Questions and Answers
Really?? How do you know? Who’s donating the money if its not Groupon?
What I want to know is when do the contributions need to be used by?
As long as we have confirmation that the money goes (100%) to the cause, I’M GOOD. However, in the interest of Full Disclosure, I agree, I’d like to know who the matching donor is.
Hey folks, Charles here from DonorsChoose.org. The 50% discount is being funded by the Pershing Square Foundation (which is highlighted if you click into the promotion on our site), but Groupon is also making a major donation. They are going without any commission whatsoever, meaning that they are giving up significant revenue to enable this first ever philanthropic Groupon. Not only does 100% of the full value go to the cause of helping public schools, but you control exactly where it goes. Do you see a classroom project request on DonorsChoose.org that inspires you? You can support that project with a donation twice as large as you could otherwise afford!
If there is any deal that would make me feel good about where my money is going, this is it! I wish I had enough money to make all the classroom projects come true, all of them are inspiring!!
This is great. But I did not find the reference to the Foundation that was covering the doubling anywhere on the Groupon site.
As a teacher I am very excited to see today’s Groupon. My school, in Atlanta, uses donorschoose to fund a number of projects. Donorschoose allows teachers to request materials that they know students need. When teachers request materials and take the time to fill out the request, you can be confident the materials are greatly needed and appreciated. Thank you for your donations. My students and I definitely appreciate you!
The organization is noted on the site.
Click through from Groupon and then click the banner at the top for “Redeeming Groupon”.
You will see the Organization is clearly noted.
Groupon or DonorsChoose,
The details say if you donate $100 or more you will receive a hand written letter from the class you donate to… does the donation need to be WORTH $100 or do you need to donate $100 (worth $200)? I would love to receive a letter from the class but don’t think I can swing $100 out of pocket.
Also, I hope you do this again with a longer expiration date… these would be great to give as “gifts” to people who do not want an actual gift for special occasions.
Kudos to Grouponians! I’m in LA. Can I buy this groupon and choose a class in my area? Also, is the receipt enough for tax deduction?
Also, teachers can register their projects anytime before 10/01/10 deadline, right?
This is Thalia from DonorsChoose.org:
Sarah F. – a $50 Groupon purchase will let you donate $100 to DonorsChoose.org and, once the classroom project is fully funded, you will indeed receive the amazing letters from the classroom. Be sure to include your mailing address when you donate! Great suggestion on a longer expiration date – duly noted for next time!
Q.N. and all others – YES you can use this Groupon to donate to a public school classroom anywhere in the country! DonorsChoose.org is a national nonprofit and we serve K-12 public schools in all 50 states. Just search by “Location” from our search page. Remember, we focus primarily on high-need/under-resourced communities. You can use the Groupon receipt for tax purposes (we are 501c3 charity) or if you’d like a formal tax receipt, contact DonorsChoose.org via the “contact us” form and we’ll email one to you!
I got a gift certificate for Donor’s Choose from a Knight Foundation conference earlier this year and it was so satisfying to go onto their site and see all of the projects that were trying to get microfunding. I donated to two schools’ projects — one for gardening supplies and another to buy drums for a “drum circle.” Many of these are inner city schools. Then you get an email when the project is fully funded and an update showing how they used it. This is a terrific organization and the half-price deal is so great! What’s $10 to give it a try!?
I read that this is going to take place all week. Is that true, or should I buy a larger amount today? Will the counter begin again each day for 500 to purchase? That was my thought and my reasoning to buy each day.
missed the 6 days to go. got it, lets hope I can purchase multiple times.
The Deal doesn’t say if I am limited to one certificate. Can I buy multiples in smaller amounts to either give as gifts or spread out over the time of the promotion?
Can we purchase multiples, e.g. to donate to different classes?
My children’s school isn’t listed. If I buy a gift certificate now, can it be applied to the school once they are enrolled?
Hi guys, DonorsChoose.org Team here with a few follow up answers:
Sarah F: DonorsChoose.org Groupons have an expiration date of October 1, 2010 – so this is a great gift for friends on special occasions – you’ll be able to give them to friends over the next several months with the philanthropic gift codes still valid. They can even redeem during the crucial Back-To-School season!
Charmaine, Margaret A., and Q.N. – You are allowed to purchase as many DonorsChoose.org Groupons as you like throughout this week. Once June 2nd rolls around, you can donate your credits amongst the classroom projects on our site as you choose.
Desiree M. – Great question! If you don’t see your school of choice listed this just means there are no teachers from the school with active projects.
If you know teachers at the school feel free to ask them to visit our site, sign up, and make a request for materials.
Desiree – DonorsChoose doesn’t give school specific information, in order to keep the children safe. Talk to the teachers at your child’s school and see if they have any projects posted – they can give you their classroom specific link to their projects. (For example, mine is: http://www.donorschoose.org/detectivesof214)
I have been using DonorsChoose for 3 years now as a teacher (and a donor) and it is an AMAZING site that allows teachers to get the resources they need. A lot of the schools are low income (you can see that information when you click on a specific project) and the money just isn’t there to provide the kids these experiences. If you have any questions, I’m more than happy to answer as a loyal and firm supporter of the site too! It really is amazing and really helps schoolkids.
Kathleen M: Thanks for the kind words and your willingness to answer questions! We’re fans of you, too!
Q.N.: Following up on your earlier question – the expiration date for the codes is 10/1, and it usually takes a week or so for a teacher’s project to be approved and posted. To be extra safe they should probably submit their project in early September at the latest.
Hi all,
Thanks for all the comments and feedback. We are excited about this endeavor and hope that by the end of the week (Sunday) we can raise one million dollars for donorschoose.org!
As Charles stated, we are working with donorschoose.org to support their goal by donating the space on our site and encouraging our community of over 5 million subscribers not only to participate, but tell others to reach the million dollar mark.
The tipping point is for the whole week and will not reset.
Cheers,
Lina
GROUPON
Great idea! I purchased a $100 (worth $200) certificate.
Just a note for the Canadians seeing this deal – it is not available to Canadian teachers. This is a USA site only, yet Groupon is advertising this deal to the Canadian sites. Oops.
Just because it’s not set up for Canadian schools doesn’t mean that Canadians won’t want to donate. Children are children the world over.
I agree… children are children no matter where they are. The US has just as many cities and towns in poverty as anywhere else (although obviously some countries more than others). Maybe DonorsChoose will broaden their site to Canada and other places after seeing this post. No one should discourage other people from donating just because your child’s or town’s school is not listed – maybe there’s a reason it’s not.
This should be the most gratifying purchase for anyone and everyone.
I just want to clarify that (1) Groupon did not openly disclose that they are not the organization matching donations for no apparent reason other than the appearance that they are and (2) Bridget – Groupon is not actually making a DONATION to your organization. They are waving their commission (because I would assume no one would make a donation otherwise), BUT – I imagine the credit card fees will still apply – (right Groupon??) AND – Groupon will be able to take a tax deduction for the amount of money they would normally take from a deal, in effect, MAKING money off of this Charity Drive.
Don’t get me wrong – I am glad to see Groupon finally helping out a charitable organization, however, I am disheartened to find that Groupon – a company valued in billions of dollars, who just got a $135 million dollar investment, can not find it in themselves to match their subscribers donations. How disappointing.
I’ve been using DonorsChoose.org since the beginning of the year as a teacher and a donor. I had one project funded already and it was a great success. It is being used by other teachers in the school and district now, too!
Since my project was only about $100 (total of $150 after added fees, taxes, shipping, and DonorsChoose.org administrative costs), the highest donor and the last donor both received thank-you notes. Keep that in mind if you really want the thank-you notes but can’t afford $100 (well, $50 with the Groupon).
I don’t mean to use this space to promote my new project, but I guess I kind of am. I can’t help it. My kids need it! While you’re browsing DonorsChoose.org, please check out my next project that I’m working on getting funded: http://www.donorschoose.org/mandish
Donorschoose.org has been a wonderful resource for my school in general and my classroom specifically. They are an exceptional organization who is worthy of all the corporate and public support they get. There are so many supplies, materials and experiences that would not be available to school children without the support of Donorschoose.org.
If you are inclined to participate in this great promotion, please consider using all or part of your donation at www.donorschoose.org/egoodman and help fund my projects. Thanks Groupon and donors choose!
Actually, in the first line it says that Pershing Square Foundation is the sponsor for this particular Groupon: “Support the public school project of your choice with today’s side deal, which lets you double your charitable donation to DonorsChoose.org through generous funding by the Pershing Square Foundation.”
Just as a side note. And personally, I don’t really mind who is doing the funding for the charitable work – Groupon is advertising this amazing organization, Pershing Square is matching donations, and teachers are getting the resources they need! I’m quite satisfied.
Annie -
I am sorry for the confusion, but we did not mean to make it appear as if we were matching the purchases.
Donors Choose reached out to us and asked if we would aid them in maximizing this generous grant they received – we were happy to do so.
There was absolutely no ulterior motive working with Donors Choose and I hope this makes it clear.
Sincerely,
Lina
GROUPON
Pershing Square has done great things with Donorschoose.org this year. Thanks for doing it again!
I love Donors Choose. But…
Why, when I’m in Chicago and doing the daily Chicago deal, am I bounced into Raleigh-Durham when I click on the Donors Choose side deal? Donors Choose is based in NYC. Is the Foundation based in R-D?
Then when I start all over, sometimes I’m in R-D for the main deal, too. What kind of glitch is going on at Groupon?. I know Groupon is national, but… Don’t jump me to a city I don’t live in, even if, as it appears, the Zipcar main deal is for any city in the U.S. with Zipcar. (At least, it’s todaya’s main deal in R-D, too.)
Though, I am glad to see from other comments/answers that we still can donate to any D.C. project, anywhere, this city relocation is confusing and annoying.
OK, in case I missed it int heprevious comments: Because Today’s Side Deal runs for 6 more days and X hours: Does this mean it will be the only side deal available for a week? Meaning: If I want to buy more, it always will be in place on the site, so I easily can find it? If so, no problem. But, if there are to be other daily Side Deals going on whule this one, I hope Groupon keeps the Donors Choose deal prominently displayed on somewhere on the page.
OK, this is getting ridiculous!. When I closed the Donors Choice deal, I’m now in the R-D main deal—-which now is NOT Zipcar, but some basic car-rental place in R-D. What is going on, Groupon? Fix the glitch! I want Chcago, Chicago, Chicago…
Thank you Groupon for adding such a wonderful deal! I’m a 2nd grade teacher in inner city Boston, and I have been using Donors Choose to help me get up and running in my first year of teaching. My wonderful students have really appreciated everything we’ve gotten from the site and have really enjoyed sending their thank yous.
Along the lines of a few other teachers on here, if you would like to help us get a few more essential classroom resources that the district cannot afford, please follow this link to my current project: www.donorschoose.org/missmiano . We would all appreciate it so much!
Three cheers for Groupon for supporting public education – our schools need it now more than ever. Donorschoose gift cards make incredible gifts so your friends, colleagues and clients can pick a project that is meaningful to them. The thank you notes from the kids will make your day and you’ll be hooked!
@Annie C – It is immaterial for me that Groupon was valued over a billion dollar. The investors saw the value of Groupon business model and took their chances with their money. The fact Groupon is not taking any commissions out of this (which normally is approx 50%) is laudable enough. If the D.C. raises a million out of this, and all Grouponers like me contributes $500K towards that 1 million goal, it is a noble cause. Remember, at 50% commissions, groupon is also losing $250K in commissions on this deal. So, I think Groupon is contributing to this deal indirectly and I would like them to bring out more offers like this where they are sacrificing their revenues and helping charities.
I agree with Ratna V.! Kudos to Groupon for presenting this deal!
I think it’s a fabulous deal! Thank you, Groupon, Pershing Square Foundation, and DonorsChoose for making this opportunity available. I’m sure having this offer available on Groupon is spreading the word about DonorsChoose.org to a new audience of citizen-philanthropists! My classroom has been the fortunate recipient of four funded projects so far this year, and I have seen first-hand the positive impact that DonorsChoose has made on my students. My school is located in a high-poverty area, and we do not have a budget that includes anything more than essentials. The parents of my students have also been touched by these projects when I told them the nice, new materials came from friends at DonorsChoose. They are amazed that there are strangers that care about our students and their success, and more amazed that strangers are willing to provide our kids with classroom essentials and enrichment items. If any Groupon users are inclined to use their Groupon to help fund items for my classroom, I would be absolutely thrilled and delighted: http://www.donorschoose.org/dawn.taylor Thank you all so much!
This is a wonderful and fantastic idea. I am a teacher who has used Donors Choose this past year seven times and all seven times my projects were funded by private individuals. Without this organization I would have little supplies to teach my inner city kids. Don’t hesitate it all is legitimate!
Thank you to everyone purchasing this Groupon!!! Teachers and students appreciate you so much! You are helping us to enrich the lives of the future. Please take a moment to help a school in your area.
I have been a donor to Donorschoose.org for three and a half years and it has been extremely rewarding. Reading the feedback from the teachers and the letters from the kids, you see the impact of your donation and know exactly how it has helped the classroom. I have helped fund projects from schools all around the country, from field trips, to musical instruments to books, to calculators. You can search the site, so find a project that means something to you – perhaps you played clarinet in the school band – there are always music teachers who need clarinets for kids who can’t afford them; perhaps your favorite book in elementary school was “A Wrinkle in Time” or the Little House Books – there are usually teachers looking for these books. The certificates also make wonderful gifts – give one to a teen or young adult to introduce them to philanthropy. Donorschoose.org not only helps kids get resources, but it lets them – and their teachers – know that people care about their education. When you see a thank you letter that says something like “I can’t believe people who don’t us are helping our classroom”, you’ll be hooked!
To second @Ratna’s comment….for those of us who’ve used Groupons from its inception, we realize that Groupon grew out of “The Point”, a community organizing-based endeavor by founder Andrew Mason. I for one, am happy that Andrew and his merry band of Groupon staff haven’t lost site of their humble beginnings: Groupon is leveraging its (now, enormous) user base to generate matching funds for a worthy organization. Well done for spreading the PBS/NPR model of donations and matching funds to the internet!
50% COMMISSION?!? I find that hard to believe… VERY hard to believe. If that’s true, Groupon should be seriously ashamed of themselves; that’s just disgusting.
As for not taking a commission on this, DUH. Any respectable organization would do the same thing. This is like when credit card companies bowed under pressure to stop charging fees for donations to Haiti…
Same stuff… not very special.
Thank you for giving teachers another way to see projects get funded. It’s a great feeling to know that the success of your donation is a reality and makes a hugh impact in the classroom. If you are taking part in this opportunity and are not sure where to place your donation, my classroom would be a perfect fit. Please take a moment to check out our project proposals: http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/326024.1201460675 Thank you for any support you can give :)
I proudly gave the max amount to help these teachers directly in the classroom. I am an active contributor in our community and NEVER have heard of donorschoose.org so thank you GROUPON! I am thrilled to actually see my money at work! What a great thing!
This is the most amazing offer for a wonderful cause involving three amazing entities! Thank you to DonorsChoose and Pershing Square Foundation for their amazing contributions to public education! These are some of the most generous and well run organizations that I have come across in a very long time. Also, thank you to Groupon for the contributions in all aspects that you are making for this to happen! As a public school teacher at a high poverty school, it is so inspiring and spirit renewing to feel there are people out there who value and support public education! DonorsChoose (and all those associated with it) ROCKS!
Thank you to all of the donors. This is an amazing promotion! I am so glad so many classroom projects will benefit from this.
Audrey D., I am so glad you found DonorsChoose. They are a wonderful group of people working with generous supporters for a great cause! You will love your experiences with them, I am sure…I sure have!
The best part is that this is really going to help DonorsChoose get a lot more support!! The advertising for the site is the best part, and if we can raise $1 Million for teachers around the country, even better! I cannot begin to describe the amazing things I’ve been able to do with my kids since getting projects funded through DonorsChoose. I work in a high poverty, high risk area and getting my kids brand new resources (rather than some of the 1978 text books we used to have) has really encouraged them in their learning. They beg me to find out what the next project is that we’ll be doing. It’s really encouraging to see how donors can change the future for these kids – creating lifelong learners out of children who have a predicted drop out rate of 50%. It’s so great to see that even in these hard financial times, people are willing to help out with education! It’s so important.
Even if you’re not in a situation to purchase a Groupon yourself (though $10 for a $20 donation is AMAZING for teachers!), I really encourage everyone to send the link on to friends, family, coworkers, etc, who might be able to purchase one. Take up a pool at work and see if everyone wants to pitch in to purchase one and pick a project. My kids are so excited each time I’m able to tell them about a new donation we’ve received. They start writing heartfelt thank you notes as soon as we get confirmation!
If you’re not familiar with the site, take a few minutes to check out completed projects and letters and pictures that teachers have posted. You’ll be hooked when you see their faces glow as they show off their brand new supplies!
Can we use it to “SAVE A TEACHER”? With all the budget cuts, unfortunately, some of the teachers are getting slashed.
@Frederick, Many businesses where I used Groupon as well as bunch of articles at TechCrunch discussing the valuation of Groupon (over 1.3 billions) indicated that Groupon commissions to be from 40 to 50% with 50% being more common!.
So, unlike credit card fees of approx. 2% waiver, Groupon has definitely sacrificed a huge chunk of revenues on this charitable offer at 40 to 50% usual commissions. Let us give credit where it belongs. Groupon has indirectly contributed a good sum here which they could have earned by listing some other side deal than our beloved D.C.
Thanks Groupon for supporting this wonderful charity. I hope to see more non profit donation deals such as this on Groupon.
If I purchase a $250 Groupon can I apply to multiple DonorsChoose projects? For example – $105 to one project, $95 to another, & $50 to last project – for a total of $250. Please advise.
If you are looking for a needy school to donate your DonorsChoose Groupon to, think about my class. 87% of students at my school live at or below the poverty line. Students live in homes, trailers, apartments, motels, or cars. We have some pretty needy students. Our district will only purchase items that THEY deem as “essential”. Take a look at my projects.
http://www.donorschoose.org/hickerson
Trisha J: Great question! You CAN apply your Groupon to multiple projects, just as you described. The best news is, if you purchase a $250 Groupon, you can apply a total of $500 to classroom projects!
I am so excited to see this Groupon offer! I am a teacher in a high poverty school. I have special needs students, and over half are English language learners. We need so many things, but the budget just is not there. I discovered DonorsChoose, and submitted my first project in March. It was funded in a week by private donors, and I was so ecstatic to acquire technology I never thought I could get my hands on for my kids! I have two new projects on my teacher page now, so for anyone who is feeling philanthropic… http://www.donorschoose.org/mrs.cappelli
@Ratna V. What you don’t understand is that (1) there is no way to take a commission on a donation so Groupon is not giving up anything other than the potential money that they could have made had they run side deals yesterday because today DonorsChoose is not in the side deal category; AND (2) the 50% they are not taking is tax deductible as lost revenue for Groupon, SO, they are, IN FACT still making money on running a charity deal (which I’m sure their accountants pointed out to them). Don’t get me wrong, the exposure is great for DonorsChoose and they are a worthwhile organization, but for those of you gushing about how great Groupon is for doing this… just think of what they COULD BE DOING the next time you’re doing down dog for $20 for a month or having your teeth whitened for $10. But I’m sure Groupon feels pretty good about themselves since that’s the way Mason rolls…
Get off your high horse, Carry Ann. The fact that everyone but you seems to appreciate what Groupon is doing should tell you something. If there is anyone looking to ‘feel good about themselves’ here, it is you.
I’m just happy to give to our schools. I don’t care who else is benefiting as long as the public schools are benefitting.
correct me if I’m wrong, but I think its worth pointing out that it seems that saving “our” schools is AMERICAN schools only (states)…..
I agree with Ron… give it a rest cary ann. please
My accountant says the 50% loss is the cost of doing business and is NOT tax deductible.
so my question is… at what point during this transaction to you actually get to choose which project you want your money to go to?
David, once you get your Groupon (June 2nd, I believe?) you will go to DonorsChoose.org. At the top, there’s already a link for redeeming your Groupon. You can start searching through projects by looking for a specific state or school, or entering a keyword (Like Math if you’re interested in Math Projects). You can talk to teachers at your school to find out their personalized links (like mine is http://www.donorschoose.org/detectivesof214 ). You can give any portion of your Groupon to projects – divide it up between multiple or give it all to one. If you give $100+ or “finish” (give the remaining amount) to any project, you’ll get personalized thank you notes from the kids!
It’s really awesome!!
Thank you Groupon! Although some discussion seems to have tainted this offering, I’m sure the bulk of us recognize the ‘gift’ you’re giving to Donorschoose.org. The value of this exposure, among other things, means a lot to the kids who will be impacted directly (as well as the rest of us who benefit from having more happy educated kids in our communities and in the world at large.) Since the US and Canada are sharing the same site, it would be great to have a Groupie put a similarly highly regarded and far reaching Canadian non-profit in touch with Groupon. It’d be great to see maybe a ‘philanthropy’ side deal of the month in the future. Bottom line; I’ll continue to visit Groupon on a daily basis to find and buy awesome restaurant/entertainment etc. deals, however, like many others, I’d never heard of Donorschoose.org before, I like what I see, and I’m now going to donate for the sake of schoolchildren in need. This would not have happened without Groupon!
Matt – I think that’s the best part of this groupon – the EXPOSURE! Getting DonorsChoose’s name out there for potential donors who can impact classrooms around the US in such huge ways!
Many thanks to everyone who supports Donorschoose.org with thier Groupons, or with any personal funds. The money makes a MAJOR difference in the lives of children.
A friend wanted to donate to my posted project (www.donorschoose.org/egoodman), so i referred her to Groupon. Now, her very generous $25 donation is worth $70 on DC! She doubled her groupon to $50, and the $10 referral fee I get becomes $20. Awesome! Thanks so much for doing this!
Please visit my project page if you would like to contribute.
Hi! I have dealt with groupon, donors choose and The Pershing Foundation- all of which have delivered what they promised. Both donor’s choose and The Pershing Foundation have made it possible for my students to recieve books, a printer and materials for our classroom that our school could not afford. Thank you, groupon, for posting this.
If you have purchased one and would like a project to donate to, check mine out! Search for MARCANO
Thank you again!!
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=393516&verify=-1442947953
I am a teacher in NYC, and love this Groupon and DonorsChoose. I have posted and had 2 projects funded this past school year. Several of my co-workers use it as well.
It would be great if this was listed in Groupon pages in other cities. I would also like to see it come back in the fall. I usually add projects right before school starts, or halfway throughout the year.
That is a great point Karen. A lot of teacher do a big push with Back to School Night for DonorsChoose and that tends to be when I post a majority of my projects is right around the start of school so that I have it for that year’s class. It would be amazing if Pershing Square Foundation or one of DonorsChoose’s other big donors were able to sponsor another one during the Fall!! I know it would be a huge success.
Donorchoose.org is a wonderful charitable organization for teacher projects. I am a teacher in a rural school system with a high poverty rate. If it weren’t for donors like yourself, our classrooms would run short of needed supplies and up-to-date technology.
Thanks again for your donations.
Thanks to DonorsChoose, Pershing Square Foundation, and Groupon for making this deal happen! I have had projects funded before and can attest to the fact that the students are VERY appreciative. If you are looking for a science project, check out my page!
http://www.donorschoose.org/finegold
I’m having a hard time believing all the negative comments about this amazing opportunity. I posted on my thoughts about this very discussion on my blog. http://bit.ly/cOfYeP
Hi! I think charity deals are a great idea. Will Groupon consider doing a “Charity Side Deal” every day? Then there would be a main deal, a side deal, and a charity deal! How about it, Groupon?!
Last year, my daughter made a donation to Donors Choose in my name for my gift. I chose a classroom that needed a special table for a student with special needs to complete his daily work. When the table was purchased, I received a thank you from the teacher and the student. I still have that note on my frig. It is a great organization and I highly recommend you consider this charity. For me it was a gift that kept on giving.
As a teacher, I must share with everyone my sincere appreciation to all donors who contribute to Donors Choose. I am able to receive supplies that are not possible to fund on my own and the state/school district do not buy and cannot afford. Donors Choose and the people who donate are in a word, AWESOME! I cannot in words express my appreciation. I appreciate the Pershing Square Foundation for this opportunity – I purchased so that I could fund some of my requests that I need for the fall start of school. Thank you to all!
Oops – I wanted to add a link to my previous comment!
If I make a donation through Groupon instead of through DonorsChoose.org, it the donation still tax deductible?
I would think it is still tax deductible. It should show on your donorschoose account.
Hi Christine P. Good question! You can use the Groupon receipt (.pdf printout) for tax purposes (we are 501c3 charity) or if you’d like a formal tax receipt, contact DonorsChoose.org via the “contact us” form and we’ll email one to you!
how do you get to the Groupon receipt? I couldn’t find it.
Thank you groupon! I am a teacher who often proposes grants through donorschoose.org. I hope people take advantage of the money doubling, you can search by area, school, need even teacher!
I am a Chicago teacher in a high poverty school. See my proposal!
This is awesome! Way to go Groupon!
I realize that this might sound odd, but I am a teacher in an urban public high school… may I use this Groupon to donate to my own students?
this is a great move by groupon. however, i think it shines a spotlight on the public school crisis in our country.
the US is in the top 5 of spenders on public education, yet were in the bottom of 1st world nations in performance. either kids are getting dumber, or we’re wasting more money than ever.
while its great groupon is doing this, i think its sad that we need charity to buy stuff for classrooms in the US when we pay so much for it already. could Kiva, private schools, Groupon, donorsChoose.org, and other voluntary charity support a better education system than the tax system?
i’m not a tea-partier, and i dont mean to turn this into a big political debate. but i can’t help but wonder if private, volunteer donation/charity isn’t a better, more efficient method of delivery goods/services to the kids who need them.
Can you apply your Groupon to more than one project? Or does it all have to be appied to just one project? That part was not clear to me.
Thanks, Groupon! You guys rock for bringing this to the community. Personally, this is a fantastic opp for me to lend a hand. The company I work for matches my donations, and thanks to the additional matching from Pershing Square Foundation, the $ will go a lot further. To all donors: check if your workplace matches gifts! :)
Rebecca: Great question! You CAN apply your Groupon to multiple projects on our site. For example, if you purchase a $25 Groupon (for $50 to DonorsChoose.org) you can apply $10 to 5 different projects, or $5 to 10 projects, etc. etc.!
Olivia: Awesome point! Anyone can check to see if their company will match their gift here: http://matchinggifts.com/donorschoose/
This is a really nice use of social media. Kudos to all.
I’m trying to get the message out to my kids school here in NYC…but it ain’t gonna happen in time.
I’d love to know after this offer is complete and all analysis complete, if this offer might be presented again.
I’d also be very interested in what kind of response this offer got esp. relative to other Groupon offers.
Groupon, this is wonderful, thank you for making this possible. DonorsChoose.org found a great way to get the message out about their work and the contribution from the Pershing Square Foundation.
I have a question for DonorsChoose.org. I just purchased the groupon using my account on behalf of my community service group. Rather than personally receiving letters from students, will I have an opportunity to indicate who else the donation is from? And to clarify, on June 1st I can select the classroom project(s)? Thank you!
Is there a maximum $ value of Groupons that can be purchased in order to take advantage of the 100% match?
Sorry if someone asked about this earlier but I didn’t see it while skimming the comments … when I look at the details of individual projects on donorschoose.org, there’s a line item in the financials for an “optional” donation to support donorschoose.org but it’s actually figured into the total cost of the project. So if I’m reading this right, no project is fully funded until that “optional” amount (which is 18% of the project cost) is covered. If this is correct, I don’t see how this could possibly be termed OPTIONAL. Forget abot crucifying Groupon … if that’s the case, I find that VERY misleading. Could someone please explain this? Thanks.
Alvis C.: It appears that projects can still be funded if donors opt out of the “optional” fee. http://help.donorschoose.org/app/answers/detail/a_id/203/related/1 Of course, by donating the optional fee, you are helping to support DonorsChoose’s administrative & operating costs. Without that support, I doubt they would be able to run well and be able to help so many students. Charity Navigator gives them their highest four-star rating: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=9284
Does anyone else see the irony of 5000 Groupons sold in Chicago for a hot stone massage, over 6000 Groupons sold in New York to go to the King Tut exhibit and less than 1500 Groupon donations SITE WIDE over the course of the entire week to DonorsChoose.org. I estimate that is roughly .00005 percent of the Groupon community.
Dawn – thanks for the info. I wasn’t doubting this is a good cause. It just looked as if the optional donorschoose.com assessment was anything but – and I had a HUGE problem with that. I understand that pool of money functions like petty cash since there’s no way to guarantee the projected cost won’t change. The link you posted was very helpful and I will for sure participate in this Groupon. As a matter of fact I intent to purchase some as Jr High and High School graduation gifts so the kids who had every advantage thus far can make a possitive difference in the education of someone less fortunate.
What a great cause! Thank you very much Groupon, Pershing Square Foundation, and DonorsChoose.org! I will definitely spread the word about this wonderful deal that helps so many.
@Naomi – I am surprised at the low response from Grouponers to this cause too compared to some of the other deals for a massage or eating at a restaurant. I guess many Grouponers cannot even forego a dining out to contribute to a good cause!
Hi,
I am a special education teacher and have been writing classroom projects for Donors Choose for a year. I cannot tell you how it has impacted the life of my students. I have a student with cerebral palsy who was having a difficult time using the mouse on the classroom computer – thanks to HP and a very generous donor a very sweet little girl has a SmartTouch computer and is no longer in pain when she uses her computer. I have gotten essential supplies like cereal, oatmeal, books, art supplies, and wonderful things I could never dream of having like a Wii and several Kindles for students who are not reading atr grade level. If there was ever a cause that helps teachers and students directly it’s Donors Choose. Pershing Square funded several projects for my classroom for Memorial Day because I teach at a school with a large military presence. If you would like to see what you money can fund please check out my Friends and Family page and then check completed projects. Look at the faces of my students using resources I could never provided myself. This is not a sham or anything you need to be worried about donating to. Please look at my page and my classroom and you will see that for yourself.
This is so great! Please do this again in September or October. I noticed this in the groupon side deal earlier this week. It took a few days for us to believe this was for real … it just seemed too good to be true. Our local school ended on TH, so our teachers had no time to develop projects. I donated for the match on faith our teachers will figure out how to spend it in August, but it would be far easier to inspire local interest if our neighborhood school teachers had projects posted. We can make that happen at the beginning of the school, but not the end!
Wow! What a great idea!! I’m in…and hoping many others are, too.
What was the total amount of funds raised?
Per groupon mail received just now, the total money raised including the matching grant was only $133,240!. An amount that groupies easily burn on a restaurant or facial deal in one large city on any day! It is a shame on Groupies that they could not raise at least a quarter million with a matching grant. But at least it was a decent start towards groupies charitable contributions!
Thalia from DonorsChoose.org here: it is correct that this partnership raised $133K for classrooms, and we are thrilled by the response from the Groupon community! For us, impact is measured beyond the $133K and we are so appreciative of Groupon for helping us to pilot this idea. The NY Times picked up the story and we hope this model of philanthropy will continue to catch on.
The MOST IMPORTANT step for “Groupies” is still to come! Please redeem your code at DonorsChoose.org/Groupon on a classroom project that inspires you (have fun with the experience!) and at the end of the checkout process, follow instructions to share with your Facebook and Twitter network, helping to spread the word. Also, let Groupon know that you’d love to see philanthropic “deals of the day” like this again!
On behalf of the teachers and students you’ve supported, THANK YOU GROUPON COMMUNITY!
~DonorsChoose.org
I congratulate Groupon for doing this (and who cares if they get publicity or some other added value for doing this). The bottom line is many of us have the desire to give but not always the funds. So maybe Groupon got some publicity and good will without having to spend a dime, but think of what all the teachers and their students are getting because so many of us took advantage of this deal. Good work, Groupon. Please do it again!
Does anyone get an error redeeming the groupon on donorschoose website?
HTTP Status 500 -
type Exception report
message
description The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request.
exception
org.springframework.web.util.NestedServletException: Request processing failed; nested exception is org.springframework.webflow.execution.FlowExecutionException: Exception thrown in state ‘validContactPaymentInfo’ of flow ‘givingCart’
org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:583)
org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:511)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:710)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:803)
org.donorschoose.web.filter.SafeInputFilter.doFilter(SafeInputFilter.java:89)
org.donorschoose.web.filter.DCCharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(DCCharacterEncodingFilter.java:64)
org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:76)
org.donorschoose.spring.support.DCOpenSessionInViewRetryFilter.doFilterInternal(DCOpenSessionInViewRetryFilter.java:278)
org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:76)
org.donorschoose.web.filter.PreventUrlSessionIdFilter.doFilterInternal(PreventUrlSessionIdFilter.java:92)
org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:76)
org.donorschoose.web.filter.ClientErrorResponseFilter.doFilterInternal(ClientErrorResponseFilter.java:117)
org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:76)
org.donorschoose.web.filter.PerformanceMonitorFilter.doFilterInternal(PerformanceMonitorFilter.java:250)
org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:76)
I used one of my Groupons for this last night and it worked just fine.
Ok .. It’s working now and I just used my donation by funding a project.
DonorsChoose will be more attractive to me if they can apply simple dynamics of volume buying for purchasing items from suppliers at significant discounts than paying retail.
From the prices on DonorsChoose, it seems to be paying retail or slightly above retail to suppliers and DC itself could be negotiating some great deals/bargains based on its volume buying (buy across multiple projects) …
Hope the above feedback helps DC
can someone tell me where I enter my groupon for this? I’m having loads of trouble redeeming mine…
I am disappointed with my fellow Americans in the first national offering. So few people took advantage of this amazing opportunity. There was potentially $1 million to contribute to schools. Of that, only $130,000 was leveraged. In contrast, Americans bought $11 million in Gap coupons.
Too few avenues exist for getting dollars to public schools that need them, and too few people, communities and funders are prioritizing dollars for public schools. I get frustrated when I read that Bill Gates or JP Morgan Chase (what were you thinking, Jamie Dimon?) etc. giving millions to charter schools. This trend looks magnanimous, but in reality it is sucking the resources and lifeforce out of public schools and directing attention and funds mostly to education management organizations who are generally neither inclusive nor transparent.
Also, the contests from Chase, Kohl’s U.S. Cellular to have people vote for where to donate dollars is marketing cleverly disguised as philanthropy. If companies want to be seen as being meaningful in communities, they should align their mission with some philanthropic priorities and/or volunteer opportunities — get grounded in a community instead American Idol-style “voting,” and really try to get to know and make a difference in a meaningful, impactful way. Public schools on the other side of the digital divide are not going to be able to compete for clicks and Facebook likes.
I cannot redeem my groupon – please help! The instructions say to enter the groupon # on pmt page ‘giving card’? This asks for an 8-digit number; I cannot get it to take my groupon #, no matter if I include dashes or not, leave off the last digit (to make it 8), use the # symbol, leave out the next-to-last 0, or whatever. There isn’t a lot of time to use this, please let me know ASAP how I can redeem. Thank you!
Hi Melinda. Thank you for redeeming your DonorsChoose.org Groupon before it expires on Oct. 1. To do so, please start by going to www.donorschoose.org/Groupon. There is an image there of your Groupon and the 8-digit code you should use is circled in red (it’s the bar code on the lower right hand side). Enter that 8 digit code (with or without the dash works) during checkout to donate to the project you chose. Hope that helps! If not, email customer-service@donorschoose.org for help.
Hi all and especially Melinda. I gave you the wrong contact info for customer service help at DonorsChoose.org in my previous comment. If you are having difficulty redeeming your Groupon, please go to https://secure.donorschoose.org/contact/contact_form_donor.html and follow instructions to request help. We’ll get back to you soon!
Any chance you migh have another donorschoose promotion?
Hi Thalia and Groupon —
I’ve been having the same problem as Melinda and Stefanie. Unfortunately the Groupon instructions are not helpful, as they only point out the Groupon number (which we already know). What we need instructions on is how to get the Donors site to accept/recognize that number. I emailed them at the address you mentioned above, but they seem to be understaffed and I haven’t heard back yet. If anyone else has, please let me know. Or if you folks at Groupon can clarify the situation, that would be great. I don’t want this to expire before I can use it.
Hello everyone! Wanted to let you know that Groupon is running another DonorsChoose.org charitable deal of the day for the holidays! This time, the Pershing Square Foundation is helping with a 60% donation! The deal runs today (Thanksgiving 11/25/10) through Cyber Monday (11/29/10).
Check it out! http://www.groupon.com/greenville/deals/donorschoose-org-1
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thalia, DonorsChoose.org
That link should have been: http://www.groupon.com/deals/donorschoose-org-1/
I find it interesting that Groupon does not tell you that they are not the organization that is doubling the donations – nor are they donating any money themselves. This way they just appear to be charitable. Good ploy Groupon!