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"For students at E.M. Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, the adjustment to distance learning has been made far more fun thanks to their new Legos, microscopes, Rubik’s cubes, Tetris boards and other hands-on learning gear.Their STEAM teacher, Mark Fox, recently received an email from DonorsChoose notifying him about a $1,000 Keep Kids Learning grant to purchase distance learning materials. The grant was used to purchase 125 individual remote learning items, 'everything from science to technology to engineering to art materials,' Fox said."
‍Read the full story on richmondstandard.com.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that every teacher is different. But whether an educator is soft-spoken or boisterous, a subject-area expert or a classroom management wizard, acerbically kind or kindly acerbic, they all share a few things in common. 

Below are five things you need to know about the heroic educators that guide their students toward success every single day.

Teaching doesn’t end when the bell rings

Show us a teacher that only works during school hours. We dare ya! First, there are the formal job duties that come outside of the classroom: club leadership and team coaching, professional development seminars, lesson and activity planning, grading and report cards, and parent and administrative meetings. If that weren’t enough, most teachers admit to thinking about their students when they’re not working: mulling over how to individualize a lesson for a specific kid while grocery shopping, thinking through a parent meeting while cooking, even nodding off at night to the latest professional development book.

Every educator teaches a secret subject

Without exception, every teacher helps their students with more than the subject areas they are “officially” responsible for. For example, an elementary school teacher spends as much time helping their students navigate their first experiences as a member of a class community as they do math or reading. From taking turns (fairness) to group projects (collaboration and leadership) to transitioning from recess (body awareness and changing expectations), every interaction is an opportunity to build character and a sense of belonging. 

Above and beyond above-and-beyond

Teachers are often asked to go way above-and-beyond their job description, even opening their own wallets for their students. In fact, 94% of teachers spend money out-of-pocket on classroom materials, and teachers spend an average of $500 each year. Educators in communities of high economic need even help students procure food, hygiene items, and winter coats.

Teaching is ever-changing

Like any area of expertise, teaching is ever-changing, and teachers work to stay abreast of the latest best practices and techniques. Whether attending professional development workshops or doing a deep-dive into the latest research, teachers are always refining their practice. Says Ms. Kreiger, a teacher in upstate New York:

“High-quality professional development just makes all the difference and gives me opportunities that, in turn, become opportunities for my kids.”

Teachers never teach a class

No, really! Very few teachers actually teach a class. Instead, teachers teach every kid individually. Whether it’s assigning different problem sets based on current skill level, conferencing with individual kids during writing time, helping each student find a topic they’re passionate about for a video project, or something else entirely, the best teachers know each student for the person they are — and the person they’re becoming.

Learn more about America’s teachers by viewing their DonorsChoose projects, a unique window into tens of thousands of public school classrooms. 

Do you remember the first time you felt “seen” by a character in a book you read? The joy you felt in the moment that you connected with a character because of a shared experience, feeling, or identity? 

Kids develop both a sense of confidence and a love of reading when they can identify with the characters and stories they read. Yet students from underrepresented communities — students of color, immigrants or refugees, students with special needs, or LGBTQ+ students, for example — are often underrepresented in their classroom libraries, too. Books with diverse characters also offer windows into the lives of others, helping students develop empathy and other vital social-emotional skills.

A few things to consider when building a more inclusive library:

• Engage your students in selecting new books. Ask them about the stories they’d like to hear, or the books you already have that resonate most. Show them that their story (and opinions!) matter.
• Seek out “own voices” authors — authors who are themselves a part of the communities and identities they write about.
• Look to the families and community around your school. What do your students’ families celebrate? What are some of the community’s challenges? What books reflect these topics and might resonate with your students’ life experiences?
• Consider graphic novels with diverse characters as a gateway for struggling or uninterested readers.
• Expose your students to characters and stories they might not see in their own communities. If your students are less likely to encounter someone who’s different from them, offer them books that help them relate to people with other identities.

Julie Stivers, the librarian at Mt. Vernon Middle School in North Carolina, decided to revamp her entire library, and engaged her students in creating guides for other school librarians seeking to create diverse, inclusive libraries.

She sets an intentional goal for herself when it comes to ensuring her students can see themselves in her library: “Our school is about 80 percent students of color, and my goal is to have 80 percent of books on the shelves that feature a main character of color.”

Here’s how Julie went about updating her library, and some of the young adult books that have become instant hits for her middle school students.

Create a Project

Support a Book Project

At DonorsChoose, we strive to have our organization be as diverse as the students and teachers we serve. Our team is encouraged to engage in affinity groups that help celebrate our differences and build a platform for discussion and learning. 

For Black History Month, we wanted to highlight one affinity group’s work: BOSS (Black Organization of Soulful Staff), our employee resource group for Black staff members. 

Throughout February, BOSS members created a weekly agenda with educational events and helped steer a classroom funding initiative with the support of our partners. Below are some of the team’s reflections on working at an organization centered on educational equity, the importance of representation in the classroom, and how identity impacted their school experiences.

Q: What does it mean to you to celebrate Black History Month, working at an organization centered on educational equity?

Kristina (Steen) Joye Lyles, Partnerships Director: With our country's legacy of slavery, racial oppression, and segregation, Black History Month is critical when you work at an educational organization. You can't talk about equity in our education system without talking about the race of the students and teachers that we serve. Much like 70 years ago, students of color today - namely black students - are systematically deprived of the resources they need to learn. I keep this in mind every day that I show up to work, and especially during a month when we acknowledge the truth and power of black history.

As an employee of DonorsChoose, I love seeing when teachers post projects that help other young black students expand their horizons about who we've been, and who we can be.

— Geoff Hill, Chief Financial Officer and EVP, Fulfillment

Christin Washington, Community Partnerships Associate: Whenever I share stories about my life, it usually involves a special teacher or professor who saw something in me that I hadn't yet been aware of myself. Working at an organization that addresses educational equity allows me to lift as I climb, ensuring young black students who for centuries have been denied quality education as a result of our race and the neighborhoods we live in, can experience teachers and learnings that marry worlds, set passions ablaze, and unbolt the caps of our potential.

Our goal of having our staff be a representation of the students we serve makes me proud. Seeing the impact we have on Black student’s lives makes me proud. While we focus on BHM in February, the work we do to bring equity in education celebrates Black history every day.

— Christopher Prince-Barry, Director of IT

Q: Tell us about a teacher or classroom experience that shaped your views on the celebration of Black History Month.

Geoff Hill, Chief Financial Officer and EVP, Fulfillment: In school, we largely covered the "standard" historical African American heroes. I did not appreciate what I was missing at the time - I'm excited to think about the additional encouragement that many teachers now get to both go deeper during black history month, and incorporate diverse topics and voices into their year-round curriculum.

Ariana Jacobs, Special Assistant to the CEO: My seventh-grade class went on a trip to the Gullah Islands, the Low Country region of South Carolina made up of mostly plantations where enslaved Africans brought into Charleston and Savannah were once held. The Gullah have masterfully preserved their cultural heritage through storytelling and art, and we spent a week learning about their history first hand. The week culminated in us performing a West African dance at the annual Gullah Festival. Like the Gullah, there so many Black stories that go untold—they aren’t written in a textbook and the online information is minuscule. My teacher made it her mission to find these stories, investigate their history, and help us do the same.

Every class during Black Studies 101 at Amherst College encapsulated the complexity and beauty of life - to be in celebration of blackness is to be in celebration of humanity.

— Christin Washington, Community Partnerships Associate

Christopher Prince-Barry, Director of IT: My favorite teacher, Mr. Merchant was the first Black male teacher that I had in my life. He taught at Brooklyn Technical High School. He took the time to make sure each student understood what he was teaching during and after class. Although, the most impactful lessons were taught outside of the lesson plan. Often, he challenged us to think critically about the news, politics, and finances. Having him as a role model definitely showed me that it was ok to be a smart Black man in an environment where it was more acceptable to be an aloof teenager.

Inspired by these stories from our staff? You can help teachers with projects that embody the spirit of Black History Month by supporting a project from our Black History Month 2020 Giving Page! 

This January, the DonorsChoose team had the joy of meeting Texas school district leaders at the TASA Midwinter Conference in Austin! Charles Best, DonorsChoose founder and CEO, gave a keynote speech on Tuesday, January 28. Charles shared how DonorsChoose got started out of his Bronx history classroom years before crowdfunding was even a word, along with our 20 years of impact. He highlighted how one rural Texas district raised more than $225 per student, and Lady Gaga’s work in supporting the El Paso community though DonorsChoose.‍

Charles also unveiled a new, free program designed to help districts get even more out of our platform.

Texas Districts are Invited to Join the Free DonorsChoose District Partnership Program

Through the District Partnership Program, school leaders can maximize the use of our non-profit crowdfunding platform and make it a more intentional part of their district’s national philanthropic engagement strategy. The program is completely free, and all Texas districts are encouraged to apply!‍

The program is designed to help districts take advantage of all we have to offer and go all-in aligning DonorsChoose with their district priorities. Partners receive:

• First notification of funding opportunities from our corporate partners
• Central office reporting to track donated materials and receive updates on posted projects
• A customized landing page to showcase their impact on a district-branded page on our site
• Support for principal and teacher trainings
• An annual report for district leaders

Submit your application

If you missed Charles's keynote, check it out below!

Supporting Texas District Leaders with a Co-Published Toolkit

Our team worked with the folks at TASA to build a toolkit designed specifically to support Texas district leaders. In this toolkit, administrators can find:

• Case studies on districts using DonorsChoose to enhance their strategic priorities
• Resources for engaging district administrators and teachers
• Information on controls for school districts like free reporting, principal notifications, and technology guidelines

Download the toolkit

At DonorsChoose, We Trust the Wisdom of the Frontlines

Set up right across from the registration booth, our team had a special showcase, featuring our new branding! Danielle, Kirk, and Jinan from our Advocacy and Public Partnerships team took the chance to speak with folks as they arrived, learn about the issues on Texas superintendents’ minds, and listen to how our nonprofit crowdfunding platform can better support their classrooms.

We came away inspired to continue our work bringing resources to Texas teachers and students, and excited to introduce our District Partnership Program to more states across the country.

We’re always looking for more opportunities to connect directly with education leaders across the country! If you’re part of a state education association and would like to work closely with DonorsChoose, email ksmiley@donorschoose.org for more info.

‍Interesting in joining the District Partnership Program? Submit your application.

February is Black History Month, a time when teachers across the country bring their students resources and lessons that reflect upon the often under-taught and overlooked stories of Black history in America.

To give you a peek into the rich tapestry of learning students are embarking on this month, we’ve collected a few of our favorite projects that focus on and celebrate Black history.

Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers - Celebrating Black History Month

Ms. Bost, a 2nd grade teacher at Barrett Elementary School in Homestead, PA requested a wide set of resources to celebrate Black history through a schoolwide “living museum.” When describing how items like traditional percussion instruments, posters celebrating famous Black Americans, African masks, and more benefited her community, she shared the following.

“With the new artifacts for our Black History Month Museum, we are able to bring diverse individuals together and start conversations regarding what makes each of us special and unique, about culture and heritage, as well as the opposition and obstacles that we had to overcome to get where we are as a society today as well as the work that we still need to accomplish.

By promoting and enriching our Black History Month Living Museum, we are able to bring the whole community together and allow these lessons to be taught in a safe and nurturing environment where administrators, teachers, parents, community stakeholders and children can learn together.

The best part of this whole project is it started with one small idea and continues to grow.”

Oh, the Places You'll Go! : Exploring HBCUs

Ms. Ghebregergish wanted to give her high school students in Saint Paul, NM the chance to visit Historically Black Colleges and Universities before they begin their college application process. She requested funding to bring her students to Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark University, Tuskegee University, Stillman College, and Rust College.

Ms. Ghebregergish shared why this trip was so important to her students.

“As a teacher and advisor at my current school, I am inspired daily by the energy and resilience that I see in my students. I believe that [my students] deserve so much more than they get. Seeing what else is out there for them will help them make their vision for their future much clearer.

My goal is to show my students that they can literally go anywhere they want in this world if they work hard and are given the opportunity.

They will get the opportunity to meet college students and professors, and they will learn the importance of going to a university/college that genuinely values Black history. Students will be learning about the HBCUs through independent research and networking. Students will learn the application requirements of each school. Ultimately, they will become more informed before making the very important decision of where to attend college.”

Afrofuturism: Through the Eyes of Our Youth

Afrofuturism is a concept that marries African diaspora history and culture with technology. Ms. Thomm wanted to give her Chicagan elementary school students the opportunity to represent themselves and their visions for the future through art.

“Our mission within our school is to make sure that our students' voices and stories are seen and heard. Each of our students deserves to use their voice to tell their story in a way.

The items within this DonorsChoose project will support our students in creating work that will be viewed by not only themselves, but the entire school. Students will use these materials to create an Afrofuristic (a movement in the arts featuring futuristic or science fiction themes incorporating elements of Black history and culture) and vibrant self-portrait that will be on display in the hallways.

When students walk through the hallways of our school and see their own faces, it will create a sense of belonging and they will be able to embrace themselves and others around them. My students will be so excited to explore futuristic Black identity through the lens of Afrofuturism and use their radical imagination to showcase themselves permanently in our academic home.”

Honoring Black History in Our Classroom

Having a classroom library filled with diverse characters was fundamental for Ms. Potter as she prepared her 10th grade classroom for Black History Month. She wanted to ensure that her students not only feel represented, but that they know the world is open with possibilities.

“As educators, we aim to inspire young men and women to accomplish great things. We have a diverse student population, yet we have few things in our classroom that represent our student's identity. In an effort to do so, we intend to create a display in our classroom of books focused on the visibility of the Black community through books written by and about Black people.

We intend for every young person that enters our classroom to leave with equitable respect for people and belief in their ability to achieve great things.

By providing these books as resources to our students, we hope to help our students see themselves in our classroom. We want students to feel accepted for who they are and know that they have a place in our school community.”

Here’s to a month and beyond of learning and celebrating our country’s rich history!

See more Black history projects

"To teach a love of reading, Corrina Reamer starts by writing. Each fall, she pens a letter to her 11th grade English class at T.C. Williams High School International Academy in northern Virginia. She tells the students who she is and asks for a reply. "I read all of those letters," Reamer said. Over the next few weeks, "I think about it. I come up with three to five books for each kid, and we sit down, face-to-face, to read the jackets." She picks the possibilities from a meticulously curated library of almost 1,000 books she houses on shelves painted turquoise and burnt-orange in her third-floor classroom - a library she paid for through online fundraisers and grants. Reamer estimates she garnered roughly $10,000 over the past three years by soliciting donations on the website DonorsChoose, while $5,000 more came from grants and from an Alexandria parent-teacher group."

Read the full story on sfgate.com

It’s no secret that DonorsChoose puts your classroom wishlist on the radar of millions of potential donors, giving anyone the opportunity to be your classroom supporter.  But did you know we also partner with corporations and foundations throughout the year to help you fund your projects (to the tune of $62 million dollars last year alone!)? One of the keys to DonorsChoose success is mastering these partner funding opportunities.

When you know what funding opportunities are available to you, you’re able to get your ideas front-and-center for our partners—who are some of our most generous donors.  Every year, our team launches exciting campaigns with our partners that can get resources into your classroom at a fraction of their cost.  That means you can focus on connecting your project to your community, and we’ll take the reins on stretching every dollar you raise.

Read on for information, tips and tricks, and expert advice on how to make the most of the two types of partner funding opportunities on DonorsChoose.

Match Offers

A match offer is a way for a corporation or a foundation to match individual donations for projects that meet certain criteria. Your donors can see their donations go further to help you bring your project to life.  Depending on the direction from our partners, matches can range from a 50% boost ($1 match for every $2 a donor gives) to a 10X match! This is the most common funding opportunity available. Match offers can be based on the subject area of a project, a specific geographic location, or the items requested in the project. You can find more details about how matches work here. 

Move fast. ‍

Match offers only last while funds remain, so move quickly to post a qualifying project or fundraise. You can find match offers and all current funding opportunities here.

Get Inspired.

‍When you learn of a new funding opportunity, check out projects by teachers who already have the match. This is a great way to inspire new ideas for your own classroom.

Read the details.

‍Before posting a project to qualify for a specific match offer, read the details to make sure you meet all eligibility criteria.

Let supporters know.

‍Once your project has a match, make sure to mention it to potential supporters. Folks love to know that their donation will be multiplied and have an even bigger impact.

Expert teacher Ellen Peterson has used match offers to fund over 170 projects on our site, and says “People want to get the most bang for their bucks and matches make that happen.”

Classroom Rewards

A Classroom Rewards opportunity is a way for our partners to engage teachers and students with online education resources, and in return, teachers who participate can receive a DonorsChoose gift card reward.  For example, you might be able to unlock a reward by having a group of students complete an online tutorial on coding or financial literacy. 

Classroom Rewards do not require creating a project, but rather using a resource outside of DonorsChoose with your students. You can find out more details about how classroom rewards work here.

Check frequently. ‍

Classroom reward opportunities tend to have a set number of teachers who can participate, so watch for these opportunities. You can find classroom rewards and all current funding opportunities here.

Make the most of flex time.

‍When classroom reward opportunities involve students completing an activity online, using flex time in your classroom is an expert move.

Through match offers, classroom rewards, and other funding opportunities, we’re here to help you get the support you need to bring your project to life. To stay in the know about all funding opportunities, bookmark this page of the latest funding opportunities, be on the lookout for our monthly Teacher Essentials email newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This post was published in July 2017 and was updated in December 2019.

Dave Stuart Jr. is small-town high school teacher who helps educators promote long-term flourishing on DaveStuartJr.com. If you're trying to become both better and saner at the work of teaching, join Dave's free newsletter.

I first learned about DonorsChoose in 2008 when an old college roommate snail-mailed me a clipping from a magazine. Thinking of all the supplies my students and I needed for my middle school classroom in Baltimore, I eagerly went on the site, created an account, and made my first request: "Making Writers Out of Apathy," a $506 project for folders and a few editing pens.

Suffice it to say, the project expired without full funding. So how did I get over that first speed bump to ultimately have 47 projects completed? Here are the lessons that initial project taught me:

My classroom isn't the center of the universe.

This sounds harsh, but I think when I wrote that first project I was writing with a couple of assumptions:

• I assumed that people would just magically want to donate to my class, just because, you know, it was us! I mean, c'mon — my students are amazing!
• I assumed people would "get" my title, whereas in hindsight, it came off as pessimistic and confusing.

Looking back, I expected way too much out of potential donors — who are just as busy as I am — and didn't do enough to make donating to my class exciting and accessible. For future requests, I used my project to warmly invite potential donors into my classroom and see all of the amazing work we were doing... and how they could help. For example, one of the essays I’m most proud of is A World Class Library for World History Students.  

Write projects with this in mind: "What would I want to see as a potential donor?"

Going back to the title of that initial project, you can see that, really, I was speaking to teachers, not potential donors. Anyone who has taught middle school English knows that apathy can be a real and overwhelming reality for students and is often the number-one obstacle to a student growing in our classroom. However, I don't think that the average person outside of teaching knows that in the same way; what they do know is that classroom sometimes need basic supplies (like the ones I was asking for) and that helping kids become able writers is an important thing.

By putting myself in a potential donor's shoes, I can do a good job of communicating the essence of a project quickly and effectively. That way, they don't need to understand the inner depths of a teacher's struggle in order to get excited about putting some money toward new writing folders. For example, the title of one of my later projects, World History Students + Bill Bryson = History Love, is clear and tailored specifically to catch the eye of a potential donor who may not have set foot inside a classroom for years.

Break projects down.

If there's a single thing that has given me the greatest breakthroughs in writing successful DonorsChoose projects, it's this: break big projects down. At this point, I’ve been a DonorsChoose teacher for nine years, and what I have noticed in that time is that projects that are within $100 of completion are much more likely to receive random "I've-never-seen-this-donor-before" funding than projects with more than $100 left. A big reason for that, I think, is that donors like to support projects that they know are going to reach full funding.

If I could to go back in time and try to get all of those funding for all of those folders again, I would break it down into several $100-$200 projects, with eye-catching titles such as "Spelling Folders for the Win!" or "Keeping Things Straight: Reading and Writing Folders".

Sure, it would have been great if my kids had received those folders back in 2008. But I’m ultimately thankful that "Making Writers Out of Apathy" didn't receive funding because of the many lessons it taught me... and the many subsequent, successful projects those lessons helped me create down the line.

“DonorChoose is an online crowdfunding source. Most fundraising for schools involves just the students, their parents, relatives, and friends—the fundraising effort rarely moves outside the community. At DonorsChoose, 74 percent of the funding for classroom projects comes from outside the school’s social network. The pool of donors comes from all over the world, including large, multimillion-dollar companies such as Google, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Staples Inc. DonorsChoose partners with large corporations to either fund or match donations for projects. By going outside of the school’s social network, Simo’s teachers have gotten many of the resources they need, including Chromebooks.“

Read the full story on nassp.org

"Often times, working families have a hard time making ends meet. "I went through this, I understand the need," said Kristan Nigro, a kindergarten teacher at Schorr Elementary who started a "giving closet." There's food items in the pantry and toiletries like toothbrushes, soap, laundry detergent and contact solution. Kids can discreetly get what they need throughout the day and get back to learning. Kids and their parents can also use the giving closet after school. Nigro uses DonorsChoose.org to help fund the giving closet, "There should never be any embarrassment, we're a community. We rise together and fall together."

Watch the full report on fox5vegas.com

Email is the #1 most effective tool you can use to fund your DonorsChoose request. Asking for donations from the people you know can seem daunting at first, so we’ve broken the process down into six easy steps. Here’s all the information you need to advocate for your students and reach your project goal.

1. Brainstorm your list.

Decide who to email by answering these three questions:

         Who cares about me? Make a list of the friends and family members who would be curious about the awesome stuff you’re doing in your classroom. Your dad? Your cousins? Old college friends? Your running group? Write ‘em all down.

         Who cares about my school? Supporting a project close to home may appeal to people who don’t know you or your students very well. Write down local businesses, community members, and former students who might be invested in your school and want to support your community.

         Who cares about my students? Add your students’ parents and guardians to the list as well. If this group’s resources are very limited, you can still involve them without asking for donations. (More on that later.)

2. Keep it personal.

Send individualized emails to the people on your list. Cut-and-paste certain elements of your note, but tailor each one to your recipients, their unique interests, and their relationship with you.

Let your supporters know you’ve posted a project, explain why you thought they'd want to know, share a couple of details about your students, and highlight the impact your project will have on their lives. No need to write a formal essay; a few sentences will do!

3. Create urgency.

Potential donors are more likely to contribute when time is of the essence. The easiest way to utilize urgency is if you have matching donations (for example, if it's a special match day, if you have a match code, or if you have a match offer.) If your project qualifies for matching donations, make sure you let your donors know.  

If you don’t have a matched donations, you can still give supporters a nudge to donate early: “My goal is to get five contributions in this first week. Please help if you can.”

4. Keep your request short, sweet, and clear.

Once you’ve explained a bit about your project and created urgency, ask for support. Ask clearly and simply, and don’t forget to include your project link to make donating easy. Here are a few example asks to get you started: “Click on the link below to contribute to our classroom!” “Please donate. Every little bit truly makes a big difference.”

If you want to involve parents and guardians but know their resources are limited, you can simply ask them to share the project link. "Most parents are willing [to spread the word]," says teacher Michelle Ramos, "because it's quick, easy, free, and effective."

5. Embrace the (r)email.

After that first email to each potential donor, make sure to send at least one reminder email (aka remail). There are lots of great moments to send a remail. Pick your favorite:

         Is your match code going to expire tomorrow? Remail.
         Are you halfway to your goal? Remail.
         Has your project been up for two weeks without much action? Remail.

6. Say thanks.  

One of the most important elements of email fundraising is actually the easiest: the gratitude email. Each time you get a donation, respond to the notification email you receive from us with a thank you note to your donor. This makes people feel great about their contribution, encourages them to give to your future projects, and shows potential supporters how much you’ll value their support.

Want more email advice? Get tips from a fellow fundraiser.

Just can’t find the words? Use a template.

Already sent your emails? Explore other fundraising techniques.