Gates Foundation to Help Fill Teachers' Supplies Wish Lists

column | Nonprofits

Gates Foundation to Help Fill Teachers' Supplies Wish Lists

By Betsy Corcoran (Columnist)     Aug 22, 2014

Gates Foundation to Help Fill Teachers' Supplies Wish Lists

DonorsChoose has been a great way for teachers and schools to find support for materials they need from the public. And for three days this week, it will just get even better.

Today, Saturday and Sunday--August 22, 23 and 24--every project on DonorsChoose that reaches 50% of its funding goal will be automatically filled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Gates Foundation expect to contribute about $1 million to schools and teachers this way--but it's willing to go over that threshold if enough projects get to the halfway mark. "Teachers have enough things to worry about right now," writes Gates on his blog here. "Getting the right supplies shouldn’t be one of them." Here's a link to DonorsChoose to get started.

We put a few more questions to the Foundation and here's what we learned.

Q: How will the project work?

Gates Foundation: Once a project on DonorsChoose.org gets 50% of its funding from other donors, the Foundation will contribute the other 50%.

Q: How will the Foundation pick projects? Is there anything that won’t be funded?

Gates Foundation: The Foundation will not pick which projects are funded. Nearly every project listed on DonorsChoose.org will be eligible for this offer. There are a few projects that already have special offers attached to them, and these will not be eligible for the Foundation’s offer so as not to disrupt the existing offer.

Q: What about the projects that already have 50% of their funding when this offer begins? Do they automatically get funded?

Gates Foundation: Yes, they will be eligible for this offer.

Q: What happens when it hits $1 million in funding from the Foundation? Does the funding just cut off?

Gates Foundation: No. Together with DonorsChoose.org, we are committed to providing the maximum number of teachers the tools they need to make sure their students are successful as they head back to school.

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