glyph 515: teacher, school, charity, nonprofit, education, community, support, donation, arts, classroom, reading, literacy, poverty, student, children, child ... nonprofit, entrepreneurial benevolence, distributed compassion —glyph by Pat Wagner
Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class. Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school.
You'll get photos of your project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. If you give over $100, you'll also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students. At DonorsChoose.org, you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions. We call it citizen philanthropy. (from the DonorsChoose.org site)
I have donated to this group a number of times. I am most impressed with the model of accountability that works with teachers and schools to ensure that the money is spent wisely and well. You can pick a community, a kind of school, a kind of community, specific student demographics, and specific classroom interests. I tend to support literacy programs in places where I have a personal connection, such as my childhood neighborhood in Chicago. Extremely professional-looking interface - excellent software! —Pat Wagner
https://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/515.html
September 24, 2011; edited/updated November 26, 2015