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Between July 30 and August 2, 2009, all Gap brands (Old Navy, Banana Republic, etc.) will offer customers the chance to make a difference in public schools – just by going shopping!

You can print and use this DonorsChoose.org shopping coupon to receive a 30% discount on in-store purchases made at Gap companies’ stores. After you shop, 5% of your total purchase amount will automatically go back to support students in classrooms on DonorsChoose.org.

Share the DonorsChoose.org shopping coupon with your family and friends to get both 30% off at Gap stores AND benefit DonorsChoose.org!

Happy shopping!

Position Overview:  The West Region Director will take an active role in expanding DonorsChoose.org across a 14-state region.  S/he is responsible for cultivating new and existing individual, corporate, and foundation supporters, as well as developing and executing strategies for district outreach and teacher engagement.  Reporting directly to the West Region Vice President, the Director position is a unique opportunity to be a part of an innovative, fun, high-profile, and rapidly growing organization that is changing the face of philanthropy and the lives of students from low income families.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

•    In partnership with the Vice President, develop and implement a regional strategy for engaging corporate and foundation partners through DonorsChoose.org managed giving programs
•    Prospect, cultivate, execute, and evaluate corporate partnerships to score branded marketing campaigns ensuring the highest levels of customer service
•    Identify, cultivate and solicit high net worth individual donors via in-person meetings and/or events
•    Independently structure, analyze and manipulate DonorsChoose.org data for grants, media requests, reports etc.
•    Continuously track all contacts, leads, notes, and funding opportunities in our CRM database,  SalesForce.com
•    Collaborate across regional and national teams to share best practices and inform the systems andprocesses that will influence the future of DonorsChoose.org

Qualifications:
•    A minimum of 3, with 5 or more preferred years of fundraising, marketing, sales and/or management experience with demonstrated success reaching or exceeding aggressive goals; familiarity with the philanthropic landscape in Seattle and San Francisco is strongly preferred
•    Team player with a strong passion for the mission and vision of DonorsChoose.org
•    Comfortable with a wide range of tasks ranging from strategic planning to tactical execution and implementation
•    Entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to work in a self-directed environment required
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills and strong customer-service orientation
•    Detail-oriented and organized, with the ability to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously
•    Desire to work in a fast-paced, startup-like environment with aggressive growth plans
•    Travel (up to 50%) is required
•    Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; advanced degree preferred

Compensation: DonorsChoose.org offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits, which include health, dental, and vision coverage; a non-contributing 401K plan; and 5 weeks paid vacation plus national holidays.

To Apply: Please email a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, both in Word format.  Address application to Carolina Martín and submit to carolina(at)donorschoose(dot)org and feinberg(at)glocap(dot)com with the subject line “West Director Position.”

In the past year alone, the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation has provided more than 11,000 high-need South Carolina students with musical and other resources to enhance their education through DonorsChoose.org.

Hootie & the Blowfish is again showing support for students in their home state, by asking you to fund classroom requests from South Carolina’s high-poverty schools along the I-95 corridor. You may remember that President Obama turned America’s attention to just one of these schools, J.V. Martin Junior High School in Dillon County, S.C., during his first State of the Union speech.

The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation will fund 50% of eligible projects if someone like you provides the remainder. By completing this project, you will double the impact of your donation. Learn how this Double Your Impact grant works.

See all eligible projects.

About The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation

The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, established in 2000, is a private non-profit organization that was created in conjunction with the Hootie and the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Golf Tournament and benefits children of South Carolina through education and supporting school music programs nationwide.

Throughout their career, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, and Jim Sonefeld have stayed true to their roots and worked hard to give something back to the community that has always supported them. By establishing a fund with the Central Carolina Community Foundation, Hootie and the Blowfish is creating an opportunity for grants to benefit the education of South Carolina’s children of today, and well into the future.

For all projects fully funded in the 2009-2010 school year, teachers will be required to submit classroom photos digitally through their teacher accounts.  We’ll update this blog space regularly with new information and tips for teachers who are making the transition to digital photos.

WHY MAKE THIS CHANGE?

By relying on digital photo submissions for 100% of projects, we’re ensuring that we can continue to serve teachers and donors effectively. Here’s how:

• We’re aiming for a 30% annual increase in the number of fully funded projects.  That would be great news!  But it means we’ll need to process that many more Thank-You Packages for our teachers and donors.  When teachers upload their own photos, it saves us about 1 minute per project—that translates to  921 hours of staff time in the 2009-2010 school year alone which can be redirected to other efforts that further our mission.

• Going 100% digital will save us $3.5 million over the next 5 years—money that will be used to support more classroom projects and help make our organization sustainable.

• With digital photo submission, all donors who fund a project – regardless of their donation amount – can view photos of the project in action.

WHAT IF I’M A TEACHER AND I’VE ONLY SUBMITTED NON-DIGITAL PHOTOS?

For all projects fully funded in the new school year, you’ll no longer receive a Thank-You Kit from DonorsChoose.org. Your Thank-You Instructions will be available online, through your account page. On the Thank-You Instructions page for each project, you’ll be able to:

1. Write your impact letter online;
2. Digitally upload classroom photos of your students using the donated resources;
3. View instructions to have your students write letters, and access a printable pre-paid mailing label to send us your student letters.

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND TIPS TO MANAGE THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL PHOTOS!

DonorsChoose.org founder and CEO Charles Best is headed to St. Louis!  Next week, Charles will help Build-A-Bear Workshop honor 12 young people from across the country and Canada who have been selected as “Huggable Heroes” for their outstanding community service projects.  You can learn more about the Huggable Heroes here.

Charles will address this year’s award winners on Thursday, July 23, and on Friday he will participate in a service project at an elementary school in downtown St. Louis that has benefitted from using DonorsChoose.org.  DonorsChoose.org is excited to help Build-A-Bear Workshop celebrate these inspiring and successful young humanitarians!