If you haven’t checked out DonorsChoose.org yet, you MUST! It’s truly an amazing organization that helps teachers raise funds for special project that aren’t covered by school budgets, such as extra field trips, certain classroom supplies, or special projects. It’s really an amazing example of peer to peer philanthropy, which seems to be a growing trend these days.
Charles Best, the visionary behind DonorsChoose.org, is inspiring to say the least, but also just likes to have FUN! He was a social studies teacher for about 5 years, and saw first hand how he and other teachers had amazing ideas and projects for their students, but unfortunately their allotted budgets simply wouldn’t cover the costs. Thus, the idea of DonorsChoose.org was conceived. It’s amazing how you can use the search function to find projects that are important to you. Whether you’re passionate about sports, a certain subject, arts and crafts, or any number of additional topics, there are projects YOU can directly help.
And the trend is growing. Since it’s inception, DonorsChoose.org has helped teachers raise over $20 million which has directly positively effected over 1 million students, and the number continues to grow. I think it’s amazing to be able to donate to a specific classroom project that you care about, and then see the direct result of that donation through pictures and thank you letters from the students.
I also like how Charles worked on DonorsChoose.org while he was still teaching. This enabled him to maintain a steady income, and then when the time was right, he transitioned out of the classroom and into DonorsChoose.org full time. There are tons of projects that need support in every state, so I highly suggest you check them out!
This is a great program and another resource for teachers is Adopt-A-Classroom. This is a nonprofit that helps teachers harness support of people in their community and network to raise funds for classroom supplies. Through http://www.adoptaclassroom.org, anyone in the US can adopt a classroom.
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