Communities of Coastal Georgia

Connect with Classroom teachers and students and provide funding for critical needs directly to the classroom!  Search for a subject area, age group, or specific region, state, or school system for the project of your choice and then either fund it completely or partially and challenge other donors to give as well.

The mission of DonorsChoose.org is to improve public education of low-income children by providing teachers and students with needed resources.  Pioneered in 2000 by a social studies teacher in a Bronx public high school, Charles Best saw first-hand the scarcity of materials in our public school classrooms and the profound impact of this scarcity on kids' education. Looking for a way to address this problem, he sensed an untapped potential in people who were frustrated by their lack of influence over the use of their charitable donations. DonorsChoose.org, a website connecting classrooms in need with individuals who want to help, was born. 

Using the DonorChoose website, teachers submit project proposals requesting resources their students need for learning.  Donors can then search projects and give to those that align with their charitable passion.  DonorsChoose purchases the materials and sends them to the classroom.  Teacher and students create a personalized thank-you package for the donor, including photos, hand-written thank you notes, and a cost report.  The average cost for a project is about $400.00. 

When a donor selects a project, the website will show the project summary, the grade level, subject area, and what the resource is.  It will also indicate the total cost, the amount already given, and the remaining amount needed.  Donors may give any amount; they do not have to give the entire amount needed.  Donors can also issue challenges to other family, friends and other donors to fund specific projects.  Donors also have the ability to register favorite projects in the gift registry and then share it via email allowing friends and family to make a gift donation to registered projects.  DonorsChoose offers gift certificates which can be given to family members in honor of a special day in their lives and encourage younger family members to become involved in philanthropy. 

While DonorsChoose is a nationwide network of classrooms and citizen philanthropists, their impact in Georgia to date has been $136,226 donated to 350 projects in all grade levels impacting almost 10,000 students.  DonorsChoose has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the (Stephen) Colbert Report, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, along with all major television networks.  They are listed as a four-star charity with Charity Navigator, winner of the Nonprofit Innovation Award from Amazon.com and the Social Capitalist Awards in 2007.