DonorsChoose
Encyclopedia
DonorsChoose.org is a United States
based nonprofit organization
that provides a way for people to donate directly to specific projects at public schools (sometimes known as peer-to-peer
philanthropy).
DonorsChoose.org was started in 2000 by Charles Best, a teacher at a public high school in the Bronx. Since then, it has grown to serve all the public schools throughout the United States. As of August 2011, more than $86 million dollars had been donated to over 210,000 projects, helping more than 5,150,000 students in need.
The organization collects proposals from teachers and makes them available to public schools through its website. Individual donors can select projects and contribute as much as they are prepared to. DonorsChoose.org then purchases necessary supplies and provides them to the schools, and generates a line-item budget which is sent to the donor. In addition, donors who contribute $100 or more to a project, or who complete the funding for a project, also receive a "thank-you package" of thank-you notes from students, photographs of the project, and a letter from the teacher.
DonorsChoose.org is supported by fulfillment costs optionally added to each donation, as well as private funding sources, such as Omidyar Network
.
DonorsChoose.org appeared in a Doonesbury
strip on September 9, 2007. It was also mentioned in an interview with Craig Newmark
on the October 18, 2007 episode of the Colbert Report, and again on March 19, 2008 and September 27, 2011.
Only "front-line educators" at public schools in the United States who have a part in implementing the grant may register and apply for a grant.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that provides a way for people to donate directly to specific projects at public schools (sometimes known as peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (meme)
Peer-to-peer is not restricted to technology, but covers every social process with a peer-to-peer dynamic, whether these peers are humans or computers. Peer-to-peer as a term originated from the popular concept of P2P distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between...
philanthropy).
DonorsChoose.org was started in 2000 by Charles Best, a teacher at a public high school in the Bronx. Since then, it has grown to serve all the public schools throughout the United States. As of August 2011, more than $86 million dollars had been donated to over 210,000 projects, helping more than 5,150,000 students in need.
The organization collects proposals from teachers and makes them available to public schools through its website. Individual donors can select projects and contribute as much as they are prepared to. DonorsChoose.org then purchases necessary supplies and provides them to the schools, and generates a line-item budget which is sent to the donor. In addition, donors who contribute $100 or more to a project, or who complete the funding for a project, also receive a "thank-you package" of thank-you notes from students, photographs of the project, and a letter from the teacher.
DonorsChoose.org is supported by fulfillment costs optionally added to each donation, as well as private funding sources, such as Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthrocapitalist investment firm established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $290 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual...
.
DonorsChoose.org appeared in a Doonesbury
Doonesbury
Doonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
strip on September 9, 2007. It was also mentioned in an interview with Craig Newmark
Craig Newmark
Craig Alexander Newmark is an Internet entrepreneur best known for being the founder of the San Francisco-based international website Craigslist.-Biography:...
on the October 18, 2007 episode of the Colbert Report, and again on March 19, 2008 and September 27, 2011.
Eligible Schools
DonorsChoose.org is open to select schools.| Yes | No |
|---|---|
| Traditional public schools | Private schools or parochial schools |
| Public charter schools | Home school |
| GED (adult ed) programs run by public school system | Adult education (albeit pre-collegiate) run by university system |
| Pre-K programs directly run by public school system | Head start or other early intervention programs run by other governmental agencies or private contractors |
| Alternative schools run by the larger public school system (ex: school serving prison inmates, public boarding school) | |
| Federal- or state-run public schools (incl. Department of Defense K-12 schools) |
Eligible Requestors
To request a grant for a classroom, there are certain eligibility requirements.| Yes | No |
|---|---|
| Public school teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, school nurses and full-time teachers who also act as coaches | Private school teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, school nurses and full-time teachers who also act as coaches |
| Public or Private school principals, administrators, PTA/PTO members, teachers' assistants, student teachers, substitutes, part-time after-school teachers, or staff developers |
Only "front-line educators" at public schools in the United States who have a part in implementing the grant may register and apply for a grant.
Awards
DonorsChoose.org has won several awards for its work, such as:- 2008 Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award
- 2007 TechCrunch Crunchies, "Most likely to make the world a better place"
- 2007 Time Magazine 50 Best Websites 2007
- 2007 Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award
- 2005 Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award
- 2005 BusinessWeek Best of the Web
- 2004 Tech Museum Global Technology Laureate and Microsoft Education Award
External links
- DonorsChoose.org website
- CharityNavigator analysis of DonorsChoose.org
- Business Week (2005). "School Aid: It Takes A Web Site", 26 September 2005
- Lewin, Tamar: The New York Times (2005). "Building Better Schools, One Glue Stick at a Time." 14 November, 2005.
- Steel, Emily: Wall Street Journal (2006). "Novel Program Blends Charity And Marketing." 20 December, 2006.
- Schoolkids Get What Donors Choose
- GrayMatter, a student-oriented nonprofit modeled after DonorsChoose