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Private company

DonorsChoose

Logo: DonorsChoose, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American nonprofit organization

DonorsChoose is a United States–based nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. As of June 2024, the organization had funded 2.95 million projects and raised $1.64 billion for teachers and students.2 It was founded by Charles Best.1 Its revenue was $187 million in 2022.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2000Founded1
  • Industrycharity, crowdfunding, fundraising1
  • HeadquartersNew York City1
  • Websitewww.donorschoose.org
  • Legal form501(c)(3) organization1

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DonorsChoose is a United States–based nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. As of June 2024, the organization had funded 2.95 million projects and raised $1.64 billion for teachers and students. 88% of public schools in the United States had requested at least one project on DonorsChoose. Schools from wealthy areas are more likely to make technology requests, while schools from less affluent areas are more likely to request basic supplies. It has been noted that repeat donors on DonorsChoose typically donate to projects they have no prior relationship with, and most often fund projects serving financially challenged students.2

The story

Founded by Charles Best in 2000.1

History

DonorsChoose was founded in 2000 by Charles Best, a social studies teacher at Wings Academy in The Bronx. Charles and his colleagues often spent their own money on school supplies for their students, and discussed materials they wished they could afford in the teachers' lunchroom. With the help of his students, he built the first version of the site in his classroom and invited colleagues to post material requests.

In 2003, The Oprah Winfrey Show featured Charles Best in a segment on Innovative Teachers, which aired on June 20. Traffic generated from the show crashed the site, and viewers donated $250,000 to classroom projects. In 2006, following the destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the site opened to public school teachers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. In 2007, the site opened to every public school in the United States. As of June 2024, donors have contributed over $1.64 billion to fund more than 2.95 million classroom projects posted on the site, supporting 889,169 teachers in public schools across the United States. Real-time impact statistics are available on the DonorsChoose impact page and open-source classroom data is offered to developers.

Background

DonorsChoose enables teachers to request materials and resources for their classrooms and makes these project requests available to individual donors through its website. Donors can give $1 or more to projects that interest them, which are searchable by school name, teacher name, location, school subject, material, and keywords. DonorsChoose then purchases necessary supplies and ships them directly to the schools. Every project contains a line-item budget and a description of the project. All donors receive photographs of the project taking place in the classroom and a letter from the teacher. Donors who contribute $50 or more to a project also receive hand-written thank-you notes from students. Stephen Colbert has promoted DonorsChoose and has a position on the board.

The operations of DonorsChoose are 100% supported by an optional 15% donation to overhead, teacher outreach, maintenance and build-out of the DonorsChoose website. 84% of individual donors opt to include this donation.

DonorsChoose national corporate and foundation partners include The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, PNC Bank, Staples, and Target.

From Wikipedia’s article on DonorsChoose, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led DonorsChoose, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

DonorsChoose revenue by year1$187.3M in 2022+257% since 2013
0$50.0M$100.0M$150.0M$200.0M2013: $52.5M$52.5M20132014: $60.9M$60.9M2014+16%2015: $77.5M$77.5M2015+27%2016: $107.6M$107.6M2016+39%2017: $121.4M$121.4M2017+13%2018: $148.9M$148.9M2018+23%2019: $150.0M$150.0M2019+1%2020: $148.9M$148.9M2020−1%2021: $158.1M$158.1M2021+6%2022: $187.3M$187.3M2022+19%
  • 2022$187.3M1
  • 2021$158.1M1
  • 2020$148.9M1
  • 2019$150.0M1
  • 2018$148.9M1
  • 2017$121.4M1

Timeline

  1. 2000Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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