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School
Year
In Review

2019-2020

This year, teacher tenacity, ingenuity, and compassion blossomed in the face of adversity, fueled by support from donors, companies, and foundations across the country.

Last September, none of us could have predicted what this year would hold. But through distance learning brought on by coronavirus and a national reckoning with racial injustice, teachers haven’t stopped going above and beyond for their students. Donors and partners have been there every step of the way, joining together to fund our teachers’ creativity and care.

Thank you for your commitment to helping give every student access to a great education.

Charles Best Signature

Charles Best
Founder & CEO, DonorsChoose

Our impact

donor giving

711,665

donors gave

project funded

262,961

projects funded

teachers helped

150,463

teachers helped

schools reached

54,104

schools reached

Fighting Racial Inequity in Education

Racial justice and education equity are intrinsically tied. In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and too many others, we’re committed to combating racial inequity in education with the same strength that we fight economic inequity.

We closed out the 2019–2020 school year with a match offer from Google.org, supporting Black and Latino teachers, and all teachers requesting inclusive and anti-racist materials. Continuing to bring funding to such projects is just one of the many steps we’ll take to support teachers and students of color.

The doors
to education
never close

On March 15, school closures due to coronavirus began, and almost overnight, teachers across the country were faced with the challenge of setting up distance learning. After making sure DonorsChoose staff were safe and working from home, we surveyed more than 4,000 educators to learn about their needs. Here’s what teachers shared:

68%

of students lacked sufficient resources at home to continue learning

92%

of teachers did not have the resources to run a remote learning program

Keep Kids Learning gave immediate relief to communities with the greatest needs.

With the support from partners including Google.org, Bill & Melinda Gates, General Motors, Chevron, 3M, Samsung and more, we launched Keep Kids Learning. This program gave 11,000 teachers in high-need communities a $1,000 credit to purchase resources for their students to be delivered directly to students’ homes.

Distance Learning Projects provide a long-term solution for teachers and students conducting school from home.

We launched Distance Learning Projects in April. These allow teachers across the country to request resources for teacher or student-use at home that facilitate and enable distance learning. When these projects are fully funded, teachers enter the shipping address that works best for them, whether that’s their home or directly to a student.

Teacher tenacity in the face of coronavirus

When Mrs. Manley’s Alabama school closed in March, she knew her students needed resources at home to continue their learning. Through funding provided by DonorsChoose partners and donors, she was able to build personalized care packages for each of her students. Mrs. Manley then drove over 300 miles to personally deliver these resources and give her students a moment of (socially distanced) connection. This is just one story among thousands, showing the lengths that teachers will go to support their students.

Ms. Loo

“Your generous donation has allowed me to create a sense of normalcy during an abnormal time.”

Ms. Calzada

Illinois, Kindergarten

Ms. Loo

“One little girl burst into tears because she was worried that I would forget her name, but I remembered her and drove to her house.”

Ms. Loo

California, Kindergarten

Ms. Hernandez holding books

“One of my goals is to instill the love of reading in all my students and your donation made this possible.”

Ms. Hernandez

Illinois, grades PreK-2

Dorothy and the books she reads to her students

“We want our students to thrive no matter where they are. This project could not have come at a better time! These books are a perfect fit for our weekly online reading.”

Mrs. Williams-Franklin

South Carolina, grades 3-5

teachers working hard to distribute food to students

“My goal is to provide meaningful learning experiences for every child. I am EXTREMELY grateful that I got the opportunity to provide these resources to our kids!”

Mr. Phung

Texas, grades 3-5

Teachers use ingenuity

“Kindergarteners need a hands-on, "do-it-yourself" approach as much as possible when learning new skills.”

Mrs. Pieper

Hawaii, Kindergarten

Celebrating teachers in a big way

As parents help their students navigate learning at home, gratitude for teachers has been on the rise! During Teacher Appreciation Week, our community rallied to support nearly 52,000 projects. Partners including Google.org, SONIC Drive-In, Kleenex, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, FamilyAlbum, and PwC joined over 45,000 donors to provide nearly $10 million in funding for teachers.

Districts sign on for DonorsChoose partnership

This year, we launched our District Partnership Program, which empowers districts to work closely with our organization and make us an intentional part of their fundraising strategy. These districts are training their teachers, amplifying funding opportunities, and helping spread the word about teacher innovation within their communities.

Research Proves student impact

In three independent academic studies with different methodologies, researchers found that when classrooms receive funding from DonorsChoose, test scores improve.

Georgia Tech

University of South Carolina

University of Michigan

Companies & Foundations fuel teacher passion

This year 232 foundations and companies donated over $65 million, helping bring 199,246 teacher projects to life — that’s 75% of all projects!

Melinda and Suzanne

Teaching runs in the Jones family, and so does Fuel Your School funding!

Mother-daughter teaching duo Melinda and Suzanne have both received resources through Fuel Your School. This year marked 10 years of the Chevron funding campaign that empowers anyone to support a classroom just by filling up at the pump.

Over a decade, Chevron has given more than $48 million, helping to fund 55,072 classroom projects. One out of 15 US public schools have benefitted from Fuel Your School, and 23,000 teachers had their very first DonorsChoose project funded through Fuel Your School.

Mrs. Tracy's students

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation support bookended the school year

Thanks to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last fall, Mrs. Tracy’s Delaware high schoolers planted and harvested kale, basil, lettuce, rainbow chard, and arugula —a portion of which was donated to local communities in need.

With students closing out the year from home, Ms. Smith wanted to give her Brooklyn elementary school students the chance to connect to the world outside their apartments. Through a pair of technology-based binoculars, Ms. Smith can project bird watching, from Central Park straight to students.

The Gates Foundation has supported teachers through DonorsChoose since 2009.

some great news

On September 13, Good Morning America surprised 5th grade english teacher Ms. Witherell with $30,000 in funding for her schools.

Fast Company Award Winner, DonorsChoose

Round Up for Schools, a Clover POS app that empowers small businesses to fundraise for local DonorsChoose project requests, received an honorable mention from Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award.

DonorsChoose award winning CSR campaign charity education

Drive Bigger, a partnership between DonorsChoose and Volkswagen, received the Gold Halo Award in Education from cause marketing group Engage for Good.

Masters of Scale Podcast

Masters of Scale’s Reid Hoffman interviewed Charles Best about founding DonorsChoose, how we’ve grown, and more. Plus, DonorsChoose Board Member Stephen Colbert made a special appearance!

Masters of Scale Podcast

Our updated brand and design playground received a Shorty Award for design excellence.

Thank you for helping students learn, and for your part in building a more equitable future for all students.

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With special thanks to our most generous partners

Partner-logos
Supporting teachers and students since 2000

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America create classroom project requests, and you can give any amount to the project that inspires you.

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