DonorsChoose

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose allows citizen philanthropists to fund specific project requests from teachers in U.S. public schools. We make it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

A future where every public school student in America has the environment and resources they need to

Goal One: Drive a majority of funding to Equity Focus Schools: where at least 50% of students are Black, Latino and/or, Native American and at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.

Goal Two: Ensure teachers of color receive at least as much funding as White teachers, and teachers working in low-income communities receive at least as much funding as those in higher-income communities.

Goal Three: Raise funding from individual donors, corporate partners, foundations, and government entities to support teachers’ requests for learning resources and materials.

DonorsChoose has made a number of investments in leadership development in the past year. All people managers have taken or been registered for “Managing to Change the World” 2-day course provided by The Management Center, and our People team has worked with Elevating Equity to provide DEI leadership training for all staff. Each full-time staff member has a self-directed professional development budget of $1,000 annually, and a number of staff have participated in outside leadership training programs, such as the Emerging Leaders program provided by Princeton AlumniCorps.

Unlike on many crowdfunding platforms, teachers on DonorsChoose aren’t expected to fundraise the full cost of their projects through their personal networks. The DonorsChoose team executes robust marketing campaigns that encourage donors to support teachers both in their immediate communities and across the country, and secures grants from our corporate, foundation, and government partners. Through these efforts, 75% of all dollars come from people or organizations who don’t personally know the teacher they’re supporting. The DonorsChoose team works to elevate teacher voices and stories to the public. For example, in 2021, DonorsChoose worked with Sharif El-Mekki from the Center for Black Educator Development to launch the largest survey ever centering male teachers of color. Five thousand teachers were surveyed, and results were announced with the help of John Legend. This data has been featured in publications like Forbes and The Root.

Throughout COVID-19, DonorsChoose continued to be the go-to nonprofit for teachers seeking learning resources and for donors looking to make a difference for teachers and students. As students returned to in-person learning, teachers turned to the platform more than ever to equip their classrooms. In the 2021–2022 school year, DonorsChoose raised more funding for classroom projects than in any year prior. The DonorsChoose team also launched the organization’s first government partnerships to mitigate learning loss caused by COVID and retain educators during a historic teacher shortage. Several state departments of education used COVID-relief funding (like ESSER and GEER) to fund teachers’ DonorsChoose requests. In total, more than $42 million in state and federal funding was distributed, reaching thousands of classrooms.