DonorsChoose

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DonorsChoose logo

DonorsChoose is a United States based nonprofit organization that provides a way for people to donate directly to specific projects at public schools (sometimes known as peer-to-peer philanthropy).

DonorsChoose was started in 2000 by Charles Best, a teacher at a public high school in the Bronx. Since then, it has grown to serve over 4900 public schools throughout the United States. DonorsChoose currently serves schools in four cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area) and eight states (Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas). By November of 2006, more than 9.1 million dollars had been donated to 18,850 projects, helping 544,551 students in need.^[1]

The organization collects proposals from teachers and makes them available to the general public through its website. Individual donors can select projects and contribute as much as they are prepared to. DonorsChoose then purchases necessary supplies and provides them to the schools, and generates a line-item budget which is sent to the donor.

DonorsChoose is supported by fulfillment costs optionally added to each donation, as well as private funding sources, such as the Omidyar Network.