Fundraising Success through DonorsChoose
By: Nancy Lee, TK teacher at Allendale Elementary, Oakland Unified School District
July 22, 2020
This year I have been especially successful with getting projects funded through DonorsChoose, with very little effort from myself. If you’re a teacher looking for a way to fund something for your class, DonorsChoose is an easy, simple way to do it, and here’s why:
- It’s Fast and Easy – The application typically takes less than an hour. Most of my projects have been fully funded within a month or two, and some have been fully funded in less than two weeks. Once your project has been funded and you confirm you still need the items, they typically arrive within a month, and often much sooner.
- Great Support – DonorsChoose works for and with you. They will automatically send out e-mails on your behalf to people who have previously donated to your project to encourage them to donate again. I have also had excellent customer service by DonorsChoose for over ten years.
- Funding Matches – Lots of big name companies (e.g., Google, Salesforce, Chan Zuckerberg) will match donations, fulfilling your project faster.
- Monthly Personal Funding Option – There’s an option for people to give to your DonorsChoose account monthly.
- Programs They Like to Fund – You can apply for funding from DonorsChoose for professional development and field trips now too! Funders seem to like STEM or STEAM projects in particular.
Some tips:
- You can cut and paste your class description for each of your projects so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
- Be sure to calendar your due dates for thank you notes. If you realize you’re going to be late before the deadline, you can request an extension online and get your date pushed forward. If you miss your deadline, they may not let you apply for funding for a year. That happened to a friend of mine.
- Smaller projects tend to get funded quicker. If you have a project that you can break down into small parts, each part may get funded more quickly. The downside to this method is that you may have to write more than one thank you.
Example of Recent Success
On July 3, I posted a project for magnetic letters and math manipulatives for my students to use at home during Distance Learning. The project was fully funded by July 7 with donations from 6 donors plus matching donations from Salesforce. That may have been the fastest I’ve ever gotten a project funded. I knew one of the donors but the rest were from people I don’t know. The original thank you due date was in November but I requested it be extended to December 17 since I’m not sure when we will return to school. The due date extension was granted via an e-mail from me within a day. Each time you get a project funded, you earn points. You use these points to submit future projects. The more points you have, the more projects you can submit
Additional Suggestions from CRS
- DonorsChoose How to Create a Project Guide and DonorsChoose Gettign Started Video
- Add a few additional tools or items to your shopping list that you can use in all kinds of units as long as it doesn’t make the total project cost too high.
- Add a book or two to your list.
- Add general science tools like notebooks, or thermometers or handlenses to your list. See the CRS list of General Science Tools for more ideas. These things make a good science at home kit for distance learning.
- Add some items from the CRS Engineeing Lesson Tool Kit.
- DonorsChoose posts your poject to the web, but YOU need to get the word out to EVERYONE you know. Many of your friends and family would love to help you and your students, but don’t know what you need.
- Add your project link to your email signature. “Check out my classroom projects! www.donorschoose.org/yourprojecturl” Parents, colleagues, friends and family can see what you needs in your classroom.
- Share your project on your social media accounts like facebook and twitter.
- The PTA wants to know what you need in your classroom. Share your link with them. Let everyone know about your projects!