What Is Goin’ On?

Jeff Wood is the Southeast Executive Director of DonorsChoose.org. According to Jeff, teachers spend an average of $500 to $600 a year out of their own pockets buying supplies and other necessities to use in the classrooms. The purpose of DonorsChoose.org is to connect teachers who need money to fund projects with people who are willing to donate funds. All contributions are tax deductible.

I also did not know that teachers can claim a tax deduction of up to $250 a year for personal funds they spend for teaching supplies.

Charles Best began DonorsChoose 7 years ago in the Bronx, blending technology and philanthropy. The challenge is to get the word out so that teachers know help is available. DonorsChoose got a boost in 2003 when Best appeared “Oprah.” A few months ago it was Craig Newmark appearing on “The Colbert Report.” Today, it’s Jeff Wood on “What Is Goin’ On?” I guess the world knows by now.

This isn’t a give-away program. This is how it works: The teacher prepares a proposal requesting funds in a specific amount. DonorsChoose screens the proposal, and if approved it is posted on the site where donors can contribute. The funds are controlled by DonorsChoose. They buy the supplies or whatever it is and send it to the teacher. As you can imagine, DonorsChoose invests a significant amount of time investigating the validity of the request and facilitating the procurement of goods and for that it charges a fee which is added to the total request and funded by the donors.

The average proposal is $400. The largest request that was funded was a $20,000.00 playground in New York. Since its creation, it has funded over $14 million in teacher proposals.

If you go to the website, you can search for proposals by location or category. You can help fund a proposal in the hometown you haven’t visited in 30 years. You can give a Gift Certificate.

Since it is tax-exempt, you can also donate directly to DonorsChoose if you can’t decided what project to fund.