On the first project, the Eccles Foundation matched my donors, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation covered the rest. The project was funded in one day, and I got a set of The Poisonwood Bible and some classroom library texts.
The next project was languishing for a while until I got an email from Donors Choose about a promotion that the site called Bing was doing. All you had to do was go to their site, fill out a quick form, and they would send you a $5 gift card for a Donors Choose Donation. Well, I filled out the forms for every person in my family, and Mike and Alison did their part, too, and I quickly had the 2nd project (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and more class library novels) funded, thanks to another match from the Eccles Foundation.
I was on a roll, so I submitted a third project, a flip camcorder, and with the help of more Bing donations and others, and the Eccles match, that was funded.
I just submitted a fourth project today for a class set of 1984. That match money is too good to pass up.
I've learned some things while doing this.
- Proposals with matching funds are more likely to get funded.
- Once you get within 50 dollars of your goal, people are more likely to donate to your proposal
- I love Bing, the Eccles Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
