How to Find Classroom Donors

Your Network: Who Do You Know?

When you’re looking for new donors, start with people who already care about you, your students, and/or your school community. They’re the most likely to respond when you share about your classroom’s needs.

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Friends and family

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Students’ caregivers

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School alumni networks

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Online neighborhood groups

Read more about how to find and identify your classroom’s supporters. Plus, find out how collaborating with students’ loved ones helped a teacher raise more than $40,000.

Business Donors:

Many businesses allocate money in their yearly budget to support important community causes.

This teacher talks about how he successfully got six businesses to donate nearly $1,000 to his science classroom during Teacher Appreciation Week:

Follow his example in three easy steps:

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Create a list/spreadsheet of businesses that you want to ask to donate to your classroom.

2.

Use a word processing program to write a template for your fundraising email. We have fundraising templates you can use to get started.

3.

Personalize each email before sending. Double-check that you have the right name on each one.

Community Organizations:

Your community is filled with folks who want to help.

Here are some examples of community organizations that AdoptAClassroom.org teachers have successfully partnered with:

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Chambers of Commerce

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Your local religious institutions

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Community service organizations like the Rotary Club, Lions Club, Optimists, etc.

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Professional associations (ex – doctors, lawyers, etc.)

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Local sports teams & leagues

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Don’t overlook small, niche sports leagues like roller derby, ultimate frisbee and pickleball.

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Is your local sports league a nonprofit? Ask if you can collaborate on an event and split the proceeds.

Every community is different, so spend some time researching which organizations are active in your area. Then reach out and ask them to support your classroom.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your request:

Partner with a local roller derby team for an exhibition match benefiting your classroom.

Put together a proposal for your dream classroom unit and ask to pitch it to your town’s Elks Lodge for a grant. 

Create a cool flyer with your AdoptAClassroom.org Classroom Page link or a QR code, and ask local libraries and businesses if they have a spot where you can post it. 

If you have questions, reach out to our Teacher Services Team at [email protected]. We’re happy to help.

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