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MY TOP TEN TRICKS
1. Always have a project up. You never know who might fund it. 2. Take advantage of matches, promo codes, and partner funding opportunities (student-led, financial literacy, environmental awareness, Quill). Pay attention to the details. 3. Prime times are at the end of the summer and December. 4. Check your email and the blog for new opportunities: http://www.donorschoose.org/blog 5. Promote your project, especially during the first week, for extra funding. 6. Donate to your own project first to get the ball rolling. 7. Don’t use too much jargon. Speak the language that a donor will understand. 8, Say “thank you.” Have your students write thank-you cards either handwritten or typed. Your thank you notes are a reflection of you, your students, and your school. Express your thanks through social media. 9. Be patient. Your first project will probably be funded very quickly. Your others might not. The more you market, the more likely it will be funded. 10. Browse through other teacher’s projects to get ideas for your own project.
CREATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES
1. Twitter (add appropriate hashtags and handles: @donorschoose, #donorschoose, subject-specific organizations, companies) 2. Facebook groups, Remind101, emails, student learning management systems, Back to School and parent-teacher conference flyers. 3. Donate to other projects. Become a part of a community of donors. 4. Share, showcase, and then ask for funding. Share some great teaching resources, links, or teaching ideas. Showcase what your students are doing in your classroom. Explain how donors can further support your mission.
5. Many teachers leverage the power of social media through Facebook and Twitter to share their DonorsChoose projects, but here ways that you can enhance your marketing.
a. One "old school" ways is to create flyers, but who has the time? Use http://printandshare.org to quickly and easily create flyers to send home with your students and to give to parents during Open House and conferences. 
b. A "new school" way is to combine web tools. I like to use https://www.edu.buncee.com to create a digital flyer that I can share with parents and community members through https://www.remind.com. Then people who receive my message through their email or text can instantly visit my project page to donate.
c. A picture is worth a thousand words, so use more pictures! Create collages of pictures using the PicCollage app or kick it up a notch and insert video using the PicPlayPost app. If you don't have permission to share pictures or videos of your students, show pictures of the items you are requesting . For example, who knows what a Hokki stool is?
14 Comments
Julie Truesdell
1/7/2016 06:37:02 am
I really appreciate you gathering these tips for DonorsChoose.org! I firmly agree with tip #1 - always have a project up. You really do never know when funding might occur. I am also a firm believer in promoting my project(s) via social media. In fact, I have a Twitter account just for my classroom.
Lora green
1/19/2016 03:35:04 am
Thank you so much for sharing these great tips. I follow most of them, but can always use reminders. I can never find the print & share when i need it, so thank you for posting. I appreciate all that you do . 7/17/2017 03:21:56 am
I think about it is most required for making more on this get engaged 8/24/2017 10:52:35 pm
For me, twitter is the best tool for getting famous overnight. However, fundraising projects also need question answer portal for getting more people engaged and give donations too! 8/24/2017 10:56:59 pm
There are situations in which convincing donors are difficult.. try to elaborate maximum.. be clear with your aim and you will achieve it for sure!!! 12/10/2017 04:10:54 am
5/12/2018 12:07:10 am
Excellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking. 5/15/2018 05:17:54 am
Very nice article, I enjoyed reading your post, very nice share, I want to twit this to my followers. Thanks!. 9/6/2018 12:28:59 am
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Kristina A. HolzweissEd Tech School Librarian Archives
February 2020
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Tue, July 21, 2020 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Join us for a conversation about books and literacy inspired crafts with the Joyful Teacher Librarian, Melissa Thom aka @MsThomBookitis. Titles will include all levels, fiction and nonfiction, and professional. A few lucky participants will win some fun book related prizes!
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PRAISE FOR HACKING SCHOOL LIBRARIES
"Hacking School Libraries is the practical book that I have been waiting for a teacher-librarian to publish! This is the book I will be recommending to school librarians who want constructive and attainable suggestions on how to not only transform their library space, but also their library practices and in turn, their school. The stories and ideas from Stony, Kristina, and other respected colleagues in the school library world spotlight tried-and-true practices that have transformed school library programs across the nation."
- Sherry Gick, Director of Innovative Learning--Five Star Technology Solutions, Teacher-Librarian, 2015 Library Journal Mover & Shaker
"I really like the quick reading style and the focus banners for each hack. This is a very useful guide for new school library professionals or those thirsting for easy, practical, and inexpensive ideas to revitalize their school libraries. My highest praise is that it's written by practitioners FOR practitioners."
- Dr. Bea Baaden, Director of the School Library Program, Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University
PRAISE FOR KRISTINA'S WORK
"I am super excited to learn about both high tech and low tech ways to promote literature.
I feel that over the years, I lost myself and my students with the primary focus always being on research. I want to go back to book talks and making library enjoyable (again).
Thank you for your inspiration!"
- Cara Lauber, library media specialist
"Kristina is a librarian's librarian!"
- Ali Schilpp, 2018 SLJ School Librarian of the Year
"Kristina is an engaging guest speaker who offers rich and varied approaches for participants to take part in and contribute. My graduate students leave the classroom feeling motivated, excited and ready to put their learning into practice in their own classrooms."
Dr. Karen Megay-Nespoli, Director of the Literacy and Cognition Graduate Program,
St. Joseph’s College, Patchogue
