Program update

Since our start in 2014, we have funded 696 classroom enrichment grants and have contributed $223,086 towards classrooms and educational programs across the country. We deeply value the relationships we’ve forged with teachers and administrators who we have connected with over the years.

As a non-profit organization we rely on donations in order to make these funds available to our grant programs. The updates we send back to our funding partners help secure funding for future grants. Unfortunately we have had difficulty with post-grant follow-up engagement. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year we issued 115 classroom support grants, and received less than 40 follow-up reports. With a response rate of 33%, our donor partners did not feel we were achieving sustainable growth and engagement from our grantees, and as such we were not able to secure funding for another school year.

This is disappointing news to have to share; we have received grant reports from creative and resourceful teachers which have astounded us, but we also realize in today’s grant making landscape, funders are looking for the highest and broadest impact with their dollars; and so while we are saddened by their decision, we support their reasoning, and are thankful for their years of support, and sustained support for our Special Project grant program.

Moving forward we will push our efforts into the growth of our special project grant program, which has shown a substantial increase in organic interest over the past two years. This grant awards up to $5,000 toward one-year K-12 teaching projects which significantly advance student learning in new and creative ways. Through this program we have seen some truly extraordinary and unique concepts come to life. We encourage all educators to explore the program guidelines, develop a project concept, and apply!