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By Karina
Thursday,
Oct 15, 2009 at 5:17pm
Sending in student letters? Follow these guidelines to ensure you get the points you deserve and your donors receive your students’ awesome letters!
- Save time: Only create packets of letters for the donors listed on your Thank-You Instructions. At this time, donors only receive student letters if they give $100 or more to a project or if they complete a project, regardless of the donation amount. So you may be asked to send fewer sets of student letters than the total number of donors.
- Stay organized: If you have multiple donors, make separate packets of letters for each individual donor. After your Thank-You Package reaches our office, we separate the letters by donor and send each donor an individualized package. So make sure each letter is addressed to just one donor and that you separate the letters into packets per donor using paper clips, folders, or other separators before putting them all in your envelope.
- Put it all together: Use just one envelope per project, even if you’re sending student letters for more than one donor. The mail can be unpredictable and if we only get a package from you for one donor, it may be tracked as an incomplete package.
- Double check your label: The prepaid mailing label we provide for each project has a unique barcode that identifies your project when the package is checked in at our office. Be sure to use the correct label for each project, otherwise your student letters will be credited to the wrong project and may even go out to the wrong donors if the mistake isn’t caught! And only send student letters for one project per envelope. If there’s more than one project in an envelope, our system may not credit you for more than one project.
By Karina
Wednesday,
Sep 9, 2009 at 5:07pm
As of August 10th, classroom photos are now 100% digital on our website! This post is tip #2 of 3 to help teachers navigate the process of submitting classroom photos digitally.
Q: WHAT KINDS OF PHOTOS SHOULD I TAKE?
A: Classroom photos are your chance to show off the excitement and magic of your classroom! They allow donors to connect with the teacher and students they chose to help by showing their donations in action.
First, some general tips:
- Keep your students SAFE by screening photos carefully before you post them, to avoid identifying information like student last names or your classroom number.
- Use the flash! Photos will appear on your project page EXACTLY as they appear on the upload page and can also be enlarged by donors with our photo browser. So try to post the highest quality, clearest pictures of the bunch.
You can post 6 photos, so maximize your space with a variety of images like these:
- Your students using the donated materials or just smiling for the camera.
- Your class engaged in the project that the donation facilitated. Did you write about a specific activity like an art project or science fair in your project essay? Document your students’ progress in a series of photos.
- You, working your magic! Have a fellow teacher or one of your students take pictures of you implementing the project in your classroom.
- Awesome classroom photo examples: Example #1, Example #2, Example #3
Q: WHAT IF I CAN’T OR DON’T WANT TO SHOW MY STUDENTS’ FACES?
A: Student safety is our top priority. If you can’t get permission to take photos of your students or if you feel uncomfortable posting photos of students’ faces, you can still post classroom photos – just look at this great example! Consider these options for your photos:
- Donated materials in your classroom: Donors will appreciate seeing the materials that they donated in a real life classroom.
- Results of your project: If your project culminated in something like artwork, posters, etc., you could take pictures of the results to show donors how their donations have been implemented.
- Your students when their backs are to the camera: This option takes a little creativity, but we’ve seen some great photos of students with their backs to the camera looking at the board, working at their desks, playing on their new rug, etc.
Stay tuned for Tip #3…Ready, Set, Go Upload!
By Karina
Friday,
Aug 7, 2009 at 6:30pm
We announced last month that classroom photos would be 100% digital on our website in the 2009-2010 school year. This post is tip #1 of 3 to help teachers navigate the process of submitting classroom photos digitally.
Q: I DON’T HAVE A DIGITAL CAMERA. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
A: No digital camera? No problem! Here are some suggestions for ways you can get digital photos of your project in action so you can upload them to our website.
(TEACHERS: Feel free to comment on this post with other suggestions that you might have for your fellow teachers.)
- Maybe a friend has a camera that you could borrow. Or what about another teacher in your school (e.g. a media center or photography teacher)?
- Concerned about carrying around a digital camera or keeping expensive technology in your classroom? Check out these inexpensive disposable digital cameras! For about $25, you can get a light, compact digital camera attached to a keychain.
- If you’re more comfortable using a non-digital camera, you could have the photo developer put the images on a CD, then upload photos directly from this CD. Most photo developers, including Walgreens and CVS, can put photos on a CD for you instead of printing them out. Here are some inexpensive disposable cameras that will do the trick:
- Is there a library or shop – such as Kinkos – nearby where you could scan photos? You could develop non-digital classroom photos, scan them onto a computer, and upload them to our site!
- If you decide to purchase a digital camera yourself or for several teachers to share, here are our top picks for budget digital cameras:
Stay tuned for Tip #2…Photos: What’s Hot, What’s Not!
By Karina
Friday,
Jul 17, 2009 at 4:36pm
For all projects fully funded in the 2009-2010 school year, teachers will be required to submit classroom photos digitally through their teacher accounts. We’ll update this blog space regularly with new information and tips for teachers who are making the transition to digital photos.
WHY MAKE THIS CHANGE?
By relying on digital photo submissions for 100% of projects, we’re ensuring that we can continue to serve teachers and donors effectively. Here’s how:
- We’re aiming for a 30% annual increase in the number of fully funded projects. That would be great news! But it means we’ll need to process that many more Thank-You Packages for our teachers and donors. When teachers upload their own photos, it saves us about 1 minute per project—that translates to 921 hours of staff time in the 2009-2010 school year alone which can be redirected to other efforts that further our mission.
- Going 100% digital will save us $3.5 million over the next 5 years—money that will be used to support more classroom projects and help make our organization sustainable.
- With digital photo submission, all donors who fund a project – regardless of their donation amount – can view photos of the project in action.
WHAT IF I’M A TEACHER AND I’VE ONLY SUBMITTED NON-DIGITAL PHOTOS?
For all projects fully funded in the new school year, you’ll no longer receive a Thank-You Kit from DonorsChoose.org. Your Thank-You Instructions will be available online, through your account page. On the Thank-You Instructions page for each project, you’ll be able to:
- Write your impact letter online;
- Digitally upload classroom photos of your students using the donated resources;
- View instructions to have your students write letters, and access a printable pre-paid mailing label to send us your student letters.
STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND TIPS TO MANAGE THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL PHOTOS!
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