Cents in Action: Cajun Flava!
Cents in Action: Guest blog post by LaQuita Gresham (Mildred Osborne Charter School - New Orleans, LA)
LaQuita was able to raise over $600 in a short amount of time with her first cause on PledgeCents! We want to highlight her experience on PledgeCents with her raw feedback in the form of a guest post.
At the beginning of the school year, I was told that I would have the opportunity to choose a book to teach my students for their last unit. I was very excited and began to think about which novel I wanted my students to read. As the end of the school year began to approach, I contacted my administration to inform them that I had chosen the book and was ready to submit an order. I was surprised when I was later told that my students and their parents would be expected buy the books; I had just assumed that the novels could be ordered via my school. My administration asked me to type up a letter to send home to parents so that I could begin to collect money for the order.
Every time I sat down to write a letter to my parents asking them to send money to buy their student’s book for class, I honestly had no idea what to say. I felt so conflicted because I didn’t think that my parents or my students should be placed with the responsibility of purchasing their own books for class. I work in a low-income school, and I have witnessed many occasions where my students have even struggled or requested assistance to pay for a field trip. However, the difference with a field trip is that a student can choose not to go and can stay behind at the school. But students can’t opt out of a book that’s needed for class. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had resolved that I was not going to send that (unwritten) letter home. I knew that I had to do something else to find the funds for my kids.
I had previously attempted to start a project with DonorsChoose, but I had zero success and was frustrated with the fact that other teachers had positive experiences. I even tried to use DonorsChoose for a second time with a promotion but found that they weren’t helpful. It was near impossible for me to get into contact with someone and my emails were often ignored. I knew that I didn’t want to attempt to start a project with them again, but I didn’t know what would be the alternative
One day I received a follow request on Instagram from PledgeCents. I had never heard of them, but I began to creep their page since I saw in their bio that they helped schools raise funds. But I didn’t think much about them after that until about a week or so later. I’m in a GroupMe with several educators and colleagues and one of the teachers was asking if anyone had any ideas on how to help her raise funds for her students. A discussion then followed with many teachers chiming in on their experiences with DonorsChoose vs. PledgeCents. One strong advocate quickly sold us all when she explained how PledgeCents allowed teachers/schools to receive whatever funds they raised – even if it was not the full amount – and she also noted that PledgeCents would match $1 per Facebook share. I was pleasantly surprised and honestly felt hopeful that I could at least do something for my kids, even if it was just the matched funds I felt like I actually had a chance to raise some money for my students without feeling defeated before I even began.
I created an account with PledgeCents and it took me less than twenty minutes. And then I got a personal email from them providing feedback on my cause and telling me what details should be added in order to improve my cause while giving donors more information. I wasn’t expecting someone from the PledgeCents team to actually read my cause and then to also help me to make it better. It felt personal. It felt like they genuinely cared and wanted to see me succeed. And because I felt like they cared about me and my cause, it made me feel like they cared about my students and that was what really mattered. It was obvious that they were connected to the work and were truly working in the best interest of educators and students.
Once my cause was approved, I quickly began to send the link out to colleagues via text, email, GroupMe, and Facebook. I asked for donations, but I also informed people that they could be a help simply by sharing the link. This was a huge help because the shares were matched by PledgeCents; plus, I also received donations from people that I didn’t personally know but who had seen the link through a mutual friend. I was able to raise all of the money that I needed in less than two weeks. I couldn’t believe it!
I was so excited to tell my administration and my students about the money that was raised. PledgeCents was helpful every step of the way. Even after the money was raised, they continued to communicate with me to make sure that I was supported until the cause was complete. I also liked the fact that they sent the check to the school. This made me feel like they were truly concerned with the money going to the right place and to the right people for the right reasons. It felt legit.
The satisfaction that I felt in knowing that my students didn’t have to buy their own books was truly heart-warming. It was such a blessing to watch so many people reach out to support me and my students and to see how personal this was for PledgeCents as well. They truly wanted to help us, and they did. I was so excited to see those Amazon boxes delivered to my school and to write my students’ names on the front of their very own copy of our novel. Even now as I watch them read and annotate in their personal copy of the book, I can help but smile and feel thankful to everyone who made these moments possible by sharing my link, donating to the cause, and to PledgeCents for matching shares with a $1 and helping my cause to be successful. My parents and students didn’t have to fork out a single dime for these novels, and that’s all due to amazing people who truly care about the success of students.
*LaQuita was not compensated for this post.
