Teacher Appreciation: Let’s Do This.

In a school year like no other, let’s give thanks (and tangible support!) to the teachers who’ve gone above and beyond for our country’s kids.

DonorsChoose was founded by a history teacher in the Bronx and over the last 20 years has become the nonprofit classroom funding site for public school teachers (see our impact). That means we do Teacher Appreciation Week like it’s every other holiday combined. And this year, we’re going all out. 

Throughout the week, you’ll see matched donations and other surprises that make it easy for citizen donors to support our public schools. (Citizen donor support means the world to educators and kids!) Check out the calendar below to see what we’re up to this week and how to participate.

Monday, May 3

Surprise! Starting at 7am ET, our friends at Ford are doubling donations to projects at schools where nearly all students receive free-and-reduced-priced lunch. This match will last until $500,000 in matching funds are unlocked. See matched projects. (Missed the match? Don’t worry — there’s more where that came from this week!)

Double surprise! We unleashed our inner poets and wrote poems for all the teachers who use our site. Here’s just one.

Tuesday, May 4

Starting at 7am ET, SONIC Drive-In is donating $1.5 million to 50% match donations to every project on DonorsChoose — and it’s going to move fast. (Are you a teacher? Get the details.)

Wednesday, May 5

Woah! Our friends at Google.org are bringing racial equity front and center! On Wednesday, up to $500,000, Google will be doubling donations to projects from teachers of color and any teacher requesting resources reflecting their students’ identities. Plus, male teachers of color will receive tripled donations! Get all the details.

Double woah! Here’s a special message from our staff for teachers. Take a look!

Thursday, May 6

Yes! In memory Anton Schulzki, his high school history teacher, Craig Newmark (friend to teachers everywhere and craigslist founder!) just gave a $25 gift to 40,000 DonorsChoose teachers — that's every teacher with a current project on our site and then some! (You can find more details here.)

Here’s why he’s giving this (huge!) gift.

Friday, May 7

High five! To help as many teachers as possible receive a donation this week, donors can use the code FRIDAY on the project of their choice. When they enter the code at checkout, we’ll top-off their donation with an extra $5 gift! (Get the details here.) Ready to give now? Pick the teacher you’re going to high-five with your Friday gift!

In addition to the promotional code above, our partners have stepped up for teachers in a big way today with a few surprise flash fundings to finish the week strong!

• Our friends Biz and Livia Stone just brought to life more than 200 projects from teachers who’ve never before had a funded DonorsChoose project.
• A friend of Hawai’i teachers fully funded all 223 projects from Hawai’i today! Plus, they’ve just launched a match offer tripling donations to projects from Hawai’i educators.
• College Football Playoff Foundation and the Big 12 Conference are huge fans of teachers. They funded 26 projects that support racial equity in Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Kansas.
• Rothy’s fully funded 44 projects in cities where their stores are located. Lookin’ at you, New York, San Francisco, LA, Boston, and D.C.!
• Curry Brand teamed up with Eat. Learn. Play., led by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, to make sure teachers in Oakland, CA and Charlotte, NC had an amazing end to their week. The organizations donated to bring 124 literacy and sports projects to life!
• SONIC Drive-In capped off the week in a big way, fully-funding 568 projects hand selected by their team. Woah!

Teachers and students are working harder than ever right now, and they deserve our support. What a wonderful appreciation celebration it’s been!