New Partnership Sends Donations Directly to South Carolina Classrooms

Columbia, SC—South Carolina is now the first in the nation to have a partnership that allows citizens to donate money directly to specific public schools, even specific classes.

State education superintendent Jim Rex and Trip DuBard, executive director of Palmetto Horizon, announced the partnership Monday at a middle school in Columbia that has already taken advantage of the program.

The partnership is between Palmetto Horizon and DonorsChoose.org, a national group that already allows citizens to donate money to the cause of their choice. But in the past, donations have gone to a non-profit organization, which would then decide which projects to fund.

Under this partnership, anyone can go to the Palmetto Horizon website and click on “Make Your Gift Directly to a South Carolina Classroom Today.“ That leads you to a drop-down menu where you can search by city, county or school district and then find specific schools. The schools list the projects that teachers have posted, including a description of what’s needed and the cost.

“The teacher and the students have to respond to that donor, not just in terms of saying, ‘Thank you’, but in terms of saying, ‘Here’s what your gift did, it’s what it enabled us to do.‘ So that’s a direct type of accountability,“ Dr. Rex says.

Sixth grade teacher Cynthia Johnson has already used the system to fund two projects last year for her students at Dent Middle School in Columbia. One was to buy small dry-erase boards for each student to use at her desk. They use them to jot down ideas or for saving paper when they’re working on writing that doesn’t need to be saved.

She also used the site to buy a set of a novel called “Rats” for her boy students. She teaches at a single-gender magnet school, so her glasses are either all boys or all girls. Having the books allowed each boy to take one home to read and have for class discussion without each one having to buy his own.

“I think it helps tremendously, because you’re not limited to just things like the textbook. You’re not just limited to things that are just in the classroom. You can go outside the classroom and get other resources and materials to help the children to understand concepts better in different ways,“ she says.

This year, she had listed on the site buying two sets of books for her students: one novel that’s more appealing to her girls’ classes and a different book for the boys. Palmetto Horizon has already funded her request.

Once a donor decides which project to help, he or she can use a credit card to make an online donation of any amount toward the total cost of the project. Once the project is fully funded, DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested equipment or material and ship it directly to the classroom. If the project doesn’t get enough money, the donor can choose another project or allow DonorsChoose.org to use the donation for another request that matches the donor’s interests.