PledgeCents Best of 2016

“That was the best year we’ve had yet!” is something that we certainly hear and say a lot. Oftentimes, it seems as though each new year tops the last with new accomplishments, adventures, and friendships. Isn’t this truly a great thing, though? We should all work to reflect and improve upon what we’ve done in the past year, regardless of if we’re a teacher, company, or anyone for that matter. We’re firm believers in a growth mindset for our company, and each passing year provides us with direction for the next. 2016 was a year of much growth and exciting happenings for PledgeCents, and we owe so much of that success to our friends, family, supporters, and our teachers! Let’s take a moment to look back on PledgeCents’ best of 2016 moments.

May 2016: $500K Milestone Reached!

Since the launch of PledgeCents back in 2014, we’ve been working hard to bring the best fundraising experience to educators and those interested in supporting educational causes. We take pride in the fact that we simply want those using our site to experience a simple, to the point platform. Through our friendships and connections with teachers, as well as having a few educators on our team, we have truly come to understand how teachers value their time. We value their time too! This past May, we were thrilled to announce that we hit $500K raised for PreK-12 classrooms and educational needs. Currently, we are close to reaching $700K raised… and we look forward to seeing that number continue to grow!

June 2016: Launch of #PCeduchat

Over the past few years, we’ve enjoyed engaging in various edchats on twitter. It’s extra exciting for us as not only a company that cares to learn more about teachers’ needs, wants, interests, and frustrations… but also because we have former educators on our team who love to engage with current teachers using the PledgeCents Twitter handle. After seeing all the various topics that teachers are most interested in (& even those topics that don’t always get talked about!), we felt that we could make even more of an impact by starting a chat of our own (#PCeduchat). We wanted to provide a safe place for educators to discuss a variety of educational topics, including those that are a bit more sensitive. We’re still a smaller, yet steadily growing chat… but we sure have some fantastic conversation! We welcome new friends, and would love to have you join in on a Wednesday night at 8pm EST. Check our schedule to find a date that works for you!

August 2016: Launch of the PledgeCents Preferred Partner Program

One of the accomplishments that we are most proud of from 2016 is the launch of our Preferred Partner Program. The idea behind this program is best summed up by Kevon O’Rear, the PledgeCents Director of Partnerships:

“The Preferred Partner Program stems from our belief that a lack of funding should never be the reason why students don’t have access to quality software. We are beyond excited to have partnered with award-winning edtech companies that share our vision in ensuring that resources and opportunities are made available to all students. This collaboration marks the first of its kind by creating a streamlined way for teachers to source and fund technology for their classrooms."

We currently have 35 Preferred Partners., and are looking forward to collaborating with additional education companies in the near future.

September 2016: PledgeCents is Awarded $25K from The Lean Lab
(left: PledgeCents co-founder Andyshea Saberioon and PledgeCents director of Partnerships Kevon O'Rear. right: our friends at Classtracks who also won a $25K grant)

This past September, our team had the honor to participate in The Lean Lab Launch{ED} Day. Founded in 2013, The Lean Lab each year accepts five new teams of fellows into its summer incubator, which develops education entrepreneurs’ ideas to improve education. The month-long program connects educators with Kansas City schools and mentors to solve specific problems in education. These five teams pitched their startups, and the top two teams were calculated by the fellows themselves through rigorous self and peer evaluation. We’re incredibly thankful for the opportunity to participate in this program, and honored to have been selected as one of the recipients of a $25K grant.

September 2016: Co-Founders Andyshea Saberioon and Ricky Johnson are named two of the “Top Texans Under 30” by CultureMap Austin

For the first time, CultureMap celebrated twentysomething trailblazers in the "Top Texans Under 30". It was such an honor to announce that our co-founder Andyshea Saberioon and Ricky Johnson both were included in this honor! After being nominated by the public and remaining in the running after the top twentysomethings were narrowed down, Andy and Ricky then were interviewed by a panel of expert judges to secure their top spots. It was an exciting time for our team!

February 2016: PledgeCents Joins 100Kin10

We are proud to announce that PledgeCents is now one of 280 organizations working toward the mission of increasing access to STEM education by adding 100,000 STEM teachers by 2021! As part of 100Kin10, PledgeCents has committed to delivering $2 million critical STEM resources and opportunities to more than 5,000 classrooms and 125,000 students across the country by 2019. We’re looking forward to achieving this goal… and providing even more, too. :)

“We are incredibly humbled by the opportunity to join 100Kin10, and excited for the opportunities that such an elite network of educational changemakers working together will bring to our amazing teachers and deserving students!"
-Ricky Johnson, co-founder of PledgeCents

March 2016: “Rodeo Brunch” event raises over $4K for classrooms

On March 6th, The Durnam House in Houston welcomed our attendees with open arms! The Durham House is a new restaurant in Houston that has a very strong passion behind helping our education system locally, and nationwide. To show their support, they contributed 100% of all proceeds directly back to classrooms! Usually, restaurants will contribute 10-20%, but The Durham House wasn't playing around. :) That beautiful Sunday afternoon, over 175 Houstonians attended to enjoy a one-of-a-kind 4 course brunch prepared by prominent Houston chef, Chef McElroy. Solely through ticket sales and a fun raffle, over $4,000 was raised for classrooms! View pictures from the amazing day here or read the news coverage by CultureMap Houston.


Below are a few stats that we are quite proud of! We've broken down the 2016 stats for all of our fundraising categories, as well as the top fundraising states and cities.

Now we want to take a moment to highlight some oranizations and fundraising pages that were exceptionally successful! One of our favorite features about PledgeCents is that even when you meet your goal... you can keep raising funds until your page's end date. Or, of course, you can always end things early to get your funds right away. :-)






Turner Golden Bears Boys Basketball Food & Clothing for 2016-2017 Season

4th Grade Field Trip to Austin, TX!

Support a Future Leader - Attend a STEM Summer Program

Patrick Henry Honor Society Goes to Washington

KIPP Ausin Obras Book Drive

Thank you again to our friends, family, supporters... and our teachers! We wouldn't be where we are today without all of you. 2016 definitely proved to be an amazing year, but we are looking forward to reflecting and growing to make 2017 even better.

Have a safe and happy new year!

-Your friends at PledgeCents :)

If you have any questions, email us at info@pledgecents.com.