District Toolkit

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ContentsIntroduction

About DonorsChoose.org

Crowdfunding Best Practices

District Case Studies

Engaging Your Teachers

Contact Us

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Introduction

We’ve designed this toolkit for school district administrators who want to learn more about DonorsChoose.org and encourage their teachers to take full advantage of our platform.

You’ll find information regarding DonorsChoose.org practices and policies, the answers to frequently asked questions, communication templates, and training materials for principals and teachers.

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About DonorsChoose.org

Teachers Ask. We Deliver.

Education takes a community, and DonorsChoose.org is ready to work with your district and teachers to get the additional materials and supplies that help students thrive. DonorsChoose.org is a 501(c)3 public charity founded by a Bronx public high school teacher. Since 2000, we've been trusted by teachers, donors, and school administrators across the country.

Through our platform, teachers request the exact materials and experiences they know will bring learning to life for their students. For some teachers, that means some extra paper and pencils. Others want to expand their classroom libraries, sports teams, or student orchestras. Many teachers dream even bigger, proposing to equip their students to build robots, or to outfit their classrooms with flexible seating.

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Our Impact

To date, more than 11,000 public school districts in the United States and 75% of public schools have used our site. Over three million donors have given $600 million towards classroom materials and experiences, often to teachers they’ve never met.

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400,000 classrooms with funded projects

$650,000,000 given to support classroom projects

26,000,000 students benefiting from DonorsChoose.org projects

75% of America’s public schools have had at least one teacher create a project

National Fundraising, Local Impact

Unlike any other education funding platform, 75% of the dollars given to classrooms each year come from people and organizations outside of teachers’ personal networks, making our site especially useful for teachers in low-income communities.

Since our founding, our corporate and foundation partners have given more than $300 million to support classrooms. And by engaging a community of donors passionate about supporting classrooms, we connect teachers with individuals they would never otherwise meet through traditional fundraising efforts.

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Teachers at verified schools request specific items.

We vet every single project that teachers post.

Donors and foundations contribute to these requests.

We order the items and ship them to the school.

We notify the school in advance of every shipment.

How it works

DonorsChoose.org is an accountable, transparent

way for teachers to get funding for classroom needs and for projects that

bring learning to life.

Arne DuncanFormer U.S. Secretary of Education

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“

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DonorsChoose.org is the crowdfunding platform of choice for Atlanta Public Schools—it combines the

generosity of our community with education enthusiasts across the country to ensure all our students

are college and career ready.

Dr. Meria J. CarstarphenSuperintendent, Atlanta Public Schools

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Crowdfunding Best Practices

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What is Crowdfunding?

Public schools have long relied on donations to enrich students’ academic experience and to fund materials that system budgets cannot always afford.

Historically, schools have raised such donations from the local community, often through PTO/PTA fundraisers. In many instances, teachers also spend their own money (on average $500 per year) on school supplies.

Today, online crowdfunding makes it possible for schools to raise more funding for classroom resources.

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Why We’re the Leading Crowdfunding Site for K–12 Education

Plenty of websites let teachers raise money from their local networks. But on DonorsChoose.org, teachers can reliably get funding from outside their personal community. Our network of over 3 million donors loves to support teachers they’ve never met. We predominately serve low-income schools, which is why Dan Domenech, Executive Director of the AASA, calls us “the PTA equalizer."

As the largest crowdfunding site dedicated to public schools, DonorsChoose.org meets a singularly high standard of transparency, accountability, and security. We send materials, not cash, to teachers, and we always keep principals in the loop.

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Why We’re the Leading Crowdfunding Site for K–12 Education continued

Our dedication to efficacy and transparency has earned us the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent charity evaluator, for 12 years straight. This achievement is held by fewer than 1% of nonprofits.

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Crowdfunding Best Practice

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DonorsChoose.org Policy

Financial Transparency & Accountability

1. Materials, not cash. Purchase and send resources

directly to verified schools instead of sending cash to teachers

☑ Materials, not cash. Any U.S. public school teacher that works with

students at least 75% of the time is eligible to use our site. Once a project is funded, we order the

requested items, verify the school’s address, and ship the resources to the school.

2. Transparency at every step.Publicly display details about each

material that was funded and explain fees and overhead costs

☑ Transparency at every step. We vet every project teachers create, and

every project page displays the cost of each material being funded. Donations to

DonorsChoose.org overhead are optional.

3. Capture impact. Require teachers to report how the

resources were used in the classroom and how students benefitted

☑ Capture impact. Every donor gets a thank-you letter from the teacher, photos from the classroom, and a

report of how each dollar was spent.

Crowdfunding Best Practice

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DonorsChoose.org Policy

Integrity controls

1. School ownership of funded materials. Purchase and send resources directly to verified schools instead of sending

cash to teachers

☑ School ownership of funded materials.

Resources funded through DonorsChoose.org are considered property

of the public school.

2. District visibility and reporting.Notify principals when items are

being shipped to schools and provide detailed reporting to

districts upon request

☑ District visibility and reporting.We alert the principal and other registered teachers at the school in advance of every

shipment, and we can set up quarterly reporting for district offices upon request.

Crowdfunding Best Practice

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DonorsChoose.org Policy

Privacy & Safety

1. Student protection.Implement mechanisms for

protecting student privacy, tailored to the unique needs of public school

students

☑ Student protection.We work with safety experts to create strict

protective guidelines for projects and student photos, and we ensure our site is free from

student-identifying information.

Controls for School DistrictsWe stand ready to work with your school district to ensure you’re always aware of your teachers' use of DonorsChoose.org!

Populate your IT / Technology guidelines in our system. Whenever any of your teachers creates a request for computers or tablets, we will display your district's technology guidelines.

Ensure your principals receive notifications before materials ship. DonorsChoose.org notifies each principal by fax whenever materials are shipped to one of their classrooms. When we also have principal email addresses, your principals are sure to receive these notifications.

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Controls for School DistrictsContinued

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Get instantly notified the moment any of your teachers posts a project. When a project request is posted, DonorsChoose.org can email your team, allowing administrators to reach out to teachers directly if revisions are needed.

Receive periodic reporting on all the projects posted and funded in your district, including line-item detail for every material delivered. These reports enable school leaders to review resources for district compatibility and for inventory tracking.

Email districts@donorschoose.org to sign up for any of these controls.

District Case Studies

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$4,000,000total project funding

$62,000donated through Atlanta Public Schools grants

1,737teachers with funded projects

63% funding coming from out of state

Case Study: Atlanta Public Schools, GA

Atlanta Public Schools wanted to empower teachers working towards the district mission “Every Student: College and Career Ready” without tapping into district general funds. APS Superintendent Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen and the APS Office of Partnerships & Development encouraged teachers to create classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org that were in line with the district’s strategic plan through eblasts, trainings, and social media.

APS used special revenue from vending machines and employee parking contributions to run a mini-grant program. Teachers create DonorsChoose.org project requests focusing on college and career prep, and the APS team selects winners based on mission alignment, innovation, and demonstration of need. Each winning project receives a $500 donation.

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Atlanta Public School Teachers,

Do you have an innovative classroom project that fulfills the mission of Atlanta Public Schools?

With a caring culture of trust and collaboration, every student will graduate ready for college and career.

Apply now for $500 mini-grants to be awarded to 40 APS educators through DonorsChoose.org in December.

How to Apply:

1. Come up with a project idea for your classroom that is inspired by the APS mission. Be innovative and creative and let your administration know!

2. Post your project on DonorsChoose.org by Friday, Dec. 15, 2015 at donorschoose.org/teachers.

For questions and additional information, contact Rachel Sprecher, APS Grants Specialist. This program is made possible by CLL employees and revenue collected from the CLL parking deck.

Email to APS Principals

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Case Study: Alexandria City Public Schools, VA

In 2015, Alexandria City Public Schools launched an initiative to grow teachers use of DonorsChoose.org: The Fall Blitz.

Each year leading up to the back-to-school season, ACPS Grants Officer Greg Tardieu works with principals to encourage teachers to use DonorsChoose.org, providing them with email templates and hosting teacher training sessions. A little friendly competition—which school has the most teachers creating projects—helps spur on the Blitz. Since this program began, DonorsChoose.org funding to Alexandria City Public Schools has doubled.

Throughout the school year, ACPS teachers who already know and love DonorsChoose.org facilitate trainings to help their peers find success on the platform, and Grants Officer Tardieu sends congratulatory emails to teachers everytime one of their projects hits its funding goal.

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2017 DonorsChoose.org Blitz

Dear ACPS Teachers,

Two years ago we pushed hard for ACPS teachers to use “DonorsChoose.org” to fund classroom projects and classroom materials and saw a huge rise in funding from $39,000 in 2015 to $79,000 in 2016.

The plan is for interested teachers to get registered at http://www.donorschoose.org/teachers by Tuesday, August 22, to get your project online well before the start of school.

Below are some helpful hints on improving classroom funding success from experienced ACPS teachers:

1. Share your project on all forms of social media and make sure to remind people to check for “Match Offers.” Corporate sponsors will match donations – with August being one of the best months for match offers. Bill and Melinda Gates, Google, as well as many celebrities, will match donations with the use of their promo codes – if you find a promo code be sure to share it as soon as you find it.

2. Think about people on Social Media who might be interested in your project and let them know about it.

3. Send your information to your school's PTA and parents from your school/class.

4. Naming your project something memorable is important. One ACPS teacher reported that every single project they have written that has been fully funded has had some cute acronym, pun, or something memorable in the title.

If you need help with any of this please contact Greg Tardieu, Grants Officer.

Flyer for Teachers

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Dear Principals,

Welcome back to all of you returning to your home away from home!

The Grants Office is implementing a new funding initiative this year to encourage ACPS teachers to request classroom funding using DonorsChoose.org. We are going to attempt a strategic, coordinated blitz so that all of our teachers will get many looks from local philanthropists/funders at the same time.

I am asking you to forward the message below to all of your teachers to let them know that this is good deal for them to help supply their classrooms with needed materials—typically purchased with their own money. I put together a team of 8 ACPS experienced teachers as my advisers on how best to do this.

So if you could forward "only the following" portion of this email to your teachers with your strong encouragement to participate, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,Greg

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dear "school" Team,

The ACPS Grants Office is coordinating a back to school ACPS DonorsChoose.org Blitz. The goal is to get as many ACPS teachers to go online to

Email to Principals...

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So if you could forward "only the following" portion of this email to your teachers with your strong encouragement to participate, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,Greg

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dear "school" Team,

The ACPS Grants Office is coordinating a back to school ACPS DonorsChoose.org Blitz. The goal is to get as many ACPS teachers to go online to http://www.donorschoose.org/teachers and be completely funded in a short amount of time.

Last year ACPS teachers raised over $7,000.00 with very little effort. This year we are encouraging more teachers to take advantage of this opportunity and NOT use your own money for classroom items. By coordinating this effort as a team we expect ALL teachers to get fully funded in a more timely fashion.

In order to fully participate and have the best chance of filling your wish list you will need to go to www.donorschoose.org/teachers and post your project by August 28.

If you need further information or assistance, please contact Greg Tardieu in the Grants Office.

Thank you,Principal

...Continued

Email to Teachers

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$2,600,000total project funding

$1,042,000funding from out of state

1,640teachers with projects funded

4,535 projects funded

8,976 citizen donors activated

A Case Study: Oklahoma City Public Schools

Oklahoma City Public School teachers have been creating classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org since our national expansion in 2007, while separately being supported by a local education foundation, Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools (FOKCPS). In the fall of 2014, FOKCPS began a working with DonorsChoose.org so their funding could be used to leverage public donations. The FOKCPS team coordinated with district administration to align on the partnership goals and how to message to teachers, with Mary Mélon, President/CEO of FOKCPS, periodically presenting at all-principal meetings.

FOKCPS supports Oklahoma City Public School teachers through DonorsChoose.org match offer grants, where individual donors are motivated to give to projects in the district by the chance to “unlock” the dollar-for-dollar match. This partnership has increased giving to the district from $60,000 per year to $800,000 per year, and has led to half of all OKC public school teachers having a project fully funded through DonorsChoose.org.

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The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools and DonorsChoose.org Working Together to support OKCPS Teachers and Students

If you haven’t had a DonorsChoose.org project funded this school year, there is no better time than now to submit a new project on their site. Head to www.donorschoose.org and create a project for what you and your students most need: books, technology, lab equipment, flexible seating… anything you can imagine!

The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools will half-fund DonorsChoose.org projects that meet the following criteria:

The total project cost, including ALL fees and optional donation, must be $1,000 or less.

The Foundation will fund up to two projects per OKCPS teacher this school year.

Once your project receives 50% of its funding from citizen donations, the Foundation will fund the rest of your project! For example, once your $600 project only needs $300 to go, the Foundation’s $300 donation will appear within two business days, and your project will be fully funded with the materials you requested shipped to your classroom!

Haven’t registered or been funded before? Go to DonorsChoose.org to sign up.

FOKCPS Memo to Teachers

Engaging Your Teachers

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When to Engage Your Teachers

When launching district-wide

initiatives that teachers could

supported through fundraising.

When gearing up for the back-to-school

season so teachers can take advantage of two of our biggest funding months: August and

September.

When there are DonorsChoose.org

match offers from corporate or

foundation partners.

See current match offers; toggle to your state

At staff professional development or

teacher trainings. We're happy to connect

you with DonorsChoose.org

teacher experts to help you run your trainings.

Right away! DonorsChoose.org is open 365 days a year.

Engaging Your Teachers: 3 Tips from Dawes Elementary School

Teachers at Dawes Elementary School have been using DonorsChoose.org for over 10 years, and they have raised more than $600,000 in classroom project funding.

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1. Celebrate wins, big and small.

When Dawes Elementary teacher Amani Abuhabsah had her first project funded through DonorsChoose.org, Principal Mary Dixon sent an email to the entire staff celebrating her win. Ninety-nine projects later, Principal Dixon bought cupcakes and threw a party for the staff when Amani’s 100th project was funded. Dixon explains,

“When other teachers saw the resources Amani acquired through her crowdfunding projects, it piqued their interest.”

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2. Support collaboration.

At Dawes Elementary, Principal Dixon incorporates discussions on crowdfunding into the staff’s weekly grade-level meetings. Every Thursday, teachers and administrators work together to write and post projects, and discuss school-wide funding needs.

As a peer mentor to other principals in the Chicago Public School System, Principal Dixon also sends her teachers to other schools in the district to train those unfamiliar with using crowdfunding sites to support classroom needs.

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3. Spread the word.

Communication to parents, friends, and the community can help to raise awareness of, and funding for, teacher projects. Dawes Elementary has started tweeting about teacher projects that are funded, and teachers often use social media sites like Facebook to spread the word about their fundraising goals. Principal Dixon also makes sure to include information about funded projects in newsletters, at local school council meetings, and at open house nights to keep parents and community members in the loop.

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Dear [District] principals,

I hope you’re all having a wonderful summer break and are looking forward to the new school year as much as I am!

This year, we’re starting a new initiative to increase teachers adoption of DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit that makes it

easy to get additional classroom resources. Teachers use this platform to request the exact materials or experiences

they’re looking for, and donors from across the country give to those projects. By encouraging teachers to create

projects in line with our strategic priorities for the year, we can further equip our students for success.

You may have heard about crowdfunding sites, so I wanted to highlight why we recommend DonorsChoose.org:

● DonorsChoose.org vets and fulfills every project request on the site, meaning that funded resources are

shipped directly to the school and cash is never deposited to a teacher’s bank account.

● DonorsChoose.org informs principals everytime a project gets fully funded at their school.

● DonorsChoose.org cultivates a network of donors, foundations, and companies that love to give to teachers

they’ve never met, meaning we can expand our fundraising circle beyond [District/geographic community].

● DonorsChoose.org is a registered 501(c)3 public charity with the highest rating for efficacy and transparency

on Charity Navigator, a independent charity watchdog.

I’ve attached some resources that you can use to train teachers on the platform. If you know of any teachers in your

school who already love and have had success on DonorsChoose.org, we encourage them to be a part of any trainings as

well. When helping teachers get started, here are a few things to keep in mind:

● If requesting technology resources, teachers should ensure items are compatible with [District] systems and

reach out to [IT department] if unsure.

● Projects should compliment [District] curriculum and priorities.

● DonorsChoose.org has safety guidelines on the types of classroom photos that can be posted, and teachers are

required to have signed permission slips from parents before posting any images of students

Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing the ideas your teachers create!

Sincerely,

[Name]

Communication Templates for Your District

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Dear [school] teachers,

As you gear up for the new school year, I wanted to make sure you know about DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit crowdfunding site used by teachers at 75% of public schools to get additional resources for their classrooms.

There are currently XX teachers in [District] using DonorsChoose.org. Last year, [teacher] at [school] had their project [project name] funding, bringing [resource] into their classroom. You can also check our [teacher]’s project [project name], or [teacher]’s project [project] name. We’re excited to encourage you to join them, so that you can connect with a thriving community of donors who are passionate about education. I hope you’ll create a project!

Here’s how to get started:1. Come up with an project idea that you think will bring your classroom to new heights.

The more it’s able to boost how your classroom is bringing [District priority] to life, the better!

2. Sign up for an account at donorschoose.org/teachers if you don’t already have one.3. Submit your request—the whole process shouldn’t take more than 25 minutes. When you

project is funded, DonorsChoose.org ships the supplies directly to your classroom.

If you request any technology resources, be sure that the items compatible with [District] systems—don’t hesitate to check with [IT team/staff] if you’re unsure.

I can’t wait to see what you create!

Sincerely,[Name]

P.S. DonorsChoose.org often has funding opportunities that can help your project along! Take a look at some of the current opportunities.

Communication Templates for Your District

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Host a Teacher Training

● Training preparation checklist, including follow-up tips

● Powerpoint slides for training your teachers how to post a classroom project on DonorsChoose.org

Contact Us

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Information about crowdfundingDonorsChoose.org/administrators

Contact us anytime at DonorsChoose.org!

Katie BisbeeExecutive Vice Presidentkbisbee@donorschoose.org

Kirk SmileyPrincipal DirectorAdvocacy and Public Partnershipsksmiley@donorschoose.org

School District Customer Servicedistricts@donorschoose.org