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Posted by Candice on
Monday,
April 11, 2011 at 12:13pm
As you have no doubt heard by now, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon had a hilarious showdown all in the name of supporting teachers and students. It all started with Stephen Colbert auctioning off his self-portrait for $26,000, which will bring art projects to life. Then, Jimmy Fallon got in on the fun, raising another $26,000 for public school projects on DonorsChoose.org. To learn more, check out this blog post.
Now, longtime DonorsChoose.org supporter Craig Newmark, of Craigslist, is getting in on the action by kicking in his own $26,000 for school projects supporting students of military parents. In his own words, “I figure that a lot of military families send their kids to schools that could really use a hand, not only for classroom projects, but even basic supplies. DonorsChoose.org helps out, where a teacher can list projects and the funding they need to proceed, and provides serious accountability per project … The folks at DonorsChoose.org have located a bunch of schools that serve large numbers of the kids of military families, and about fifty thousand dollars worth of projects.”
On behalf of all of the teachers and students who will benefit, thanks so much to Craig Newmark for following in the generous footsteps of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon, and helping to bring projects to life!
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Posted by allyson on
Friday,
December 17, 2010 at 7:36pm
When we moved into our new office space this year, our stellar vendor Quill was kind enough to donate whiteboards for all of our conference rooms, as well as many shared workspaces. We get so much more done because of them! :)
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Posted by allyson on
Wednesday,
December 15, 2010 at 7:13pm
In April, we moved offices and needed some awesome furniture for our new space. HUGE thanks to Crate and Barrel and CB2 for coming to our rescue with a generous donation of office furniture! Please see the before and after photos below to see what a tremendous difference their donations have made.
A special shout out to the wonderful Vance Williams, Mikel Welch, and Vicky Williams for all of their help designing, hanging, and securing donations. You guys ROCK!
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Posted by Dan on
Wednesday,
October 20, 2010 at 10:00am
The celebration of our Tenth Anniversary continues! The incredible family behind the education publisher, Townsend Press, generously donated a whopping $1 million to bring select classroom projects requesting books, “Almost Home”.
You may know Townsend Press as the folks behind the acclaimed Bluford Series and the new King School Series. Their compelling library of paperbacks are sold at the nonprofit price of only $1 because they are committed to helping students achieve the reading and language skills needed for success—in the classroom and beyond. In addition, they may be the nicest people with whom we have ever spoken :-)
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Posted by Alex on
Thursday,
September 9, 2010 at 2:31pm
Literacy expands student knowledge!
And helps you grow from pre-K to college.
- Grover, Sesame Street
DonorsChoose.org was invited to attend the International Literacy Day Symposium held September 8 at UN Headquarters where leading educators and policy makers discussed partnerships and best practices for achieving universal literacy. Keynote speakers included Honorary UN Ambassador Laura Bush; Jacob Atem, Founder of Southern Sudan Health Care and former “Lost Boy of Sudan”; and Gary Knell, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop who brought along Grover from Sesame Street!
Panelists discussed how teachers and educators are currently working together and integrating technology to advance basic reading skills, in addition to childhood development of social media and emotional literacy. “We are here to share stories of hope, faith, and commitment to improving literacy for all children, no matter where they grow up,” said CBS news correspondent Byron Pitts. Pitts moderated the session and shared his inspirational story of finally learning to read at age 12 after years of being “functionally illiterate.”
DonorsChoose.org currently lists over 6,000 requests for classroom literacy projects in search of funding. Thanks to the generous support from our donors, last year we provided over 300,000 books to students nationwide. Here are just a few of the great titles that students are reading right now:
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Coming of Age in America: A Multicultural Anthology, Mary Frosch
Dinosaurs!, Gail Gibbons
Tears of a Tiger, Sharon M. Draper
Cupcake Tycoon, Matt and Jennifer Holm
If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King, by Ellen Levine & Anna Rich
Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself, Kathleen Reilly
One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math!, Eric & Natalie Yoder
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Posted by Dan on
Friday,
March 26, 2010 at 3:00am
We all love our vitamin D, but there’s so much more than sunshine to be happy about this week.
Since Tuesday, our pals at the Pershing Square Foundation have been planting seeds throughout the site – funding art, music, health, and sports projects down to just $98 in honor of Spring. Our ever-reliable (and exceedingly generous) citizen philanthropists then got them blooming in no time. In just three days, over 700 donors completed 681 projects.
Now, though this opportunity has ended, there are still many great match offers available, and a boatload of projects needing less than $100 to complete. Have at ‘em.
Thanks again to the Pershing Square Foundation, and to every citizen philanthropist that helped make this celebration of Spring a supreme success!
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Posted by Dan on
Thursday,
March 25, 2010 at 11:43am
Huge thanks to our friends at Reprise Media for volunteering their time in our NY office yesterday! They’re leaders in the search marketing field, helping the world’s largest brands increase their revenue and site traffic.
They worked vigorously yesterday, helping us screen and process thank you packages from classrooms while jamming out to a mix CD created just for our volunteers!
Thanks, Reprise Media, for your time and great energy! Come back and visit anytime.
If your company might be interested in volunteering at our NYC office, and enjoying that sweet mix-CD, email Dan: dan (at) DonorsChoose (dot) org. (Appreciation for / ability-to-tolerate Lady Gaga strongly recommended.)
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Posted by Jonathan on
Tuesday,
February 23, 2010 at 12:57pm
Three years ago, Ariba and DonorsChoose.org embarked on a unique partnership to use spend management technology to help DonorsChoose.org expand nationally and serve millions of students from low-income families. Now, over 60 men from Ariba are using their upper lips to help even more kids.
DonorsChoose.org uses Ariba’s software to manage the procurement of the materials teachers request, from sourcing and ordering through invoicing and payment. But last February, Ariba took the partnership to a new level, when some staff bravely sprouted sweet mustaches for four weeks to raise cash for schools. Going stache-to-stache with titans of industry, these growers made Ariba the top fundraising company of 2009.
This February, Ariba growers aim to beat their performance and are now over halfway through their facial hair marathon for kids. To show your support, visit Ariba’s hair-raising Giving Page today. Besides helping kids, you’ll get to see the fuzzy faces of folks at the company behind the procurement process that helps bring classroom projects to life.
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Posted by Dan on
Friday,
February 12, 2010 at 1:45pm
Yesterday we launched the most generous match offer ever seen on DonorsChoose.org. And thanks to the incredible support of the Pershing Square Foundation and citizen philanthropists across the country, our first ever Presidents’ Day sale has SOLD OUT!
Don’t worry, if you missed this sale opportunity, you can still help by donating to classroom projects for under $100.
Starting Thursday morning, the Pershing Square Foundation funded American history and civics projects down to $98 – on the condition that citizen philanthropists (you!) took the projects across the finish line. And you did it! Over 600 citizen philanthropists funded the remainder of more than 675 projects, directing over $315,000 to classrooms in need in one day.
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Posted by Katie on
Thursday,
January 21, 2010 at 3:25pm
In the largest employee giving campaign in the 10-year history of DonorsChoose.org, 4,331 employees from Credit Suisse chose to donate to classroom projects in need as part of this year’s Holiday Charity Initiative.
The average donation was incredibly generous – $150 per employee, 75% more than our average donation. Over 100 employees gave more than $1,000 each. Overall, Credit Suisse employees from 25 states gave to classroom projects in their own backyards and across the country.
Credit Suisse employees chose to support a large range of classroom projects, from basic classroom needs like pencils and paper, to a $20,000 field trip to Europe for low-income middle school students. Employees made many inspirational comments to the classrooms they supported, such as:
”I gave to this project because I am a mother of two boys and have many young loved ones. I want to support our children and be one more helping hand. Together we can do it. They’re counting on us!”
“I gave to this project because my company Credit Suisse is a strong supporter of giving back to our community, and helping its employees find meaningful ways to contribute.”
”I remember every great teacher that inspired me throughout my childhood and I am incredibly happy that I can contribute to the learning and education of our youth. Keep up the good work and I hope you are able to inspire these kids as much as I was inspired by my teachers.”
Below is a heartfelt thank-you note from a teacher whose project, “College Bound“, that Credit Suisse employees funded:
Below are pictures from the classroom projects Credit Suisse employees supported:
Credit Suisse, on behalf of the students and teachers we serve, THANK YOU!
