Quiet, Passionate Givers

Natural givers
The National Education Association tracks teacher demographics with comprehensive surveys every five years. The latest “Status of the American Public School Teacher” report was released in August 2003 and held some surprising information about educators.

First, most teachers spend $443 annually of their own money to meet their students’ needs. Teachers also spend an average of 50 hours a week on instructional duties. These statistics prove that teachers are passionate people, but because of the relatively low annual salaries (averaging about $43,000 according to the NEA report), educators historically have been overlooked as potential donors. It would behoove fundraisers to look again.