Revamp Your Classroom - FOR FREE!

Oh boy. That about sums up the past few weeks. Things have been CRAZY around here. We are already in week 4 (!) of school, and I won't lie - I'm still trying to get things ready for the year. Long story short - we've had major changes in the length of the school day, how preps work, and all the Common Core fun we're all adjusting to. Let's just say - I'm exhausted! ANYWAYS... I felt inspired to post because I had a DonorsChoose project funded today! Woo hoo!

Math game organizer... Yippee!!!

To those of you who are unfamiliar with DonorsChoose, it is a website that links donors to classrooms in need. All US public school classrooms are eligible to post projects. You request materials you need or want for your classroom from a variety of websites (Lakeshore, Quill, and Best Buy are my faves), write a short essay about why your students should receive donations, and VOILA! Within a couple days, the project is posted and ready to get donations.

In five years, I've had 38 projects funded, almost entirely by strangers. We've received awesome donations, like whisper phones, BOOKS, a field trip to see a Mo Willems play, netbooks... Great essentials and fun things I could never afford to buy myself.

Here are some tips for getting funded:
1. Keep your requests small. DonorsChoose recommends less than $400... But really, I think less than $200 is best (ALL of my requests under $200 have been funded). So if you can request items in smaller sets, do so.

2. Time your requests with corporate partnerships. Sonic is donating hundreds of thousands of dollars this month, so it's the perfect time to post a project.

3. Write really awesome thank you notes. Bind student thank yous, or create a neat presentation for them. Many donors will come back to help you with future projects.

4. PR! Use Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to share your project with family and friends.



If you've used DonorsChoose, what have you requested? Do you have any funding tips to add?