All Posts | The DonorsChoose Blog

The Elementary School Crowdfunding Toolkit from NAESP & DonorsChoose

Explore the toolkit to empower your teachers and staff to use DonorsChoose.

The National Alliance & DonorsChoose Toolkit Helping Charter Schools Get Classroom Resources

Explore the toolkit to empower their teachers through DonorsChoose.

Local Teacher Immerses Students in Engineering

Hector Escobedo at Terra Environmental High School immerses his students in engineering, with the help of local nonprofits.

Resources from Education Associations to Help You Make the Most of PreK-12 Crowdfunding

Explore the toolkits to learn about PreK-12 crowdfunding best practices.

Principal Spotlight: How Joe Simo Increased His School’s Project Funding on DonorsChoose 20X

Centennial Middle School Principal Joe Simo is dedicated to helping his teachers and students access the most learning resources possible.

Since Joe Simo joined Centennial Middle School in Colorado as principal in 2013, he’s taken a “relationships first” approach to leadership. In addition to building strong ties among and with his staff, Joe wanted to make sure that the 620 diverse students attending Centennial Middle School had the resources they needed to thrive academically and socially. By focusing on the school’s dedication to character development, teacher professional development, and ensuring teachers could access as many resources as possible, Joe turned Centennial Middle School into the “Colorado school to watch.”

Removing Roadblocks to Innovation

Joe sees one of his primary responsibilities as removing roadblocks for teachers, and often those roadblocks come in the form of a lack of funding or resources. As a school of innovation, teachers at Centennial Middle School have some extra freedom to create and experiment in the classroom, but with a district-set budget, there isn’t always the funding to try everything teachers dream up. Instead of turning down those ideas, Joe directs his teachers to DonorsChoose.

By using DonorsChoose, Ms. Hutchel was able to get basic kitchen supplies so her students could learn about cooking and healthy eating, while Mr. Thompson received DIY drone kits so his students could flex their coding and engineering skills. These are just two examples of the nearly 20 classroom project requests funded from Centennial Middle School teachers this past school year.

Supporting Teachers' Professional Growth

In addition to getting the most learning resources possible, Joe Simo is also dedicated to helping his teachers access the professional development they need to grow and thrive as educators. In addition to the 20% of his budget dedicated to teacher professional development, Joe also encourages teachers to use DonorsChoose to fund PD experiences.

Increasing Funding Schoolwide through DonorsChoose

By supporting teacher-fueled innovation and encouraging the use of DonorsChoose, Joe has increased Centennial Middle School’s classroom project funding from just $1,200 before he started to more than $23,000 today. By tapping into the national network of donors, companies, and foundation partners who give through DonorsChoose, Centennial Middle School teachers have been able to give their students more than they ever could have using just a district budget.

Since Joe Simo took over as principal, every project created by a teacher at Centennial Middle School has been fully funded. Joe has received recognition as Colorado Middle School Principal of the Year and as Secondary School Principal of the year by CASE, the Colorado Association of School Executives.

Read how more principals like Joe have used DonorsChoose to support their teachers in the Principal Toolkit co-published by DonorsChoose and NASSP, and see how you can help your teachers get more resources for students.

A New Crowdfunding Policy Toolkit from AASA and DonorsChoose

Explore the toolkit to set your district up for crowdfunding success.

What’s the DonorsChoose Team Reading?

The DonorsChoose shares reflections on the book PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris.

At DonorsChoose, we rave over books adapted to television, we’ve made holiday book exchanges a tradition, and we’ve filled our library with staff picks and the books teachers need most. The secret’s out! We’re book nerds.

Most recently, we took our love of books to a new level and created a team-wide book club. We focused on a bigger issue in the education world to increase our team’s awareness of the communities and policies we interact with every day. For our first read, we chose PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris. Morris chronicles the lives of black girls across the country as they try to succeed in our education system; they not only face challenges from teachers, parents, and administrators, but also the criminal justice system. Interwoven with the voices of black girls, this book offers up ways we can eliminate the obstacles, stereotypes, and criminalization that so many black girls experience at schools across the United States.

Morris helped us reframe our understanding of a variety of topics, including mental health, age compression, sex trafficking, gender, and sexuality. Morris demonstrated how these challenges collectively contribute to the disproportionate punishment of black girls in schools and ultimately push them out into unhealthy and unsafe futures. Morris also presents tools that parents, educators, and community members can use to respond to those issues.

The folks on our team who participated in the book club were incredibly moved by the book and by the conversations we had in our meetings. Here’s what they had to say about the experience:

“This book club was a wonderful way to grow our knowledge about the education system and bring to light the various challenges we can continue to help our teachers and students tackle through our everyday work. ”

— Shantaa

“I loved the book choice — the issues that Pushout covers, intersect with so many things I think about, organize around, and want to know more about ... It was wonderful to have a space to talk about those ideas with folks... ”

— Sarah

“I think that book clubs can be a great space to self-reflect, get a little vulnerable, sharpen your critical eye, connect dots, and brainstorm for the future.”

— Morgan

We hope you can learn from this book as well. Teachers spend so much time and energy investing in the education and growth of their students and we want to remind you that it’s also okay to invest this same energy towards yourself! At DonorsChoose, teachers can create Professional Development projects because we’re committed to supporting the individual growth of teachers so that they too can continue to adapt to students they serve.

Teachers, if you’re inspired to read PUSHOUT and share these ideas with your students, you can create a DonorsChoose project requesting the book (or any other resources you need to further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts). Or, add this to your classroom library for next school year to open up a conversation about your students’ experiences with the issues the book discusses.

If there’s a book you love that you think we should read at our book club, let us know in the comments below!

This guest blog post was written by Zobaida Hossain (from our Customer Support team) and Christin Washington (from our Partnership Activation team).

Setting Teachers Up for Tech Success through Device Licensing

We help teachers get the devices licenses necessary for centralized device management.

Integrating technology into the classroom is a key part of giving students a 21st century education. Classroom tech can help students develop digital literacy early, explore computer science and coding, and provide opportunities for individualized learning. Bringing such tech devices into the classroom requires close collaboration between teachers and district leaders. In addition to empowering district leaders to submit their district’s technology guidelines so that we can help teachers request the right resources, DonorsChoose has implemented additional processes to help teachers get the device licenses they need for centralized device management.

Device Enrollment Programs

Many school districts manage technology through a centralized device management program, like Google Chrome Management or Apple School Manager. These programs allow for the following to be managed easily by district technology leaders:

Deployment of apps
Security permissions
Running updates
Troubleshooting issues

At DonorsChoose, we recognize the importance of such centralized device management, and the challenges that arise when teachers gain tech devices outside traditional district procurement. Our materials ownership policy states that resources received through DonorsChoose are owned by the school, and ensuring devices can be enrolled in centralized device management systems is a key way we support that policy.

We’ve taken steps over the past year to make sure sure teachers know how to request technology that will arrive ready to be set up and implemented quickly once it arrives at their school.

Apple Products

Because Apple devices requested through DonorsChoose are purchased through an authorized Apple reseller (Best Buy Education), 100% of Apple devices received through DonorsChoose can be enrolled in Apple School Manager or Device Enrollment Program. Read more about how you can work with your teachers to set up Apple devices through these centralized management programs.

Chromebooks

Chromebooks available through DonorsChoose are automatically bundled with a Google Chrome Management License. Teachers can request these bundles through Best Buy Education or CDW-G. When Chromebooks ship, our vendors either directly add the licenses to the district’s domain, or ask the requesting teacher for the domain name to complete this step. Read more about how teachers work with our vendors to activate these licenses.

Helping Teachers and District Tech Leaders Work Together

To bridge the gap between teachers and district tech leaders, we send communications to both teachers and district leaders when technology is arriving. Principals receive a fax with details on the specific technology that’s on its way, and teachers receive an email with instructions for enrolling their device.

We’re excited to work with your district to make sure your teachers and students are set up for tech success. Submit your technology guidelines or contact districts@donorschoose.org to talk more about how we can support your district’s tech needs.

Our Favorite Moments from the 2019 DonorsChoose Partner Summit

Here are some of the highlights from our 2019 Partner Summit gathering.

Every spring, our most generous corporate and foundation partners join us for two days of inspiration and education, helping them connect deeper to the DonorsChoose mission and to the teachers who use our platform. These partners have contributed over $60 million to classrooms this school year and love learning more about how their support helps public school teachers and students across the country.

We welcomed partners to our hometown — New York City — this year. Here are some of the highlights:

Being inspired by NYC Public Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza

We kicked off our Partner Summit speaking with Chancellor Carranza, on the very day he celebrated his one-year anniversary as head of New York City’s public schools! Chancellor Carranza, who previously served as the Houston Independent School District Superintendent, shared how he worked to rebuild Houston schools and communities following Hurricane Harvey with help from DonorsChoose. He also described his vision for New York schools, his hectic schedule overseeing 1,700 public schools, and why he loves the entrepreneurial spirit of his teachers who use our site.

Hearing from an incredible panel of teachers

We began our second day of Partner Summit by talking with the heroes of the day: three teachers from New York and Connecticut. Kara Breen, Sheena Graham, and Andy Yung — all DonorsChoose veterans with over 200 projects funded between them — had a conversation about diversity in the classroom and how important it is for their students to see themselves in their learning. We laughed, we cried, but most importantly, we were inspired by these teachers, who proudly represented the more than 100,000 educators that our partners have supported this year.

Laughing and learning with Stephen Colbert, W. Kamau Bell, Nancy Lublin, and Shankar Vedantam

Where does Stephen Colbert get his monologue topics for each show? What sticky situations has W. Kamau Bell found himself in for his show United Shades of America? How did the Domino’s Pizza Tracker inspire Nancy Lublin as she built Crisis Text Line? What parts of our subconscious brain does Shankar Vedantam think will impact our decisions to give to charity? We learned all this and more from our conversations with four luminaries and friends of DonorsChoose. Many more laughs, many more tears… next year, we’re going to bring more tissues.

Connecting our partners

Our partners love to learn from each other about their philanthropic work, strategies, and wins. This year, we heard from four incredible partners: JoAnne Anton from Herb Kohl Philanthropies, Rose Stuckey Kirk from the Verizon Foundation, James Rooney from the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation, and Beth Schmidt from Emerson Collective. We discussed topics spanning teacher-inspired philanthropy, elevating the teaching profession, the quest to save youth sports, and bridging the digital divide, before diving deeper in small group discussions.

Introducing partners to our amazing DonorsChoose staff

We offered our partners a peek behind the scenes with four sessions led by DonorsChoose staff in our recently expanded headquarters. We shared how we incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace, how we use data and insights to drive site experience, how we collaborate with school districts and administrators to meet teachers’ needs, and how we interact with our teacher community. Partners also had the chance to see firsthand how our volunteers and staff prepare thousands of adorable student thank you packages every year.

After such an action-packed few days, we can’t wait to get started planning Partner Summit 2020!

Our Team’s Award-Winning Operations Approach to our Biggest Day Ever

Here’s a quick peek behind the curtain of how our award-winning operations team fulfilled every project in one day.

When a teacher has a project fully funded on DonorsChoose, our team springs into action to fulfill these projects. Unique among crowdfunding platforms, the DonorsChoose team purchases and ships resources directly to classrooms and works with teachers to coordinate field trips and classroom visitors for their students. As a result, teachers don’t have to worry about shopping in person or finding the right price, and we provide the extra layer of trust and accountability that school districts and donors crave.

Behind the scenes, DonorsChoose teams handle everything from fulfilling projects to answering your questions to making sure student thank-you notes get to donors. These teams were just recognized with the Business Transformation and Operations Excellence Award for pulling off the herculean task of bringing to life more 35,000 classroom projects in a single day.

Making March 27 the #BestSchoolDay for 28,000 Teachers

On March 27, 2018, Ripple, a San Francisco-based technology company, donated $29 million to fully fund all 35,648 live projects on the site in a single swoop. This was a huge day for teachers, and was also a huge day for our team!

Most days, we see an average of 750 requests funded. Prior to Ripple’s funding, the largest number of projects funded in a single day was 12,272. So the team had to figure out how to massively scale their processes to make this event happen — oh, and they only had three weeks to do it, and had to do it all in total secrecy!

To make #BestSchoolDay happen, we took some pages out of the teacher playbook — relying on the same relentlessness, ingenuity, and flexibility we know that teachers bring into the classroom every day. Here’s a quick peek behind the curtain of how they pulled it off:

Clearing the Queues

Because we purchase and ship resources to teachers after projects are funded, we knew that the weeks following #BestSchoolDay would be wild for our team, so we started prepping as soon as we could. In the weeks leading up to #BestSchoolDay, the team hustled to approve as many projects, answer as many questions, and fulfill as many funded resources as possible so their plates were clear come March 27.

Keeping a Keen Eye on Vendor Inventory

We work with 22 vendors, like Amazon Business, Lakeshore Learning, Best Buy Education, and Staples, through which teachers can shop for their projects. We have close relationships with these vendors and work to get teachers the best deals with the best service. But because #BestSchoolDay had to be top secret, we had to be a little more creative than usual!

Our team figured out how to keep an eye on the inventory of our vendors and compared it to the classroom requests that would be funded on March 27, so that we could be sure that the most popular resources would be in stock when the orders hit on March 28.

Secretly Screening Projects at Top Speed

When a teacher writes their project request, typically it’s reviewed by our expert team of volunteer teacher screeners. We wanted to make sure as many teachers as possible would benefit from Ripple’s donation, but we weren’t able to tell our teacher volunteers why we needed to screen so many project so quickly! Instead, our staff screened more than 1,000 projects in the 24 hours leading up to the big day.

Supporting Teachers & Donors at Scale

We knew that between fulfilling everyone’s projects and welcoming the new teachers and donors learning about our site for the first time through the buzz of the event, we’d likely have a lot of questions to answer! Our Customer Service team did some hefty optimization to be prepared to answer all of those questions, with huge success. In the weeks following #BestSchoolDay, we saw a 74% increase in the number of questions we were receiving, but we were able to reduce the amount of time it took to answer questions or solve problems by more than 14% — all without adding additional staff.

Reaching 1 in 6 Schools in America

Not only did Ripple fund a record-breaking number of projects, but within just a week of the big day, 87% of all projects had been ordered and delivered — that’s 31,151 project requests!

Each day we come to work inspired by the ingenuity, relentlessness, passion, and care we know teachers bring into the classroom every day. Whether we’re working with our friends at Blick to get teachers the best pricing on paint brushes, answering questions on submitting student thank-you notes, or talking to companies like Ripple to unlock more funding for your classroom, we hope to be even 1/10th as awesome as the teachers we serve.

The 15 Books Pre-K Teachers Need Most — Plus a Match from PNC Grow Up Great®!

Books are an essential part of any pre-K or Head Start classroom, helping little learners flex those growing literacy muscles while going on adventures big and small. PNC Grow Up Great® has long supported those adventures and more, with this year marking 15 years of early childhood education support.

Two years ago, PNC helped us expand our platform to all Head Start classrooms, and since then, have supported thousands of classrooms across their markets. This year they’re back to support even more pre-K and Head Start students. Not only are PNC branches hosting in-person book drives, but the PNC Foundation is also matching donations to eligible pre-K and Head Start classroom project requests in areas where PNC operates.

To celebrate 15 years of Grow Up Great and kick off this year’s match offer, we did a little digging in our data to uncover the 15 books that pre-K teachers have requested most this school year.

1. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

This 1963 Caldecott Medal winner brings a winter day in the city to life through beautiful collage illustrations. One of the first children’s books to feature a child of color, The Snowy Day is a perfect addition to a diverse classroom library. As Mrs. Snodgrass says in her request, “Help me give my students books for their classroom library which are culturally relevant to them and allow them to see themselves in the book.”

2. Maybe Something Beautiful by Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Maybe Something Beautiful tells the definitely beautiful true story of the Urban Art Trail in San Diego, California, and shows how art can bring a community together. Ms. Collins in Chicago requested the book to do just that in her classroom: “Exploring issues of community, diversity, and transformation, this book will play off of our current Social-Emotional Learning initiative. With this book specifically we hope to inspire our students to beautify our community through mural work, just like the main character in the book.”

3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Is any pre-K book list complete without The Very Hungry Caterpillar? From days of the week to the cycle of metamorphosis, this book is so packed with things to learn that it’s no wonder it has stayed a classic.

4. I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Saying goodbye to little ones at the end of the year can be hard! “At the end of the year,” writes Ms. Wolf, “I want to give my students something they will have to remember the incredible times we had together in our class.” I Wish You More captures everything we hope for the people we love.

5. Little Mouse Meets Santa by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Claire Schumacher

Teachers like Mrs. J know that literacy thrives when students can read at home as well as in class, and the holidays are the perfect moment to celebrate that idea. In her project for holiday books she writes, “I want to reinforce the love of reading by providing my students with books they can take home and read with their family members.”

6. The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems

Mrs. Sparta puts it best: “Our kids are obsessed with Mo Willems books, but really who isn't.” From Willems's comedic drawings to his memorable characters, it’s no wonder so many teachers get help from Pigeon to make kids giggle while they learn!

7. Our Apple Tree by Görel Kristina Näslund, illustrated by Kristina Digman

This whimsical tale of an apple tree throughout the year shows the seasons and the way nature changes with them, making it the perfect addition to any unit on the outside world around us.

8. Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

A great children’s book can teach so much more than new words. Mrs. Nicholls requests science-focused books lke Leaf Man because they “allow students to build their literacy skills, and engage in science concepts while learning about things they enjoy!

9. The Mitten by Jan Brett

With over 34 million copies sold since it was first published 30 years ago, The Mitten is a winter story time staple. Brett’s intricate illustrations make this a book worth coming back to again and again — you’ll find new details with each read!

10. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean

You might not remember Pete the Cat from your childhood, but he’s quickly becoming a modern classic! Ms. Illuminati shared why she requests books featuring this cool kitty: “They love Pete the Cat because many of the books have a musical aspect to it. They love to sing as I read the story, and Pete the Cat doesn't get frustrated or easily upset, which is a skill I try to teach my students.”

11. How to Read a Story by Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel

The first step to unlocking a love of reading is showing kids how fun reading can be! This step-by-step picture book makes reading stories feel easy and simple for preschoolers, and shows how you can even do it with a friend.

12. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom remains a teacher and student favorite for learning the alphabet. Filled with music and rhythm, there’s a reason we all remember this book (and its beat!) so fondly.

12. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? By Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle

Another classic that we all remember from childhood, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? is the perfect book for helping kids with animal and color identification. It’s a classroom library staple for many, with teachers returning to it year after year.

14. Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street by Lisa Bullard, illustrated
by Joni Oeltjenbruns

“We start our class off by reading a story that relates to our thematic unit or a holiday that is approaching,” says Ms. Lee. Whether it’s Halloween or Valentine’s Day, holiday-themed books are a great way to celebrate in class — without worrying about the sugar rush!

15. The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Natasha Wing and Julie Durrell

Teachers and parents alike know that change and transition can be tough on little ones (and on us grown ups too!). Mrs. Morrison requests The Night Before Kindergarten for her students on their pre-K graduation. She says, “This gives the students and parents an opportunity to bond while reading and having an open discussion about what is to come.“

Feeling inspired? Teachers, find out if you qualify for the PNC Grow Up Great pre-K match and request the books, manipulatives, and other resources your pre-K or Head Start classroom needs.

How the DonorsChoose Terms of Use & Privacy Policy Keep Teachers, Students & Districts Safe

As a 501(c)(3) public charity, our top priority is ensuring that the teachers who use our site and the students they serve are protected.

At DonorsChoose, a 501(c)(3) public charity, our top priority is ensuring that the teachers who use our site and the students they serve are protected. Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are designed to support the specific compliance and accountability needs of public school teachers and districts and are in line with industry best practices.

These documents govern the ways in which teachers, donors, and the general public are expected to use our platform and the content found on our site. All teachers and donors agree to these terms before creating or giving to a project.

Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy cover all aspects of site behavior, and here are a few of the key ways we help keep teachers, students, and school districts safe.

Teacher Terms of Use

Our general Terms of Use contains a Teacher Terms of Use section, outlining which public school teachers are eligible to create classroom project requests, the types of requests they are able to create, guidelines for keeping student privacy intact, and what’s expected of teachers should their project request be fully funded.

FERPA & IDEA Compliance

We know how important it is for districts to stay in compliance with federal laws like FERPA and IDEA. While DonorsChoose is not directly governed by these provisions, we take precautionary steps to help schools and districts remain compliant.

We require teachers teachers follow all laws or institutional and school district policies while using our platform, including FERPA and IDEA. Our policies support these practices; for example, teachers are given guidelines on how to ensure no identifying student information is displayed while creating projects or submitting student thank-you letters, and teachers are required to receive and maintain written permission from parents before submitting any photographs of students to our platform. Read the other ways we protect student privacy.

Materials Ownership Policy

By agreeing to our Terms of Use, teachers also agree to our Materials Ownership Policy. This policy explains that materials received through DonorsChoose should stay in the classroom for which they were purchased, unless the project essay clearly states that materials are for student use or ownership outside of the classroom. Our policy also states that, should a teacher leave their school, materials remain property of the school so that students can continue to benefit from them in future years.

501(c)(3) Status

Since our founding in 2000, DonorsChoose has been a 501(c)(3) charity. Our Terms of Use outlines this and highlights that all donations to teachers through our platform are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Our dedication to efficacy and transparency has earned us the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent charity evaluator, for 13 consecutive years. This achievement is held by fewer than 1% of nonprofits. We include more information about our nonprofit status and financials on our site’s Financials Page.

We encourage you to read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to understand the full scope of DonorsChoose policies that support the needs of school districts and teachers alike.

x

Filter by title keywords:

See resources for: