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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
Founder & CEO, һԹ
711,665
donors gave
262,961
projects funded
150,463
teachers helped
54,104
schools reached
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.
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 һԹ staff were safe and working from home, we surveyed more than 4,000 educators to learn about their needs. Here’s what teachers shared:
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.
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.
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 һԹ 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.
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.
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.
In three independent academic studies with different methodologies, researchers found that when classrooms receive funding from һԹ, test scores improve.
This year 232 foundations and companies donated over $65 million, helping bring 199,246 teacher projects to life — that’s 75% of all projects!
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 һԹ project funded through Fuel Your School.
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 һԹ since 2009.
On September 13, Good Morning America Ms. Witherell with $30,000 in funding for her schools.
Round Up for Schools, a Clover POS app that empowers small businesses to fundraise for local һԹ project requests, received an honorable mention from Fast Company’s
Drive Bigger, a partnership between һԹ and Volkswagen, received the from cause marketing group Engage for Good.
Reid Hoffman interviewed Charles Best about founding һԹ, how we’ve grown, and more. Plus, һԹ Board Member Stephen Colbert made a special appearance!
Our updated brand and received a for design excellence.
