Cents in Action: City of Brotherly Love
Cents in Action: Guest blog post by Heather Histed (Bache Martin Elementary School - Philadelphia, PA)
I am an elementary science teacher in the Philadelphia School District. My classroom services students in grades K-4, as well as several special education classes. I am fortunate to be in a school that places high value on other areas of education beyond the traditional literacy and math focus. Prior to my placement in this school, our principal decided to implement an elementary science curriculum in a self-contained classroom. I took on the task of starting up this new program. As you can imagine, this sort of investment came with a high price tag. A kindergarten teacher at my school decided to start a GoFundMe account to raise the funds over the summer.
The GoFundMe cause proved to be successful, but was met primarily due to high family interest and involvement. When I later asked why this teacher chose to use GoFundMe, she responded that it was simply “what she was familiar with”. I am starting to find out that this is the reason that most teachers choose GoFundMe or even DonorsChoose. It is what they know, and many are often hesitant to try something new.
I heard about PledgeCents through their Twitter. I decided to check out their site and give it a try to raise funds for the various live creatures and other materials necessary for my classroom this year. Words can’t even begin to describe how easy the process was to set up my cause! I first entered my e-mail and password to create an account in only a few seconds. I was then directed to a step-by-step guide to create my cause which took about 20 minutes at most (I have to admit…I tend to be quite thorough). Within a few hours, my cause was approved by the PledgeCents team and live on the website. The support from customer service was phenomenal. In fact, my cause was initially sent back to me with some helpful suggestions to make it more effective. I was encouraged to include links to each item requested so that potential investors could see exactly how their money was being used. Another neat feature is that PledgeCents allows you to post a “Plan B” for what you will use the funds for if you do not meet your goal. Yes, you still keep your $$$ raised!
I was excited to see that my cause was fully funded before my deadline! PledgeCents was incredibly accommodating and allowed me to end my cause early so that I could receive my funds faster. Of course, I also had the option to “raise the bar” and get even more funds towards my cause. My check arrived promptly to my school, and my administrator had no problem distributing the funds. Many people don’t realize that GoFundMe is not tax deductible. In fact, the teacher who started the GoFundMe for my classroom was incredibly shocked when she found this out because she had thousands of dollars directly sent to her bank account! All of the teachers at my school love that the check is sent in their name to the school rather than deposited in their personal accounts.
Since my first cause with PledgeCents, my school has also participated in two of their big contests. The most recent was the #Pledge2Win contest where we came in 4th place. However, we came in 2nd place for the #SchoolSupplied contest and won $750 for our school to purchase any supplies that we wished! We purchased a few chromebooks, paper, pencils, cleaning supplies, and much more. We’re definitely excited to see what sort of contest they come up with next!
Many teachers at my school have now used PledgeCents to fund everything from textbooks to Chromebooks. If you haven’t yet given them a chance, I highly recommend you do. You’ve got nothing to lose!
*Heather was not compensated for this post.
