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Thanks to the California Community Foundation and the FEDCO Charitable Foundation, DonorsChoose.org has a “Double Your Impact” offer for K-12 teachers in the following districts: ABC/Cerritos, Culver City, Norwalk-La Mirada or Pasadena Unified. The match offer is valid for hands-on, classroom projects or field trips requests for under $500 in resources that will help bring learning to life!

For this opportunity, we are looking for projects that include engaging and creative experiential learning activities, such as a hands-on math or science projects. Your project should increase student academic achievement in one of four areas: language arts, math, science or social studies and your essay should make these benefits clear. Priority will be given to projects that incorporate experiential learning that is linked to class curriculum or integrates community-related topics. Please note, NO requests for computer hardware or cameras will be considered.

Any project posted to DonorsChoose.org that meets these criteria will receive 50% funding via this offer once other donors choose to join in and fund the rest of the project. Funding will be spent on a first come, first served basis until the grants are spent out.

The FEDCO Charitable Foundation was created when the FEDCO chain of stores closed in 1999. More than $7 million was used to establish the FEDCO Charitable Foundation at CCF.  CCF awards FEDCO Teacher Grants each year to fund hands-on, classroom projects or field trips that help bring learning to life. Grants range from $500 to $1,000 and support teachers of students in grades kindergarten through 12 in Cerritos, Culver City, Norwalk-La Mirada, Pasadena and Los Angeles Unified school districts.

CCF is L.A.’s foundation. It has been around since 1915 and has about $1 billion in assets. As the 53rd largest foundation in the nation, CCF grants out the second biggest proportion of its assets – 17 percent – among U.S. foundations. In fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, CCF granted $191 million as investments in the future of local communities. The foundation is known as one of L.A.’s most innovative investors in permanent, low-income housing and the biggest supporter of individual artists in the region. CCF is the largest scholarship fund manager in L.A., managing more than 150 scholarship funds worth $85 million, and it is a national leader in increasing services for returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. CCF holds more than 1,600 funds. To learn more, visit calfund.org.

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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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We work with public school teachers every day, and we occasionally hear from principals at the schools we support.  We’ve created this post to help answer some of the most common questions school leaders have for us.

What is DonorsChoose.org and how does it work?

DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website that helps public school teachers get funding for materials and experiences that will help their students learn.

• Visit the About section of our site for details about how our program works.
• Read our eligibility criteria to learn more about who can submit project requests.

How can I follow my teachers’ DonorsChoose.org projects and help make sure they receive their materials?

1. Review and share our fax notifications.  As soon as we purchase the materials for any funded project, we send a fax to you at the school specifying the teacher and the specific materials to be shipped.  Pass this notification on to anyone who receives or signs for packages so they can make sure materials reach the right classroom.
2. Opt into email updates. If you like, we can add your email to our system to provide updates about funded projects via email (just contact us at principals(at)donorschoose(dot)org to set up email notification).
3. View projects from your school using our search page.  See search tips.

Who owns the materials funded through DonorsChoose.org?

Control and use of the materials funded through DonorsChoose.org should be dictated by the teacher’s project request, to reflect the intent of the donor(s) who chose to fund the project.  Generally materials are considered property of the classroom described in the project request.

In cases where a teacher is leaving your school, we rely on the teacher and school administrators to review our guidelines and work together to determine the best course of action.

What happens if materials are lost or stolen after reaching my school?

We rely on the school to help make sure teachers get their materials.  To that end, we send a fax notification to the school office anytime materials are purchased for a project to help raise awareness of pending delivery for a particular teacher.

It happens rarely, but if materials are delivered to the school and don’t reach the intended teacher, we’ve created a policy to help your students receive their resources and also ensure the integrity of our donors’ contributions.

We have a two-strike policy for lost or stolen items.  If materials cannot be found in a school and we have proof of delivery, we make a note in the school’s record and reorder the items for the classroom.  If materials are lost or stolen again, we’ll suspend DonorsChoose.org activity at the school while we work with the school administration to ensure the security of future deliveries.  Read more.

Do I need to keep records of DonorsChoose.org donations or follow up with the donors?

We are a 501(c)(3) entity and process all donations to classroom projects, so your school does not need to account for these donations in its books.  We also work directly with teachers to provide follow-up for the donors.

How can I spread the word about DonorsChoose.org?

Use these resources to tell others about our program.

Questions? Try our Help Center or email us at principals(at)donorschoose(dot)org.

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Progress Energy will again this year fund $50,000 in energy-related project requests in the North and South Carolina communities it serves. Please see below for a full county list.

Below are ideas on the types of requests that Progress Energy is interested in funding.

To submit qualifying projects:

1. Check the county list below and see if your county is served by Progress Energy and ask a school administrator if Progress Energy is your school’s provider.
2. Log into your DonorsChoose.org account and submit up to three project requests for resources that will help your students learn about energy, alternative energy (solar, wind and/or water), nuclear energy and sustainability.
3. Within two weeks your qualifying projects will feature a Progress Energy logo! If you don’t see a logo on your project in two weeks, please email alex(at)donorschoose(dot)org.

TIP:  Make sure you use keywords like “energy”, “alternative energy”, “electricity”, “nuclear”, “wind”, “water”, “solar” and/or “fuel” in your project title or essay!

Energy-education projects submitted by teachers at Progress Energy schools (see below) will be eligible for 50% matching funding through the Progress Energy Double Your Impact offer! Progress Energy will also be fully funding selected projects for under $1,200 in materials on a rolling basis.

Requests from teachers at schools served by Progress Energy in the following counties are eligible for funding through this grant:

North Carolina Counties:
Anson
Avery
Beaufort
Bladen
Brunswick
Buncombe
Carteret
Caswell
Chatham
Columbus
Craven
Cumberland
Duplin
Durham
Edgecombe
Franklin
Granville
Greene
Halifax
Harnett
Haywood
Henderson
Hoke
Jackson
Johnston
Jones
Lee
Lenoir
Madison
McDowell
Mitchell
Montgomery
Moore
Nash
New Hanover
Onslow
Orange
Pamlico
Pender
Person
Pitt
Randolph
Richmond
Robeson
Rutherford
Sampson
Scotland
Stanly
Vance
Wake
Warren
Wayne
Wilson
Yancey

South Carolina Counties:
Chesterfield
Clarendon
Darlington
Dillon
Florence
Georgetown
Horry
Kershaw
Lee
Marion
Marlboro
Sumter
Williamsburg

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Teachers deserve more than our gratitude. They need our support. Make a difference in honor of a teacher(s) that changed your life. Sign up for a replyforall email signature and help provide educational resources to DonorsChoose.org.

replyforall uses email signatures to showcase a cause you support while a portion of the revenue from the signature advertiser goes directly to back the charity.  You can personally drive financial support to DonorsChoose.org without having to donate cash.

How does it work? Simply register at replyforall.com, select “DonorsChoose.org” as the organization you want to promote in your signature, and send emails as normal! See a sample signature below.

Even though there is a tremendous need, you can take small steps to make a difference by using replyforall.

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