How to Get Your DonorsChoose Project Fully Funded

Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick blog post about the amazing website and community at www.donorschoose.org. I have had one project fully funded, and another project under review for a foundation match that, if approved, will be fully funded!

Here is how I have been successful on DonorsChoose:

1. Look for a Match
2. Crowdsourcing
3. Webinars and Surveys

Matches:

For the first DonorsChoose project I created, I was able to use the incentive that DonorsChoose applies to all first-time projects: code LIFTOFF. This code would DOUBLE every donation to your project! My first project was fully funded in one day; that was before it was even approved by the website! The LIFTOFF code is such a generous and helpful way for creators of first-time projects to succeed and have their project fully funded.

For the second DonorsChoose project I created, the first thing I did when I opened the website was to look for a matching offer. There are so many amazing companies and foundations that work with DonorsChoose to help teachers fund classroom projects to help their students succeed. There are different offers for teachers in different states, so make sure you have chosen the right location when looking for a match. When I looked a month ago for Connecticut, there weren’t any matches that I could apply for. Some are content-based and others are based on student demographic. I applied for one based on student demographic. I had previously completed steps in order to apply for this match, which I will explain in the Webinars and Surveys portion.

If I am approved for the match from the foundation for which I applied, all of my donations will be doubled – which means the $185 that has been donated will become $370! – and my project will be MORE THAN fully funded! (Currently my project goal is $286.) I have not yet experienced a surplus of funds donated for a project, so unfortunately I do not know what would happen to that “extra” money. I would love to be able to donate it to another classroom in need on DonorsChoose, or possibly save it for another project if it is not possible to donate.

Crowdsourcing

My DonorsChoose account has access to post directly to my Facebook account, which I conveniently forgot about when I submitted my second project to DonorsChoose. The link to Facebook automatically shares your project with all of your Facebook friends, allowing them to see the project, photos, and goal. This worked out in my favor, as I had donations from 3 Facebook friends come on the first day! I don’t typically share information about my school or teaching on my personal Facebook account, so when I do share things, my friends know to take it seriously. I did have overlap from my first project to my second in the people who donated. I am lucky to have some amazing people in my life who know me, some who know my students, and they know how dedicated I am to those students and how passionate I am about helping them succeed. I appreciate the donations more than they know!

Webinars and Surveys

After completing the first DonorsChoose project, I received emails from the website inquiring about my interest in surveys. In return, I would receive gift certificates for the website that I could use on my own projects or on another teacher’s project. I took the opportunity to take the first survey and received a code for a $50 certificate, that I then donated to a project of a former colleague. I received another email from DonorsChoose, including a link to a webinar and a Google Form survey to take when the webinar was over. In return, I received a $100 certificate code. I applied this code to my own project, which helped boost the amount of prefunding for my project.

If DonorsChoose sent me another email about earning gift certificate codes, I would take every survey and watch every webinar. I would love to be able to give back to other teachers who are trying to help their students succeed in this tough economy with budget cuts. Our budget this year is very tight. The school will pay for supplies, like those on my current DonorsChoose project, if I put them on my regular classroom order (which is submitted this month and arrives in August), so I couldn’t put in for them now to be paid by the school. I can’t afford to spend my own money on them halfway through the school year. I hate that education is cut so often and so much. Our district has one school, so costs can’t be absorbed by another school in the district- we are the district. I know so many teachers are struggling with paying for supplies out of their own pockets, and I love that DonorsChoose allows us to help our students without spending our own money to do so.

My Project: Solving The Westing Game

I have submitted a project to receive 35 copies of the novel The Westing Game. The class set of novels would be an engaging novel for reluctant and disengaged readers. Some of my 8th grade students are consistently attending fewer than 85% of school days, and a new, exciting unit with personal accountability, as well as group liability in their summative assessment, will be an enticing activity and add personal ownership of learning for these students.

I am hoping to conclude the novel study with an escape room for all of the students to solve, both with individual tasks as well as partner and whole group tasks, as in the novel. I have done these activities in the past, and have 100% student engagement with these activities. In order to be able to create this assessment, I will need to first teach the novel, which is where this project comes in.

I will link my project below, and if you feel so inclined to donate, my students write the best thank you notes! https://www.donorschoose.org/project/solving-the-westing-game/3018697

Your Project

Please leave me a comment with your project link if you decide to submit a request. I would love to check it out and donate if I can!

Good luck with your DonorsChoose project! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!

Best,

Megan