Soup Always Makes Cents
Partnership Announcement: PhilaSoup + PledgeCents
Our team is very focused on building relationships with great community-focused partners who are doing great work in education in their city. We are honored and happy to announce that PledgeCents is partnering with a popular grassroots non-profit, PhilaSoup, that is changing the landscape of funding opporutnities for teachers in the Philadelphia area.
Who is PhilaSoup?
"Now in its fourth year of operation, PhilaSoup has held 24 dinners and raised over $19,584 to bring 35+ teacher-led or student-led school projects to life in Philadelphia.
We are an all-volunteer led group of Philadelphians committed to supporting classroom teachers and students from across all sectors. We support teachers from public, private, parochial, and charter schools to do great work with their students."
Tell us more...
PhilaSoup has done a great job in cultivating a vibrant and committted community of educators and philanthropists in the Philadelphia area to support education. The traditional non-profit route of asking for grants or for large sums of money from corporations is not at their core.
"PhilaSoup's mission is to bring together diverse sectors of the Philadelphia education community, and support initiatives that will enhance the learning experiences of our students. PhilaSoup hosts micro-grant dinners to help fund the projects and ideas of innovative teachers, and create a community of mutual support amongst educators across sectors. PhilaSoup believes teachers are our greatest educational entrepreneurs."
Their team is making it fun for people from different backgrounds to come together and to hear the stories of the amazing work educators are doing in Philly. For the first time, community members can come together and meet teachers from around the city and hear the passion first hand. The PhilaSoup team does a great job in providing transparency on where the money goes and how it's impacting the teachers and their students.
What does this partnership look like?
Every few months, PhilaSoup hosts their famous "Soup Events". Teachers from around the city will apply for mini-grants and to be selected to pitch their idea at the next Soup. A handful of teachers are selected for each Soup Event. Community members in Philly purchase a ticket ($15-$25) to attend these unique events. Each event is hosted in a different neighborhood in Philly.
On the day of the event, the selected teachers will take turn to pitch their idea that they are requesting funds for and, at the end, all of the attendees will vote on the idea that impacts them the most. 100% of proceeds from ticket sales will be distributed amongst the 1st Place, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place winners. AND PhilaSoup will match up to $500 of ticket sales!!!
Soooooo....PhilaSoup's next event is on Sunday, May 15th from 11am-1pm. All educators looking to submit an application will do so via PledgeCents. This partnership allows teachers to have the opportunity to raise funds at the PhilaSoup event as well as on the PledgeCents platform. Basically, you are getting 2x the opportunity to raise funds for your students! All applications will be under the PhilaSoup page.
How do you get started?
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For more details about the PhilaSoup application, please see the rubric that all applications will be judged on:
All selected presenters will be given 5 minutes to present their project at a PhilaSoup dinner, following by a Q&A with attendees. All proposals will be reviewed by the PhilaSoup Proposals Committee to ensure the quality and direct impact of the project before each PhilaSoup. You can view this rubric by visiting philasoup.org/proposals.
Make sure the following questions are answered in your cause description:
- Description of school or organization (grades served, neighborhood, private, charter, etc.)
- Describe the project/PD for which the grant funds will be applied. Please also provide detailed information about the target student group, the number of students served, and the timeline for the project.
- Please provide information on the amount of grant funds that will be necessary for completing the project and how they will be utilized. In indicating how you will use the funds, if awarded, please indicate specifically what goods or services will be purchased with the funds. If a PhilaSoup grant is unable to cover all expenses related to your project, how do you anticipate covering additional costs?
- How do you anticipate this project will advance your students’ education and academic, social or emotional success?
- How do you anticipate your project will impact the larger culture of your school/organization?
All presenters will be notified by e-mail in the week prior to PhilaSoup. You are expected to respond to PhilaSoup correspondences within 24 hours or forfeit your entry.
Application for the PhilaSoup (May 15th event) are accepted until April 24th.
If you attended the Grow in Greater Philly event hosted by Teach for America, then please state that in your cause description.
If you have any questions, email us at info@pledgecents.com.
