Classroom Funding

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2009 : June : 25

Classroom Funding
By Aurora

It sounds as thought you can keep your materials with you as long as you continue to use them for their intended purpose. No? If you're interested in other sites, here's a blurb I wrote up for our union website:

Classroom Funding: Ways to Get What You Really Need!

It seems that every year, gathering classroom supplies becomes more tedious (and difficult). What do you need? Where do you go? And most importantly, how will you pay? Don’t worry, _____ has you covered! Listed below are four websites whose sole purpose is to help you provide for your students in a way that, perhaps

on your own, would never be possible.

DonorsChoose: DonorsChoose is, by far, the most crucial element for funding your classroom. It is an online charity that allows individual donors, corporations, and organizations to fully or partially fund a teacher’s proposal for supplies. These proposals can range from $100 worth of essential items like paper, glue, and pencils, to $1,000 worth of computer technology. As DonorsChoose works with a large number of suppliers, you have many options for choosing the right items. Any individual can search proposals by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the project(s) they find most compelling. When a project is funded, donors receive student thank-you notes, classroom photos, and a teacher impact letter from you. It is a very easy process, both during the creation of the proposal (you are guided step-by-step) and while thanking your donors.

Adopt-A-Classroom: Adopt-A-Classroom requires a bit more work on your part, but it has the potential to create a constant source of revenue for your classroom. Here, a donor selects a classroom and makes a monetary contribution. 100% of their donation goes to the classroom teacher as online credit. Once a classroom has funds, the teacher can order resources from Adopt-A-Classroom’s affiliate vendors. When supplies are purchased, Adopt-A-Classroom sends each donor an “Impact Report” which details item-by-item, dollar-for-dollar what the teacher purchased with the donation. Donors and teachers have the chance to correspond during the course of the school year and the donors are typically sent letters/artwork/projects from the students. The tricky part of Adopt-A-Classroom is finding a donor! Granted, potential donors do come to the site and simply select an appropriate classroom, but more than likely, you’ll need to do some legwork to help find yourself a donor.

DigitalWish: DigitalWish is a site used to fund classroom technology. It’s a bit like DonorsChoose, but more specific in its goal (and more amateur). On DigitalWish, you shop through a rather narrow database of potential items for your classroom. Once you’ve found what you need, simply click on the item to add it to your profile page. You’ll write up a quick description stating why you need the item, then it’s up to you to help promote yourself. If your item is funded, Digital Wish donates an additional 2%-10% in cash back funding to the school. Recap: It’s structure is more similar to DonorsChoose, but its funding capability is closer to Adopt-A-Classroom. Got it?

iLoveSchools: iLoveSchools is different from the rest. At this site, a teacher requests a specific supply but instead of donors placing monetary donations, donors are responsible for sending the actual item requested. I Love Schools is notified when a donation is offered. They make the match between teacher and donor and help you get in touch, then let you make the arrangements for pick-up/delivery of the gift. All delivery details are for the teacher and donor to decide. This puts more strain on both the teacher and the donor. On the plus side, iLoveSchools lets all institutions that are geared towards educating students to register for donations. This includes home schools, after-school, daycare centers, Head Start and after-school programs as well as adult education centers. On the other sites, donations are only for public school faculty.

Now that you know where to go, start brainstorming what you really need! Do you long for a larger classroom library? Are you running low on science experiments? Have you gathered all your markers and glue for next year? If you have a classroom website, it is always helpful to add links to the above organizations. Most of the websites also have printable flyers to send home with your students. Once you’ve chosen a path, spread the word!!!