Teacher Crowdfunder Receives iHeartMedia Support and Corporate Match for Back-to-School Fundraisers
Public school teachers spend nearly $500 of their own money on school supplies every year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This year, DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding platform for teachers, donors and school districts that helps to bridge that gap, has teamed up with iHeartMedia to support public school classrooms.
The “iHeartRadio BackToSchool” fundraising campaign launched last month and will run through Sept. 10, encouraging iHeartRadio listeners to fund local classroom projects in their communities on DonorChoose, which has received $1.1 billion in contributions to support nearly 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experience since 2000. Artists and influencers — including Jason Derulo, Tate McRae, Alessia Cara, Sabrina Carpenter and others, as well as iHeartMedia nationally syndicated on-air personalities Ryan Seacrest, Mario Lopez and Elvis Duran — have been participating in a series of radio spots promoting the effort.
Additionally, Osmo, a tech-powered learning company that is currently used in more than 50,000 classrooms nationwide, will match listener donations up to $50,000.
“We’re heading into what could be the most important back-to-school season in recent history,” Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose, said in a statement. “This partnership with Osmo and iHeart will help enrich the education of students in schools across the country and empower teachers to start the year even stronger.”
“iHeart’s commitment to the community, especially this back-to-school season, extends to our teachers, students and families. ‘iHeartRadio BackToSchool’ was developed to help distribute essential classroom resources to the students who need them the most,” Hartley Adkins, president for iHeartMedia Markets Group, said in a statement. “iHeart has a long history of working with DonorsChoose to address the specific needs of local classrooms and we are grateful to Osmo for their shared vision that learning is a universal right and for their generous match contribution.”
