All Patricia Craig had to do was ask. Within a week, an anonymous $120 donation gave her 20 second-graders Weekly Reader subscriptions. Over the next two years, Craig posted about nearly $6,000 worth of wishes on the Web. Big ones, for a projector and a document camera. Wee ones, for colored chalk. All of them came true.
The contributions flowed into Room 26 at Hancock Elementary School in Tierrasanta from donors in at least 13 states through DonorsChoose.org. The online charitable bazaar has made it easy for people to give $34 million worth of books, field trips and electronics to the nation's schools since its inception nine years ago.
DonorsChoose has personalized point-and-click philanthropy through a matchmaking service that pairs a donor with a classroom. “It's kind of like putting a wish list together for Santa Claus, and often you get what you want,” Craig said.
Since San Diego schools became eligible to participate when DonorsChoose went national in September 2007, the organization has raised $219,622 for projects at 140 local schools. The model taps into a powerful developing movement in charitable giving that circumvents traditional middlemen. Read More from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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