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Back to School: By the Numbers

Every student deserves a back-to-school season filled with the support they need to thrive. Here’s how our teachers and community are making it happen this year.

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At DonorsChoose, we love that back-to-school feeling. That “new locker to decorate, freshly sharpened pencil, whole year of endless possibilities ahead of you” kind of feeling.

We also know that it’s teachers who are the ones working hard to make that feeling happen every year. That’s why rallying support for our educators’ back-to-school projects is always important to us around here. This year, that support came through in a big way: Over 112,100 teachers received support this year!

By the Classroom

Thanks to $43M from 218,779 individual donors and 205 corporate and foundation partners, the amazing teachers on our site had exactly 108,833 classroom projects fully funded during back-to-school — ranging from calculators to band instruments to library books. Here’s just three of those thousands of classrooms — with words of thanks from the teachers themselves!

Books and Art Supplies for Mrs. Moskal’s Students

“Thank you so very much for the educational books and art supplies to bring our Great Lessons to life! … This year will be better than ever thanks to your generous donation! This really means the world to me and my students.”— Mrs. Moskal, “The Great Lessons” 

Microscopes for Mr. Vinderland’s Kids

HOT DIGGITY DOG! Thank you for fully funding our prepared microscope slide project on DonorsChoose! Your contribution will further understanding and comprehension in my science classroom — and microscopes are just dang cool to use. My students can't wait to use the materials you've helped to provide! We all appreciate you!” — Mr. Vinderland, “Everyone Loves Microscopes!” 

Flexible Seating for Mrs. Schryver’s Class

“Thank you so much for helping to fund my project. My students were so thrilled to hear the news when the email arrived this morning. They are so excited to have a new table to sit at each day. I can barely wait to see their faces when it arrives ready for them. They will be over the moon with excitement.” — Mrs. Schryver, “Kindergarten Table”

By The Numbers

Of course, behind every heartwarming note of gratitude is also real, tangible impact. Don’t just take our word for it either, the numbers from this back-to-school season speak for themselves:  

  • $43M: Total funds from 218,779 total donors for back-to-school projects 
  • $524,390: The back-to-school daily average for donations raised on our site
  • July 28: Our Biggest posting day so far with 7,192 total projects submitted by teachers who need items for their classrooms
  • $62: The average donation given by individual donors during back-to-school season — it adds up so fast!

By Our Partner Power

In addition to the 218,779 supporters from our online donor community who showed up at this time, we also were honored to connect with 205 partners who gave generous match gifts and beyond for back-to-school, including: 

  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who teamed up with our generous community of donors to support nearly 25,000 teachers at over 16,000 schools across the country in one incredible day.
  • SONIC provided a 1.5X match for every single project across the country, up to $1M.
  • 3M fully funded all STEM projects in St. Paul, followed by a 5X match and $200 first donation to STEM projects across St. Paul, North St. Paul, and Maplewood, Minnesota.
  • Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation matched all donations to Equity Focus Schools in Georgetown County, South Carolina.
  • Panda Cares doubled donations to every classroom furniture project for an amazing day of funding, creating countless wonderful learning environments with teachers.

That’s just to name a few big moments, too! Our entire all-star lineup of partners below gave critical funds for local schools and teachers across the country, and we seriously can’t thank them enough!

3M 

Alaska Department of Education & Early Development

Allstate Foundation 

Alpine School District Foundation 

Altice USA

Amazon 

Antioch Schools Education Foundation

Audrey Hillman Fisher Foundation 

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

BJ’s Charitable Foundation 

Bloomingdale’s

Calmenson Foundation

Carter's OshKosh B'gosh

Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies

Charles Schwab

Chevron 

The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation

College Football Playoff Foundation

Colorado Department of Education

Dial Soap

DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation

Edmond Public Schools Foundation

Education Foundation of Sarasota County

Ferrero U.S.A., Inc.  

Fiesta Bowl Charities

Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation 

Gates Ventures

General Motors Corporation

Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

H-E-B Read 3

Home Run Inn 

Horace Mann 

Horace Mann Foundation

Impetus Foundation

INK! (Investing in Kids)

Johnson Ohana Foundation

Mission Tiger

Kickstart 

Kleenex

Lakeshore Learning

LOFT 

The Montgomery Family Fund

National Corn Growers Association 

 The State of Oklahoma

OKCPS Foundation

Olathe Public Schools Foundation

Panda Cares

Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation

Peterson Family 

Quill

Riot Games 

San Antonio ISD Foundation

SDGE 

State Farm Insurance

Subaru Hawai'i

Thea Foundation

Tracy Family Foundation

United Airlines

VanTrust Real Estate

Wawa Inc

….and a few anonymous partners too!

By The Possibilities Ahead: 

More teachers hear about DonorsChoose every single day. And — as teachers get to know their students this year — they are continuing to request the perfect materials to help kids learn and grow. Right now…

  • This back-to-school season 71,363 new DonorsChoose teachers joined DonorsChoose
  • Right now, 3,584 total new teacher projects are submitted every day on average

Pretty tremendous, right? Every student deserves to enter a classroom that has what they need to succeed. And with the support of our amazing teachers and DonorsChoose community behind them, that’s exactly what they’ll have this year.

Want to make this back-to-school season the very best for a classroom in your community? Find teacher projects in your area today.  (If you’re a teacher, you can learn more here.)

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