Funding

New Program Processes Donations for Teacher Needs

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 01/17/19

A new platform has launched to help teachers fund supplies, field trips, books and other expenses in the classroom. To use TeacherFunder.com, participants register, create a profile with a photo and short biography, let donors know why they need the funding and explain how it will be used. Teachers can use their profile page to interact with parents and students from their schools, and links to the page can be shared on social sites.

The service said it doesn't charge a platform fee per se. A minimal 3.9 percent, plus $1 is taken from each donation to process through merchants. All of the remaining money goes to the teacher doing the fundraising.

"We are pleased to offer this new crowdfunding source designed specifically for hard-working teachers who do so much, but earn so little money," said Michael Paladino, CEO of TeacherFunder, in a statement.

A number of competitors with slight variations already serve this market, led by DonorsChoose.org, which also targets the education segment. However, DonorsChoose focuses specifically on supplies for the classroom and fulfills the order for the teacher once a target goal has been met. TeacherFunder acts as a payment service, no matter what the money is going for, enabling the teacher to access the funds as they arrive.