, composed of various departments, helped put together and screen student thank-you notes. They got so into it that by the end they were reading student letters to each other and sharing reminiscing about the notes they wrote to their family members during their childhood.
Not only was this an incredibly humorous group of volunteers who make the experience entertaining, they got so into the feedback process that they didn’t want to leave. Luckily for us, Huffington Post is teaming up with DonorsChoose.org again in the near future to support classrooms.
On the topic of the Huffington Post, the site is highlighting “Game Changers” across various fields. Huff Post’s Game Changers celebrates 100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders in 10 categories who are harnessing the power of new media to reshape their fields and change the world. Our own founder, Charles Best, has been selected as one of the Top 10 Game Changers in the realm of philanthropy. Help him become an ultimate Game Changer by voting on the Huff Po site.
THANK YOU Huffington Post for your time and energy!
If your company is interested in volunteering in our NYC office, contact Associate Director, Yaritza Olmeda, at yaritza (at) DonorsChoose (dot) org.
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By Candice
Wednesday,
Nov 11, 2009 at 7:53pm
HP is teaming up with DonorsChoose.org again to support classrooms. When you purchase any HP product through the Create Change program between now and January 31st, HP will contribute 4% of the purchase to the charity of your choice, including DonorsChoose.org. That adds up to a lot of critical classroom materials for students!
So, as you think about buying upcoming holiday gifts, replacing ink cartridges (or if you are just looking for a cool new laptop for yourself), consider making your purchase on the HP Create Change site and giving back to schools! And don’t forget to tell your friends about this offer – there is even a spiffy widget that you can use to share this program with your friends, colleagues and family. Thanks so much HP for helping students and teachers get the resources they need to succeed!
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By Candice
Monday,
Nov 9, 2009 at 4:20pm
From November 12th through 15th, GAP stores (Old Navy, The GAP, Baby GAP, and Banana Republic) will be offering their customers the chance to make a difference for public schools – just by going shopping! During these dates, use this coupon to receive 30% off at all GAP stores: http://www.gapinc.com/giveandget/donorschoose/. You’ll then get to allocate 5% of what you spend to help public school teachers at DonorsChoose.org. Tell your friends and family! (Don’t forget to print the coupon before you shop!)
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By Daphra
Tuesday,
Nov 3, 2009 at 5:46pm
During the month of October, hundreds of bloggers, teachers, and twitterers devoted their time (and various methods of persuasion) to help inspire over $637,336 in donations to classroom projects via the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge Social Media Challenge, reaching over 116,437 public school students in need of essential learning materials. 4,545 of their readers, fans, friends, and followers helped galvanize the challenge by supporting public schools across the country in such a significant way. We’ve shattered all previous year’s Blogger Challenges thanks to the hardwork of every participant, teacher and citizen philanthropist, along with a $250,000 match offer from HP (read more, here).
Winners: By raising $314,208, mobilizing 1,121 readers and reaching 51,905 students, Sarah Bunting and the Tomato Nation community were the overall winners of this competition. They even toppled the all-time record raised by one Giving Page set in last year’s challenge when they raised over $111,000. This is truly a testament to how deeply they care about public schools and how effective Sarah has been at inspiring the entire Tomato Nation community. We urge you to take a look at the blog posts, comments and video from the past month to see how they were able to mobilize so effectively. Her “Bet Red” Giving Page, an extension of her casino-royale “Bunting’s 13″ theme, also had the most donors; 25% to be exact. Kudos to TomatoNation.com. We look forward to seeing the Tomato costume make its way to Atlantic City where it will undoubtedly bet red!
The other big winner of the Social Media Challenge were our Teachers, who threw their hat into the ring under the “We Teach. Those Who Don’t, GIVE!” Leaderboard. Teachers from all over the country banded together, under this awesome slogan, and helped raise $110,131 for their classrooms. Perhaps most telling about their success is that almost half of the donors of the Social Media Challenge were inspired by one of these teachers. There were a total of 2,401 donors to just this leaderboard!
Other winners in each of the Social Media Challenge leaderboards, include:
By Dollars Raised:
By Donors Mobilized:
- Seed Media ScienceBlogs: This community of ScienceBlogs collectively mobilized 267 donors. Leading the pack? Dr. Isis’s Sacred Temple!
- Tech Blogs: Venture Capital/Tech Blogger, Fred Wilson (A VC), inspired 213 individuals to give to his campaign.
- Gawker: Gawker’s properties mobilized 84 donors, proving they could put their money where their mouth is
- Twitter: Twitter, though a first-time community, entered the fray and were led by Livia. She engaged 52 of her followers in the Social Media Challenge.
We also would like to recognize all of the Social Media Challenge participants and a few communities who joined us in the Challenge for the first time this year. They include: Ariba, Stack Overflow, Seattle 2.0, Mashable, Dr. Pal, Geobloggers, Christina’s LIS, Twitter, Biz Stone, Livia Stone, SocialBrite, The Intersection, 80beats, Gawker Media, Brooklyn Schools, The Nature Blog Network, SB Nation, Serious Eats, Nosh with Me, innonate, David Berkowitz, Kim Molodofsky, Yvonne Michelle, the Colorado Blogging Community, the Twitter 140 Conference, Performance Magazine, Greentech, and the entire BlogHer community!
Interested in creating your own Giving Page and starting your own mini ‘challenge?’ Check out this section of our website!
Finally, if you want to keep up with the participants, our sponsor HP, or with us on Twitter, please click on the respective links.
THANKS!
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By Daphra
Friday,
Oct 30, 2009 at 3:08pm
In the last four weeks, bloggers, twitterers and their 4,327 friends/fans/followers have helped raised $585,691 for DonorsChoose.org classrooms in need of essential resources. With only 24 hours left in the Social Media Challenge, several of the participants need your help getting to the finish line. A few are even offering up some incentives to hit their goals:
- An anonymous donor has pledged to donate an additional $20,000 to TomatoNation.com, if they hit $280k (they just need a few more dollars). Support them, here.
- Fred Wilson has personally invited any citizen philanthropist who makes a donation to his Giving Page to meet him in person next week. Support him, here.
- ScienceBlog(ger), Professor Orzel, is offering up a puppet show and an advance copy of his book. Support him, here.
- BlogHer, the largest community of women bloggers, is targeting local cities in their fundraising. The Seattle Chapter is looking for some help in these final hours. The incentive? BlogHer, Mona, will “spray you with glitter.” Support any of their chapters, here.
- Liva, who sits atop our Twitter leaderboard, is offering up cupcakes to folks in the Bay Area who help fund the last few projects on her page. Support her, here. Mmm… her cupcakes look yummy!
Coincidentally, the Social Media Challenge ends on Halloween so even if none of these incentives suit your fancy, let’s give these classrooms a special TREAT! Click HERE to donate to ANY of the Challenge supporters.
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By Jonathan
Thursday,
Oct 29, 2009 at 5:34pm
Have you reached out to teens or friends who know any teenagers yet? Time’s running out to engage them!
With hours remaining (until 6 PM EST Friday), DonorsChoose.org is in 2nd place in Best Buy’s @15 campaign, thanks to your help after our kickoff post. The standings:
KIPP: 6%
Project Ready: 10%
DonorsChoose.org: 22% - that’s $55K for projects. Help us get to $100K+!
Pacer Center: 62%
Each teen you help engage equates to potentially hundreds of dollars for students in need. Please take a minute of your time today to engage one teen. The impact could be a fully funded project!
Contact middle and high school teachers you know, family, colleagues, social groups, friends with teenage kids, etc. All the tools you need are below.
Thanks for your help!
Tools to Spread the Word
Email You Can Copy and Paste
Friends,
Do you know any teenagers who could spare 1 minute to help students in need? If so, those teens could help direct Best Buy’s corporate giving to classroom needs in low-income communities. The campaign ends on Friday, October 30, at 6 PM EST, but taking a minute of your time today to engage one team could mean a fully funded classroom project that gives students the resources they need to learn!
What I need you to ask teens you know to do:
Step 1: Take a second to click here (http://bit.ly/at15r) to register at Best Buy’s at15 site by 5 PM on Oct 30. The prize: 1500 points.
Step 2: Check your email to activate your at15 account, and then go here (http://www.at15.com/user) to log in with your user name.
Step 3: Click here (http://bit.ly/dcpts) and then allocate all of your points to DonorsChoose.org.
Step 4: Encourage all the teens you know to do the same! (You can forward this email or use the Facebook / MySpace posts below to spread the word!)
It’s that easy! Best Buy will donate a portion of $250,000 to DonorsChoose.org based on the number of points it gets. DonorsChoose.org will use every dollar to fund classroom projects for students in need.
Thanks so much for your help!
Facebook / MySpace
2 days left! Know a teenager? Ask them to give a min today to help students! Register at http://bit.ly/at15r and then give points to DonorsChoose.org. Help turn Best Buy’s cash into classroom materials for high-need schools.
Twitter
Know teens? They can win $ for needy schools by registering & giving pts to DonorsChoose.org http://bit.ly/dcpts Pls RT!
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By Daphra
Monday,
Oct 26, 2009 at 5:47pm
This weekend, the Bloggers, Twitterers and Teachers quietly hit a significant milestone in the Social Media Challenge, our month-long competition to raise awareness and funds for public schools. Together, they’ve raised $300,000 in just 26 days. Re-call that last year bloggers single-handedly raised $270,000. Thanks to an amazing match offer from HP we hope to cross the finish line (this Saturday, October 31st) strong.
How are they stacking up?
- The Bet Red Team (TomatoNation.com ) is showing their true colors, a committed and fearless bunch, they’ve raised $132,725 and have mobilized 965 citizen philanthropists!
- Collectively, DonorsChoose.org Teachers (We Teach. Those who don’t, GIVE!) have raised $76,185, engaging 1,956 supporters.
- Next up, Fred Wilson (A VC) holds it down for the Tech Bloggers. His community has raised $17,247!
- Rounding out the pack, a Twitterer, Livia! Using 140-character missives, she’s raised $9,824 through her followers!
With 5 more days left to the competition, it’s not over yet. There are thousands of classrooms and students in need of your help. Please support ANY of the Social Media Challenge participants who are blogging and tweeting their way to the finish! CLICK HERE to check out the Challenge.
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By Alex
Monday,
at 11:25am
Greetings Mustache Growers & Enthusiasts:
In the words of our intrepid M4K leader Mitch “Nurstache” Goldman, “Is your upper lip feeling charitable?” If your answer is “YES,” we want you AND your upper lip to help us rock students’ world this year as part of the 2009/2010 Mustaches for Kids Nationwide Challenge.
Mustaches for Kids?
Mustaches for Kids is a volunteer-run organization started in Los Angeles in 1999 to do good and have fun by growing Mustaches for children’s charities. Similar to a charity walkathon, for which participants collect donations per mile, “Growers” raise pledges for every day they cultivate mustaches over one month. Last year, hundreds of these Growers in 22 cities across the country engaged over 6,000 individuals to give over $320,000 in resources to students in high-need classrooms through DonorsChoose.org. Check out last year’s results.
It’s BACK!
What better way to stoke a mustache fire on the upper lip than a little old fashioned competition? DonorsChoose.org will again host an online competition between Mustaches for Kids chapters to see which city, company and college can grow the sweetest ‘staches and raise the most cash for students in need. The competition kicks off on November 5th with the New York City chapter’s Shaving Day, and the winning chapters will be crowned March 1st.
We had you at Mustache…
1. Check out www.donorschoose.org/m4k and see if there’s a chapter in your city.
2. If you see your city, create a Giving Page and join your city’s Giving Group. Then email m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org and we will connect you with the chapter organizer so you can join in the weekly ‘stachenanigans.
3. If you do NOT see your city, start a chapter. Email m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org and we’ll help you get up and running. Also, check out the resources section below for a one-pager and starter kit, with lots more detail.
**If you’re more of a mustache-one-man show and want to Grow it alone, create a Giving Page and join the “Unaffiliated Growers Giving Group**
Remember, when you’re Growing for Kids, Grow like a champion.
The DonorsChoose.org ‘Stache Brigade
Email: m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org
Twitter: Follow Mitch “Nurstache” Goldman
Facebook: Join M4K Nationwide Challenge Group
Mustache Resources
Mustaches for Kids Nationwide Challenge One-Pager
Mustaches for Kids Grower Starter Kit (how to set up your Grower Page, start spreading the word)
Mustaches for Kids Grower Starter Kit – COLLEGE EDITION
Mustaches for Kids National One-Pager – COLLEGE EDITION
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By Daphra
Thursday,
Oct 22, 2009 at 4:30pm
It goes without saying that the Social Media Challenge tends to elicit a fair amount of antics; from Tomato dances, to tattoos, to straight up smack talk, but one of the more amusing parts of the challenge comes courtesy of the ScienceBlogs network, a Seed Media group venture. ScienceBlogs, the largest online community dedicated to science, is “a digital science salon featuring the leading bloggers from a wide array of scientific disciplines.” For the last three years, this community of bloggers has been a staple of the Social Media Challenge, making their presence known with the wittiest and coolest names.
A sampling, along with some recent blog posts:
Beyond their amazing names, the community has collectively raised $110,000 for DonorsChoose.org in the last two years. This year, they’re on track to make another big contribution, having raised $20, 384 for public school classrooms in just 3 weeks.
A dedicated bunch, trying to encourage science and technology innovation in public schools!
With 9 days to go, check out their collective giving here and help them meet their goals!
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