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The smell of a new book, the crunch of fallen leaves, that fresh box of unbroken crayons — everyone has a favorite sign that the school year is about to begin. Our absolute favorite way to know it’s that time of year? The Back-to-School Boost!

On Tuesday, August 9, every DonorsChoose project received a 50% boost thanks to Bill Gates. Our community came together to give over $7.7M million to classroom projects, supporting more than 29,000 teacher requests in one day.

Teachers, donors, and celebrities flooded social media with excitement and celebration. Feeling like you need a boost in your day? We’ve got you covered! Here are four of our favorite moments from the Back-to-School Boost.

A baseball stadium-worth of donors cheered on teachers by supporting classroom requests

And it was a home run! More than 45,000 members of the public gave, making this one of the biggest days of teacher support since 2019. We’re thrilled to see our community bounce back so strong to help teachers and students thrive.

2,419 teachers had their first-ever project funded

We love welcoming teachers into our community, and we can’t stop cheering for everyone who’s experiencing the generosity of our donors for the first time! 

Celebrities joined in on the excitement

DonorsChoose board members and education advocates Yvette Nicole Brown and W. Kamau Bell built momentum for the day by rallying their fans.

Plus, the internet’s favorite grammatician, Grammar Girl, shouted out her support.

Donors and teachers rallied around the basics

Pencils, laminating sheets, and markers were the most funded resources — in just one day, our donors made sure 1,628 classrooms will be stocked with classroom basics when the first bell rings!

Teachers shared what this funding means to them

On top of providing learning resources to students, funding teachers’ requests also gives a big boost of confidence as educators head into the school year! We love showing teachers that we believe in their wisdom and are investing in the success of their students.

The Back-To-School Boost might be over, but we've still got plenty of ways you can support teachers and make your donation go further! Check out these match offers from our partners to increase your impact!

Here’s to an amazing school year! We can’t wait to see what else our community can accomplish.

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How many of us have heard our brilliant students described as “troubled youth,” or our joy-filled classrooms described as part of “violent inner-city schools”? Hearing this type of language to describe our friends, colleagues, and communities can be painful and beg questions like, “Does the public see me and my students for who we really are?”

There’s a reason this language is so common in both news coverage of our nation’s schools and in school fundraising — conventional wisdom states that to inspire action, you need to paint a devastating and urgent picture for potential supporters. And while this language sometimes opens wallets in the short term, anyone who’s been on the receiving end of that language knows the emotional toll it can take on you and your students’ self-esteem. 

There’s another way! What if we focused on what’s possible for students, instead of what’s lacking? When creating a DonorsChoose project, you have many opportunities to tell the public about your students, from your project essay, to social media posts and emails to friends and family, to your follow-up thank you notes to donors.

By using an approach called asset-framing, we can challenge stereotypes and encourage the public to help students reach their goals and live their dreams.

“Asset framing is defining people by their aspirations and their contributions, then acknowledging the challenges that often extend beyond them, and investing in them for their continued benefit to society.”

—Trabian Shorters | DonorsChoose Board Member & Founding CEO, BMe 

Sound tricky? Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered! Here are three tips for integrating asset framing into your fundraising.

1. Start off with what makes your students special. 

When you show your donors the uniqueness of your students, you’ll help them fall in love with your classroom (and be inspired to help it shine even brighter!). This approach is also a sure-fire way to make sure your students and their families will feel proud to be represented in your fundraising messages. Here are a few examples of teachers sharing the uniqueness of their students:

“Developmental kindergarten is such an exciting group of mixed interests, abilities, and goals. Our group loves to play outside, learn new games, and boogie to a sweet tune. In this class, we build a community around what we have in common and our shared experiences.” —Ms. Ellison, Imagine Children's Museum Adventure

“Walk into my classroom and you will find 30 students eager to absorb knowledge and ideas! You will find 30 young readers. You will find 30 young authors! You will find brilliant young minds ready to accomplish great things — looking for knowledge from every source that they can find!” —Ms. Jones, See Yourself in a Book - LGBT Edition!

2. Be specific when describing the challenges your students face.

Asset framing doesn’t mean portraying the world through rose-colored glasses — it’s about giving readers an accurate view of what’s happening in your classroom. Instead of leaning on broad terms like “disadvantaged” or “underserved” to describe your students, hone in on the specific, external circumstances they face. Not only will this avoid potentially stigmatizing language, you’ll paint a clearer picture of how supporting your request will help your students thrive.

“Many students in my classroom come in saying they have difficulty completing practice assignments at home because of lack of supplies and resources. Our school is nestled in the heart of western Maine, which was once surrounded by bustling mills. Now, with many of them closed, our families often struggle to find employment and opportunity.” —Ms. Marshall, iPads and Osmo Bring Learning and Creativity to Life!

“As English language learners, books are so important to my students and are truly valued. Many of my students do not have access to books at home and rely on our school library to check out high-quality books.“ —Ms. Hlousek, The Story Continues: New Series Books for Devoted Readers

3. Connect with donors over shared values.

Remind members of your community that they have shared interests and passions with your students! Maybe you’re requesting watercolors and paint brushes, and you can remind donors of the joy of self-expression. Or maybe your project is about teaching environmental science, and you can relate over our shared responsibility to the planet. You’ll help donors feel even more connected to your classroom, and like your students are real human beings that they have something in common with.

“Curious, enthusiastic, and creative; my students are eager to immerse themselves in any kind of challenge. They are fearless when it comes to technology and, as children of the 21st century, they need to be prepared to use a variety of tools to engage their world.” —Teacher Finley, More Technology Wizards!

“Do you remember getting hooked on a series of books as a child? Think of the anticipation and excitement you felt waiting for and then finally reading the prized next installment in your favorite series. My students share that excitement and joy of waiting for and then finally devouring the newest books in their favorite series.” —Ms. Hlousek, The Story Continues: New Series Books for Devoted Readers

Ready to tell the world about your amazing students? Create a project!

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"Come this new school year, consider taking time to help teachers in underfunded schools meet their students' needs.

Historically, U.S. public education has undergone massive budget cuts, leaving many classrooms without fundamental resources. A 2018 study published by the American Federation of Teachers, a nationally organized union, noted a decrease in teacher's salaries and an increase in teacher-to-student ratios. The National Education Association, a nationwide advocacy network for public education, details a concerning educator pay gap, finding that educators are paid 81 cents on the dollar compared to other professionals with similar experience and credentials.

And yet, the vast majority of teachers still spend their own money on classroom supplies. According to the United States Department of Education, 94% of teachers report paying for school supplies, without reimbursement, in the 2014-2015 school year. The same study calculated teachers spend on average $479 annually of their own money on classrooms, with 15 percent reporting closer to $800 annually."

Read the full story on mashable.com.

This school year, teachers in America’s classrooms will spend an average of over $700 of their own money to provide their students with pencils, paper, books, art supplies, technology and more to help fuel their learning. It’s no wonder, then, that the #ClearTheList movement — where teachers post their classroom supply needs on social media for donors to support — has fired up once again to help teachers fill their classrooms without emptying their wallets. 

DonorsChoose is the largest education crowdfunding platform in the country, and one of the most popular and trusted places for teachers to create their “#ClearTheList”-style requests. Nearly 100,000 teacher requests are currently seeking donors. Unlike most crowdfunding platforms, DonorsChoose is a nonprofit that vets every teacher request and only sends supplies — not cash — to classrooms, so donations to teachers are tax deductible and guaranteed to be spent as the donor intends. 

If you’re looking to help teachers this back-to-school season, here are five ways you can help.

Make your donation go farther with a match

Every year, more than 200 companies and foundations partner with DonorsChoose to support classrooms, often by matching donations to individual projects based on various criteria. Look for projects currently eligible for matched donations (including some that offer as much as a 10X match!).

Support your local community

Nearly half of the donors who give on DonorsChoose support classrooms within a few miles of their home. It’s a great way to make an investment in your own neighborhood that will pay dividends for many years to come. You can use the geographic search and map tools to support requests in a specific area, whether it’s the place where you live now, the neighborhood where you grew up, or another place you care about. 

Fund your passion

Do you love knitting? Are you an avid gardener, or a budding musician, or a champion of the environment? Was there a book that captured your imagination as a child? When you support a project that matches your interests, hobbies, and passions, you can share your love with the next generation. Use our keyword search to uncover requests from teachers just as passionate about your interests as you are. 

Promote equity in education

Racial and socioeconomic inequity remain a challenge for schools to this day. Annually, schools that serve mostly students of color receive $23 billion less in funding than schools mostly attended by White students. DonorsChoose helps our donors address this inequity by spotlighting requests from “Equity Focus Schools”: schools where more than half of students are Black, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander, or multiracial and where more than half of students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch. Search for teacher requests at Equity Focus Schools and learn more about our Equity Focus.

Join the conversation online

Help spread the word by sharing your favorite project on social media using the hashtag #ClearTheList; your message will help others looking for ways to help And while you’re at it, follow us, too; we’re always sharing updates on the latest match offers and funding opportunities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

More than anything, thank you for your interest in supporting teachers!

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The return of back-to-school season means the #ClearTheList movement is back in full force. Tapping the power of social media and the kindness of strangers, teachers promote their classroom needs using the hashtag #ClearTheList on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and generous education supporters help them get the supplies they need most. 

At DonorsChoose, our community of over 5 million donors and corporate and foundation partners helps public school teachers #ClearTheList all year round! Last school year, they funded over 343,000 teacher requests totaling $183 million.

Teachers: Here are our top tips for jumping into the #ClearTheList movement to stock your classroom shelves — for free! — this back-to-school season on DonorsChoose.

Keep Your Project Cost Manageable

Our teachers are most successful when they keep the total cost of their request under $600. When your DonorsChoose project is fully funded, we’ll ship the materials directly to your classroom. Have a bigger project in mind, like multiple laptops, a big list of books for your library, or musical instruments? Break up your request across several projects! As each project gets funded, you’ll start to receive resources while you wait for the rest of your requests to be funded.

Look for Matched Donations

Every year, we have over 200 corporate and foundation partners who support teachers on our site, most often by matching donations to your project. When a donor gives to your project that’s eligible for a match, our partner will match it — sometimes up to 10 times the original donation! Before you start a project, look through our latest match offers to see if you might be eligible for a match.

Shop Around

When teachers create a request on DonorsChoose, they shop for resources from over two dozen vendors, including many teacher favorites! As you select the resources for your project, double check whether another vendor has what you need at a lower price.

Follow DonorsChoose on Social Media

We’re always sharing updates on the latest match offers and funding opportunities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also request to join our exclusive DonorsChoose Teacher Facebook Community to connect with and learn from other teachers on our site.

Spread the Word

Once your project is live, share the link on social media using the hashtag #ClearTheList. Visit our Design Playground to create custom graphics that will make your message pop on social media. Don’t forget to tell friends and family who might want to support your classroom as well. A bonus for your donors: because DonorsChoose is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, donations to requests on DonorsChoose are tax deductible. 

We can’t wait to see how you #ClearTheList for your classroom this school year!

New to DonorsChoose?

We’re the nation’s top nonprofit platform that connects public school teachers with a thriving community of donors eager to fund requests for classroom resources. Learn how you can get funding for the exact items your students need to thrive.

Every month, dozens of companies and foundations show their support for public school teachers and students by matching donations to DonorsChoose requests — and it’s one of the easiest ways to secure funding for your classroom!

When a project receives a doubled donation, its chance of success jumps from 85% to 92%.

As you gear up for the new school year and think about what resources you’d like your classroom filled with, explore some of the match offers available this August. For more match offers & funding opportunities, check out this Help Center article.

Mark your calendars — August 9! A Back-to-School Boost ON ALL PROJECTS!

Starting at 7AM ET on Thursday, August 9, donations to every live, approved project will qualify for a 50% boost, thanks to Bill Gates. That means a $20 donation will become a $30 donation, a $100 donation will become a $150 donation, and so on. All you have to do to take part is have a project live before August 9th — don’t miss out! Create your project or learn more about this Back-to-School Boost offer.  

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Currently available, while funding lasts

Updated as of 08/05/22. For the most up-to-date status on our funding opportunities, visit our Help Center.

Classroom Basics Projects from Equity Focus Schools: 2X Match Offer from Kleenex

If you teach at an Equity Focus School, Kleenex has you covered for classroom basics and all the sniffles and spills that you’re sure to encounter this school year. Create a project requesting classroom basics (like binders, index cards, and pencils) and/or Kleenex products to receive doubled donations. To qualify, keep your total project goal under $500. Learn more about this match offer.

Professional Development Projects: 2X Match Offer from J.W. Couch Foundation

The back-to-school season is a great moment to expand your teaching practice and up your skills, and the J.W. Couch Foundation is here to help. Create a project requesting professional development resources and virtual experiences to receive doubled donations. Learn more about the professional development match offer.

Language & Literacy Projects from Oakland, CA: 5X Match Offer from Eat. Learn. Play.

If you teach Pre-K–8th grade in Oakland, CA, Eat. Learn. Play wants to help your students improve their literacy and love of literature!  When you create a Literacy and Language project, you could qualify to receive 5X donations and your first eligible project will receive an additional $2,000! Learn more about the Oakland Language & Literacy match offer.

Projects from Montgomery, AL: 2X Match Offer from Central Alabama Community Foundation

Calling all Montgomery Public School Teachers! If you teach in Montgomery Public Schools in Alabama, create a project with a total goal under $1,000 to receive doubled donations. Learn more about the Montgomery match offer.

These are just a few of the match offers we have live this month — make sure to bookmark our Funding opportunities and match offers page to stay up to date! 

New to DonorsChoose?‍

We’re a nonprofit platform that connects public school teachers like you with a thriving community of donors eager to fund your classroom projects. Learn how you can get funding for the exact items your students need to thrive.

This time of year, social media feeds are flooded with teachers posting lists of supplies they need for their classrooms and asking for the public’s help to ensure students have everything from art supplies and calculators to books and reading bean bags. #ClearTheList, as the hashtag goes, along with social media posts to fund their DonorsChoose projects.

Like with medical bills, these back-to-school campaigns are another form of crowdsourcing in American society. Teachers, who are already underpaid, take to crowdsourcing to ensure they’re providing students the best and most effective educational experience they can. They inevitably front many out-of-pocket expenses throughout the year — the average rising to $750 per year in 2021 — so these summer wishlists help them get started.

In fact, it’s such a commonplace thing in our society now that Abbott Elementary — the blockbuster ABC show about teachers at an underfunded school in Philadelphia — did a whole episode about it.

Read the full story on afro.com.

Juneteenth has gone through quite a transformation recently.

Also known as Freedom Day or Black Independence Day, Juneteenth is the bittersweet commemoration of June 19, 1865, when word of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation reached the deepest parts of the fallen Confederacy — nearly two years after slavery had officialy ended. A cause for celebration, for sure, but tinged with the disappointment that it took two additional years for this news to reach Galveston, Texas, and several more months until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed to officially abolish slavery. 

For the next 156 years, the joy and pain of this moment would live on mostly through celebrations across parts of the South, through the oral histories passed down within the Black community, and in a few lines of description in some high school history textbooks. In many places, this piece of history has been absent; I only started learning these stories as an adult, within the past decade. 

Juneteenth entered the national conversation in 2020 amidst the horrific murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other innocent Black Americans — another parallel moment of national disgrace in which Black justice was deferred. Within a year, most companies were planning to give their employees the day off, even before President Biden declared it a federal holiday. And already this year, we’ve seen several national brands release Juneteenth-themed merchandise, only to recall those items for being inappropriate and insensitive to the deeper meaning of this day. 

Without a doubt, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black freedom, joy, and perseverance. Yet it’s also a reminder that those freedoms are hard won, the joy is fragile, and the perseverance remains in the face of new systems of oppression that continue our nation’s battle against White supremacy. 

One way to deliver on the promise of Juneteenth is to ensure that our students learn that Black history is American history. Today, at DonorsChoose, we celebrate the teachers who bring these stories and more to their classrooms, teaching all of their students a complete history of our nation’s defining victories and darkest hours, and helping their Black students see themselves in the world. We also stand with the teachers who risk their careers and livelihoods to put these stories on their classroom bookshelves.

Only when our students can face the ugly truth of our nation’s history with racism, will they be able to chart a better way forward and finally deliver on the dreams and freedoms of those celebrating the first Juneteenth 157 years ago.

Support Juneteenth classroom requests

K-12 Dive reported on our government grant initiatives, helping leaders in Arizona, Delaware, Hawai'i, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah distribute funding to their teachers through their DonorsChoose projects.

"Second grade teacher Samantha Ramos’ morning work for her students covers essential lessons, but the English language development teacher at John B. Wright Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona, knew something was missing.

Supplies like marble runs and interlocking plastic building discs would help students think creatively and learn how to problem-solve and work in teams. Materials for small group instruction in phonics, such as dice games and flip books, could provide hands-on learning fun, especially as she attempts to strengthen foundational reading skills following COVID-19 school closures and disruptions.

After calculating the cost of all these materials at $838.85, Ramos submitted a proposal in March through DonorsChoose, a popular online fundraising platform for individual educators’ classroom materials and projects.

Two days later, her request was fully funded by one donor — the Arizona Department of Education. A few weeks later, the materials arrived at her school."

Read the full story on k12dive.com.

Learn more about our government grant opportunities.‍

"Books. Lab equipment. Musical instruments.For 22 years, educators have turned to the crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose to get supplies for their students and classrooms. On the site, teachers can count on donors to fund requests for supplies that schools are too cash strapped to purchase. But they can also get a morale boost as COVID depletes their ranks, state laws censor what they can teach, and politicians suggest they bear arms in the wake of school shootings. Abby Feuer, DonorsChoose’s executive vice president of marketing and growth, spoke with The 19th about how the platform has grown beyond a crowdfunding site. For the first time, she said, DonorsChoose is helping states distribute funds to teachers to meet their needs. So far this year, five states have given over $40 million through DonorsChoose to teachers. The organization also has a district partnership program that includes 600 school districts it has teamed up with to support teachers." Read the full story on 19thnews.org.

LGBTQ teachers belong in the classroom.

LGBTQ students deserve a safe, supportive learning environment at school.

Transgender students belong on school sports teams, should have access to healthcare, and deserve to have their pronouns and names respected.

LGBTQ-affirming resources belong on the classroom shelves.

Students with LGBTQ family members deserve to see their families represented in classroom resources and discussions.

I’m not naive enough to think that everyone would agree with these statements — and yet it’s troubling to see that in 2022 basic civil rights for LGBTQ folks are again up for debate, both in the national dialogue and in state legislation.  

It is shocking that it is still the case that a student might have reason to fear sharing their identities, or that a teacher might put their career at risk if they mention their spouse in class. When I think back to my own days as a teacher, the principal who most influenced me–who modeled professional practices that I use to this day–was an incredible educator who also happened to be a gay man. The current debates and laws have horrifying consequences that present significant danger to both students and educators like my former principal. GLSEN’s 2019 School Climate report found that nearly all of their surveyed LGBTQ students had encountered homophobic language at school, yet only 13.7% of students reported that school staff intervened. Nearly 60% of LGBTQ students in GLSEN’s survey also reported that they felt unsafe at school, and roughly a third of students reported missing school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. LGBTQ students of color almost always experience higher rates of harm. These discriminatory and isolating experiences can take a heavy toll on young people: the Trevor Project’s 2022 national survey found that 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 14% attempted suicide. 

An affirming school environment can go a long way in reversing these trends and empowering queer students. The Trevor Project and GLSEN reports also found that students in LGBTQ-affirming schools and communities were less likely to attempt suicide, miss school, experience bullying, or hear derogatory remarks about their sexual orientation or gender identity. The story of one Alabama school demonstrates the incredible power of a learning community where students can be free to be themselves. 

Certainly, any teacher can be an ally for their LGBTQ students, building trust and opening the door to meaningful conversations, so that students can better discover and understand themselves. On DonorsChoose, we’ve seen teachers request LGBTQ history books and novels, materials to make proms more welcoming to LGBTQ students, and LGBTQ guest speakers from the community. These are just a few of our favorites.  

LGBTQ educators also play an important role for all of their students, and too many are being driven from the classroom by oppressive laws and community harassment. LGBTQ teachers and staff bring a lived experience to the ways they connect and support their students who might be struggling with their identity. If it’s safe for an LGBTQ teacher to be out in their community, they can be role models for what it looks like to be a thriving queer person, and for all of the different ways a queer person can express themselves. And, in the midst of a national teacher shortage crisis, we need all hands on deck to keep our students learning, which demands welcoming and supporting teachers of all identities into the profession. 

During Pride Month and all year round, I hope you’ll take a moment to support LGBTQ teachers and students, within your own community or in a place where queer rights are under attack. For our teachers, we’ve compiled some LGBTQ project examples to inspire your next project, and books to consider adding to your classroom library. For our supporters, you can give to a classroom project chosen by our LGBTQ staff at DonorsChoose. 

Outside of DonorsChoose, I’d encourage you to take a look at the work of The Trevor Project, GLSEN, and PFLAG, and track updates on anti-LGBTQ legislation with the Human Rights Campaign. 

Without a doubt, it’s never been more important for all of us to celebrate LGBTQ pride and what it means for queer people to live their truest, fullest, most joyful lives.

Pride is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ community while honoring the spirit of the Stonewall Riots and the advocates who continue to fight for equal justice for the queer community.  

For many teachers, celebrating Pride in the classroom is a way to show their students that they are in a safe space. Here are some of our favorite ways DonorsChoose teachers are supporting their students through classroom projects.

Pride Storytelling

When Ms. Jones became a teacher, one of her driving goals was to make sure students saw themselves depicted in the reading materials she provided to her class. Her project, See Yourself in a Book - LGBT Edition! is her way of saying “all are welcome”!

“When a student picks up a book, they see the world; however, so many classroom libraries only present ONE version of the world while leaving out so many voices.” — Ms. Jones, See Yourself in a Book - LGBT Edition! 

According to GLSEN, in the last school year, only 19% of students were taught an inclusive curriculum with positive representations of LGBTQ people and authors. By providing her students with books such as Eleanor and Park and Fangirl A Novel, Ms. Jones is giving students an opportunity to see themselves and experience ideas or perspectives different to their own.

Pride Awareness

When it comes to celebrating identities, students are at the center of these conversations. The LGBTQ club at Ms. Landrum’s school —  or as they call themselves, the “Rainbow Unicorns” — have a mission to promote a safer, more accepting school for all! 

“We are a small but mighty group of gender-nonconforming, lesbian and gay students and staff who meet weekly to support one another and bring awareness to our larger school.” — Ms. Landrum, Help us Promote the Rainbow Unicorns LGBTQ+ Club

With this project, Ms. Landrum and the Rainbow Unicorns will create personalized buttons to educate students and staff about the different flags that represent the queer community and so that allies can make themselves visible.

Pride Through Student Groups

After learning more about the LGBTQ community, Mrs. Boersma's students were inspired to create a safe place for students to continue learning and discussing these topics.

“Since learning about the LGBTQ community, some of our students have advocated starting a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) at school!” — Mrs. Boersma, Gay Straight Alliance Supplies

To help them get started, she requested resources like books, stickers, and flags for students to use as they learn, grow, and advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Classrooms are a place to learn and grow, and students should feel safe in them. How are you building inclusive spaces for your students to learn? For more great ideas or to support a teacher, here are some inspiring classroom projects curated by our LGBTQ staff and allies.