8 Easy Steps to Fully Fund Your DonorsChoose.org Project!
1. Create your account and take an interesting picture of your classroom. You want this to be a FANTASTIC picture because it will the first thing your donors are looking at! Be sure if any students faces are showing that you have gotten written permission from the parents/guardians to show them. There is a form on DC that helps with this. I like to include this in my beginning of the school year packet so that it is easier to keep track of and I can get them back easily.
2. Look around the web or even through other projects and come up with a list of ideas that would be useful in your classroom. You may even have ONE great idea in your head! If so go with it.
3. Create a catchy and interesting title. This is very important! If you want an iPad, don't say "iPad Needed for my Students." Use something clever such as "Extra! Extra! I Teach, I Learn, iPad!"
4. Most projects fully fund if you keep the amount under $400. Now that means that your items would need to be around $300 due to shipping, taxes, and optional DC donations to support the site. If your project is very large, consider breaking it down into two or even 3 separate projects, titling each as Part I, Part II, and Part III. Also consider that projects related to Health and Physical Fitness fund quicker than others.
5. Write catchy opening sentences. This is what will show up with your project in the brief synopsis on the opening page. I recommend opening a Microsoft Word document and keep everything in it so that it is easier to change up your project each time without reinventing the wheel.
6. Once your project is submitted, make sure to allow updates via Facebook! This keeps your project visible and aids in donations to it. Be sure to put a link to your site in your email signature too. You never know who is going to contribute to educational projects.
7. Now that your project is submitted, DONATE to it YOURSELF! This is so important. It really seems to jumpstart any project. Even if it is less that $5, every bit helps. Even have a good friend of yours donate to it and you can return the favor and donate to their too. If you have a promo code, be sure to use it. If you do all of the above, you will have 4 donors instead of just 2, making it more likely to fund.
8. Make sure to thank all donors as they support you. Make sure to leave something genuine in the comments. You never know when they will support another project and they may support another of yours depending on the reception from the teacher.
Your Thank-You Package will need to include 6 great photos of your students using the materials along with an Impact Letter. You may need to have students write thank-you notes depending on the dollar value of donations. Anything over $50 by any single donor tends to require them.
