What do you need for your students? Technology? Flexible seating options? Classroom library books? Supplies? Recess equipment?
Since 2013, I have been fortunate enough to fund 64 projects, totaling over $29,000.00 worth of resources for my students by using DonorsChoose, a nonprofit site that connects teachers to a nationwide community of classroom supporters.
I have helped many teachers in the past and I would love to help you! If you’re interested, here’s how we can get started:
1) Create an account on DonorsChoose using my personal link http://share.donorschoose.org/nhVHL and reach out to me to help you start your first project.
2) Submit your first request. Once you do, you’ll get a special promo code to double donations made during your request’s first week on the site! Share you project with me, and I will also donate to your project!
Reach out to me if you need any help!
Here are some DonorsChoose tips:
1. When you are in the writing stage, please check the match section of DonorsChoose FIRST! A music teacher probably won't be able to find a match for instruments necessarily, but you can craft an essay to meet the guidelines of many matches that aren’t musical; science, STEAM, literacy, etc. to get instruments. Keep a list of items you need and then when a match comes along, go for it. Those matches are listed here. www.donorschoose.org/match-offers
2. Data proves that projects under $500 have a high chance of getting funded. If you want resources that cost more than that, break it up into 2 or 3 project
3. Classroom photo and title-while it isn’t a hard and fast rule, a GREAT classroom photo and clever/catchy/interesting title can certainly catch the eye of a random donor.
4. Contact your school community through email, Facebook groups, PTA, etc. Even if your parents/school community can’t afford to donate, ask them to SHARE the information to get the word out. One large donation or several small ones will be worth it. One teacher got her PTA to donate during a matching money opportunity and it helped immensely.
5. Giving Pages-DonorsChoose allows people to create giving pages. The admin chooses projects to put on that page and helps promote your project. You can get on a giving page by competing in contests or being a loyal supporter or sometimes just by luck! My personal favorite Giving Page is Kindness Rocks. If your project gets picked to be posted on their page, they guarantee funding. You can find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/KRocksPage
To link to Kindness Rocks is so simple, you just copy and paste your DonorsChoose project link, and delete everything after ? and replace it with this: challengeid=21606976
They have done so much for me! I LOVE THEM!
6. Make your project page name shorter by converting it to a bit.ly link. This has two benefits to me. First, Twitter has a character limit, if your project link is shorter you can add more hashtags to get more views and possible retweets. Second, you can track your best bang for the buck! Are you getting more clicks from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, or NextDoor? It will help you by showing you where your clicks are coming from, it will even show you if you are getting clicks from outside of the US! https://app.bitly.com
7. Friends & Family-while some people are hesitant to involve friends and family, I think many teachers are pleasantly surprised at how much people want to help. If I post on Facebook I figure it’s like anything else, if they don’t want to help, they can just scroll right on by.
8. Twitter helps in a couple of ways. You can follow other DC teachers to get help and great ideas. If you tweet about your project, other teachers will retweet to reach more people. When you tweet, add a pertinent hashtag. i.e. You want books so you use #HarryPotter or #reading or #literacy. This helps reach people who are searching those hashtags. Also, some other good ones are #kindness #payitforward #DonorsChoose Here is the complete guide to Twitter hashtags for education: www.teachthought.com/twitter-hashtags-for-teacher/
9. Have you joined the Nextdoor community? This is a great way to promote your projects. Be aware of solicitation rules and perhaps craft your request as supporting a neighborhood school rather than funding YOUR project. nextdoor.com
10. Facebook DonorsChoose Community Pages-get in some of the DonorsChoose teacher pages for updates on great matches, additional funding ideas, and general support. This is the main one, but there are more! www.facebook.com/groups/487597608117031/
11. Thanking Donors-many random donors will follow your teacher page because you have written great thank you notes and they feel connected to your classroom. Promptly and sincerely thank after every donation given to your project. Make your final thank you letter exceptional.
12. Give to your own project-MANY teachers donate to their own projects because it sends a message that they care AND it counts in your donor count. I give to all of my own projects! Give what you have, even if it's just a couple bucks! See below post about trading #13. If you have $20 to give to yourself, I would recommend giving your own project some, and then seeking out trades.
13. The more unique donors you have, the greater chance you have of ending up on the first page of the DC website where projects are posted. Most all projects on the first page get funded by random people who are just dropping by DC to donate. Ask your students' families to donate $1, your close friends... anyone!
14. Trading Pages- You can trade donations with other members. Remember 20 $1 donations are more valuable than one $20 donation. The more donors you have, the greater chance you have of ending up on the first page of the DC website where projects are posted. There are many, but here is my favorite: www.facebook.com/groups/261430067343822/
15. Join Reach Out for Schools! Reach Out for Schools is a huge supporter of DonorsChoose. I recommend joining, and after joining, contact them. Thank them for being awesome, and share your project with them. I joined for three years, $25, and they donated $300 to one of my projects. I was so thankful!
http://www.reachoutforschools.org
2. Data proves that projects under $500 have a high chance of getting funded. If you want resources that cost more than that, break it up into 2 or 3 project
3. Classroom photo and title-while it isn’t a hard and fast rule, a GREAT classroom photo and clever/catchy/interesting title can certainly catch the eye of a random donor.
4. Contact your school community through email, Facebook groups, PTA, etc. Even if your parents/school community can’t afford to donate, ask them to SHARE the information to get the word out. One large donation or several small ones will be worth it. One teacher got her PTA to donate during a matching money opportunity and it helped immensely.
5. Giving Pages-DonorsChoose allows people to create giving pages. The admin chooses projects to put on that page and helps promote your project. You can get on a giving page by competing in contests or being a loyal supporter or sometimes just by luck! My personal favorite Giving Page is Kindness Rocks. If your project gets picked to be posted on their page, they guarantee funding. You can find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/KRocksPage
To link to Kindness Rocks is so simple, you just copy and paste your DonorsChoose project link, and delete everything after ? and replace it with this: challengeid=21606976
They have done so much for me! I LOVE THEM!
6. Make your project page name shorter by converting it to a bit.ly link. This has two benefits to me. First, Twitter has a character limit, if your project link is shorter you can add more hashtags to get more views and possible retweets. Second, you can track your best bang for the buck! Are you getting more clicks from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, or NextDoor? It will help you by showing you where your clicks are coming from, it will even show you if you are getting clicks from outside of the US! https://app.bitly.com
7. Friends & Family-while some people are hesitant to involve friends and family, I think many teachers are pleasantly surprised at how much people want to help. If I post on Facebook I figure it’s like anything else, if they don’t want to help, they can just scroll right on by.
8. Twitter helps in a couple of ways. You can follow other DC teachers to get help and great ideas. If you tweet about your project, other teachers will retweet to reach more people. When you tweet, add a pertinent hashtag. i.e. You want books so you use #HarryPotter or #reading or #literacy. This helps reach people who are searching those hashtags. Also, some other good ones are #kindness #payitforward #DonorsChoose Here is the complete guide to Twitter hashtags for education: www.teachthought.com/twitter-hashtags-for-teacher/
9. Have you joined the Nextdoor community? This is a great way to promote your projects. Be aware of solicitation rules and perhaps craft your request as supporting a neighborhood school rather than funding YOUR project. nextdoor.com
10. Facebook DonorsChoose Community Pages-get in some of the DonorsChoose teacher pages for updates on great matches, additional funding ideas, and general support. This is the main one, but there are more! www.facebook.com/groups/487597608117031/
11. Thanking Donors-many random donors will follow your teacher page because you have written great thank you notes and they feel connected to your classroom. Promptly and sincerely thank after every donation given to your project. Make your final thank you letter exceptional.
12. Give to your own project-MANY teachers donate to their own projects because it sends a message that they care AND it counts in your donor count. I give to all of my own projects! Give what you have, even if it's just a couple bucks! See below post about trading #13. If you have $20 to give to yourself, I would recommend giving your own project some, and then seeking out trades.
13. The more unique donors you have, the greater chance you have of ending up on the first page of the DC website where projects are posted. Most all projects on the first page get funded by random people who are just dropping by DC to donate. Ask your students' families to donate $1, your close friends... anyone!
14. Trading Pages- You can trade donations with other members. Remember 20 $1 donations are more valuable than one $20 donation. The more donors you have, the greater chance you have of ending up on the first page of the DC website where projects are posted. There are many, but here is my favorite: www.facebook.com/groups/261430067343822/
15. Join Reach Out for Schools! Reach Out for Schools is a huge supporter of DonorsChoose. I recommend joining, and after joining, contact them. Thank them for being awesome, and share your project with them. I joined for three years, $25, and they donated $300 to one of my projects. I was so thankful!
http://www.reachoutforschools.org
Introduction to DonorsChoose
| intro_to_donorschoose.org_flyer_.pdf |
Below is a quick powerpoint to help you get started!
| teacher_outreach_presentation.pptx |
