Category Archives: Fundraising

We’re Inspired By: Will.i.am

Image courtesy of LAConfidentialMagazine.com

This week we would like to pay tribute to Will.i.am, the lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas.

Will.i.am has created the i.am.angel Foundation with the goal to “trans4m lives through education, inspiration and opportunity”. One of his big initiatives is to encourage involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — the STEM subjects. He believes STEM will power the economy to lift neighborhoods from poverty and argues why it is imperative to help our children pursue careers in STEM fields.

Taking it even one step further, Will.i.am has proposed STEM to become STEAM, now to integrate the Arts as well. A partnership with i.am.angel Foundation and Discovery Education has created a program called i.am.STEAM, intended to bring science, technology, engineering, art and math to K-12 classrooms around the country. He even partnered with NASA to premier his single, “Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)” in August 2012 in an effort to inspire students to cultivate an interest in science.

On February 7th, Will.i.am hosted a benefit concert called “Transf4m” to raise money for his hometown, Boyle Heights. The i.am.boyle.heights center will be a major resource for transforming the community located in East Los Angeles. It will offer a range of programs equipped with resources to help students get into college.

Will.i.am we salute you for your initiatives to improve education in America.

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Interview with Catherine White, Parent Association President, High Tech High Media Arts

This week we are proud to share insights from the President of the Parent Association at High Tech High Media Arts (HTHMA), Catherine White. HTHMA focuses on a college-going culture supported through a strong liberal arts and sciences foundation. The campus serves 400 students in grades 9-12 and was founded in 2005. The project-based curriculum enables students to “do and learn.” As the Parent Association President, White has seen the kind of difference HTHMA has made in its students’ lives. She has continuously and actively showed support for HTHMA and its programs. With her role as President of the Parent Association, comes not only knowledge but also her first-hand experience in dealing with funding challenges. We had an opportunity to speak with Catherine about her role at the parent association, the difficulties of fundraising and why she feels that DonorNation is the solution.

DonorNation: What does the quality of education mean to you?

Catherine: A school provides an education when its students are learning. A school provides a quality education when its students are learning how to learn. I think of the phrase, “That’s academic.” The word “academic” makes you think of a conventional, classical education. But saying, “That’s academic,” means something that is theoretical without a practical purpose. I think you cannot call an education a quality education without having a value, i.e., a practical purpose. When a student learns how to learn, and can put that knowledge to practical purpose…I call that a quality education.

DonorNation: What is your opinion on the funding crisis facing schools today? How has it impacted High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: I think that the funding crisis does not stem from a lack of funds, but rather from a lack of priority. California spends approximately seven times more on housing a prisoner per year than educating a child per year. I am a criminal defense attorney. I know these prisoners; they are my clients. The overwhelming majority of prisoners have a single common trait — they grew up without a quality education. I see lives wasted every day because our state does not prioritize teaching our children how to think — and especially how to think before acting with full regard to the consequences. The students in our schools today can either be our future thinkers, or my future clients. In my opinion, we need to choose education now over punishment later for lack of making educated decisions.

High Tech High Media Arts is a project-based school with brilliant teachers who think beyond the books, outside the box, beneath the oceans and into the skies. When funding is limited, our teachers are limited. It’s that simple. Why would we allow that to happen? We move mountains to get our children into HTHMA, and then tell the teachers, “Sorry, but we don’t have the money to allow you to be brilliant with our children.” I don’t think so. Not only does that defeat the entire purpose of HTHMA, but demoralizes the teachers and students. I think that we must do everything in our power — and in our pocketbooks — to ensure that our teachers’ wishes and dreams for our students come true.

DonorNation: What are the biggest challenges you face with fundraising?

Catherine: Fighting the thought that “someone else” will do it.  The parents that give their time, energy and money to fundraising efforts are a small percentage of the 100 percent participation that we need. If everyone gave — even in the smallest of ways — we would not have a fundraising problem. It takes a village, right?

DonorNation: Why did you decide to use DonorNation as a fundraising platform?


Catherine: The concept of DonorNation is brilliant. Neighbor-helping-neighbor? Come on! What better way to activate the resources of our community than to integrate our community’s individuals and businesses with the education of our community’s students? The quality of our city is the quality of our citizens. Our students are our future citizens, so why would we all not want to have a stake in that?

DonorNation: How do you feel DonorNation will help High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: What is the downside? I mean, not only do we raise funds for the school, but we also teach the students that we are a community that puts its hope and faith in them. I don’t know a single child who doesn’t flourish when told that they matter and that they matter a great deal. That’s what DonorNation tells our children — your education matters so much that we are willing to make sure you get the best by making it part of our everyday lives. DonorNation allows us to make it our daily business to tell our students how much they matter to us. It’s not just a hope for them, it’s a reality for them.

DonorNation: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Catherine. 

Find out how schools are raising valuable funds by using our marketplace.

Leave a reply

Interview with Catherine White, Parent Association President, High Tech High Media Arts

This week we are proud to share insights from the President of the Parent Association at High Tech High Media Arts (HTHMA), Catherine White. HTHMA focuses on a college-going culture supported through a strong liberal arts and sciences foundation. The campus serves 400 students in grades 9-12 and was founded in 2005. The project-based curriculum enables students to “do and learn.” As the Parent Association President, White has seen the kind of difference HTHMA has made in its students’ lives. She has continuously and actively showed support for HTHMA and its programs. With her role as President of the Parent Association, comes not only knowledge but also her first-hand experience in dealing with funding challenges. We had an opportunity to speak with Catherine about her role at the parent association, the difficulties of fundraising and why she feels that donornation is the solution.

donornation: What does the quality of education mean to you?

Catherine: A school provides an education when its students are learning. A school provides a quality education when its students are learning how to learn. I think of the phrase, “That’s academic.” The word “academic” makes you think of a conventional, classical education. But saying, “That’s academic,” means something that is theoretical without a practical purpose. I think you cannot call an education a quality education without having a value, i.e., a practical purpose. When a student learns how to learn, and can put that knowledge to practical purpose…I call that a quality education.

donornation: What is your opinion on the funding crisis facing schools today? How has it impacted High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: I think that the funding crisis does not stem from a lack of funds, but rather from a lack of priority. California spends approximately seven times more on housing a prisoner per year than educating a child per year. I am a criminal defense attorney. I know these prisoners; they are my clients. The overwhelming majority of prisoners have a single common trait — they grew up without a quality education. I see lives wasted every day because our state does not prioritize teaching our children how to think — and especially how to think before acting with full regard to the consequences. The students in our schools today can either be our future thinkers, or my future clients. In my opinion, we need to choose education now over punishment later for lack of making educated decisions.

High Tech High Media Arts is a project-based school with brilliant teachers who think beyond the books, outside the box, beneath the oceans and into the skies. When funding is limited, our teachers are limited. It’s that simple. Why would we allow that to happen? We move mountains to get our children into HTHMA, and then tell the teachers, “Sorry, but we don’t have the money to allow you to be brilliant with our children.” I don’t think so. Not only does that defeat the entire purpose of HTHMA, but demoralizes the teachers and students. I think that we must do everything in our power — and in our pocketbooks — to ensure that our teachers’ wishes and dreams for our students come true.

donornation: What are the biggest challenges you face with fundraising?

Catherine: Fighting the thought that “someone else” will do it.  The parents that give their time, energy and money to fundraising efforts are a small percentage of the 100 percent participation that we need. If everyone gave — even in the smallest of ways — we would not have a fundraising problem. It takes a village, right?

donornation: Why did you decide to use donornation as a fundraising platform?


Catherine: The concept of donornation is brilliant. Neighbor-helping-neighbor? Come on! What better way to activate the resources of our community than to integrate our community’s individuals and businesses with the education of our community’s students? The quality of our city is the quality of our citizens. Our students are our future citizens, so why would we all not want to have a stake in that?

donornation: How do you feel donornation will help High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: What is the downside? I mean, not only do we raise funds for the school, but we also teach the students that we are a community that puts its hope and faith in them. I don’t know a single child who doesn’t flourish when told that they matter and that they matter a great deal. That’s what donornation tells our children — your education matters so much that we are willing to make sure you get the best by making it part of our everyday lives. donornation allows us to make it our daily business to tell our students how much they matter to us. It’s not just a hope for them, it’s a reality for them.

donornation: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Catherine. 

Find out how schools are raising valuable funds by using our marketplace.

Leave a reply

Advisor Profile: Danielle Strachman


This week we are proud to share our first advisor profile featuring Danielle Strachman who has led and designed education programs for the last 10 years. In 2002 she started an educational consulting business serving the homeschooling community. It was this group of passionate and driven young people who inspired her to cofound Innovations Academy in 2006, a public K-8 charter school in San Diego, which she led for 4 years. Currently, she leads the design and operations of the Thiel Fellowship program and also sits on the board of Innovations Academy.

With her deep experience in the field of education, she intimately understands the struggles of public school finances and is excited to advise donornation. Danielle gives us further insight as to why there is a great need for donornation. 

donornation: You clearly have a drive to transform education. What does quality of education mean to you?

Danielle: I feel that giving each child the one-on-one time they need and differentiated instruction is integral to the quality of education offered in schools. This means smaller classroom sizes and extra support for each class of students, such as teacher aids. Some children may need extra attention and support with special learning needs while another child may need extra stimulation and challenge. Funding ensures that children will have the appropriate classroom size and one-on-one time with their teacher.

donornation: Given your background as an educational consultant, a founder of Innovations Academy Charter School and now as Program Director of the Thiel Fellowship, what is your opinion on the funding crisis facing American Public Schools today?

Danielle: Initially, I knew that the funding crisis existed, however, I did not know how severe it truly was until I founded the Innovations Academy. From the outside, you think, “Well schools are still open, they aren’t closing therefore everything must be okay – schools are getting by.” However, after running the charter school I learned quickly how you are constantly living by the moment unsure of what is going to happen next. You really don’t know when a payment for $60,000 will be deferred leaving you scrambling to figure out how to pay your teachers’ salaries, supplies or purchase the new computers promised for the classroom.

(Above: Children playing during recess at the Innovations Academy.)

We went through a period where my colleague and I would forgo our own paychecks in order to pay for our teachers. We had to request supplies from our parents with “paper-towel week” and so forth. It was embarrassing. I saw first-hand how difficult it is to depend on state funding…it is unstable and leaves us in a state of constant flux.

donornation: Danielle, you recently joined donornation’s Advisory Board. What attracted you to the position?

Danielle: Honestly, I have seen other companies try to create funding programs for schools with the best of intentions, however, each has been labor and time intensive and they all require great amounts of energy. Also, these types of programs were asking not only for time, but also money. With that said, I was impressed that donornation took a different approach. They are not asking parents to do anything that they are not already doing since many parents already shop online. There is no asking for extra time, energy, labor or spending. This is the first fundraising tool that I see with potential. All of the programs I have seen thus far had the right intention, however, none of them had a solution like donornation.

donornation: Why do you feel our mission is important?

Danielle: I feel that donornation could potentially be the missing puzzle piece and exactly what schools need. If donornation can crack the code for our current issue of funding then schools would have the constant stream of funding that they need. The platform seems to have the potential to be like amazon…ultimately being a powerful resource for each and every school.

donornation has created a stable funding platform where schools are no longer subject to unreliable government funding and being at the mercy of their cuts and deferments. At the very least, schools can utilize donornation to fundraise for specific programs or needs. I especially think it’s great that you can be anywhere and still donate to the school of your choice. For example, even though I live in San Francisco, I still can donate to my charter school in San Diego. Furthermore, as the donor, you can have a direct impact. You know where your donation is going as opposed to it being filtered through a district. You can tell your family and friends to shop online and make a positive impact directly on the schools you care about most.

Furthermore, the donornation platform is also a huge win for businesses that want to do good in their community. Instead of expending time building partnerships, businesses can now concentrate on promoting their products and services on the donornation marketplace and let their customers funnel the businesses’ donations to their favorite school(s).

donornation: Thank you Danielle for taking the time to share your insights with us.

Leave a reply

DonorNation Advisor Profile: Danielle Strachman


This week we are proud to share our first advisor profile featuring Danielle Strachman who has led and designed education programs for the last 10 years. In 2002 she started an educational consulting business serving the homeschooling community. It was this group of passionate and driven young people who inspired her to cofound Innovations Academy in 2006, a public K-8 charter school in San Diego, which she led for 4 years. Currently, she leads the design and operations of the Thiel Fellowship program and also sits on the board of Innovations Academy.

With her deep experience in the field of education, she intimately understands the struggles of public school finances and is excited to advise DonorNation. Danielle gives us further insight as to why there is a great need for DonorNation. 

DonorNation: You clearly have a drive to transform education. What does quality of education mean to you?

Danielle: I feel that giving each child the one-on-one time they need and differentiated instruction is integral to the quality of education offered in schools. This means smaller classroom sizes and extra support for each class of students, such as teacher aids. Some children may need extra attention and support with special learning needs while another child may need extra stimulation and challenge. Funding ensures that children will have the appropriate classroom size and one-on-one time with their teacher.

DonorNation: Given your background as an educational consultant, a founder of Innovations Academy Charter School and now as Program Director of the Thiel Fellowship, what is your opinion on the funding crisis facing American Public Schools today?

Danielle: Initially, I knew that the funding crisis existed, however, I did not know how severe it truly was until I founded the Innovations Academy. From the outside, you think, “Well schools are still open, they aren’t closing therefore everything must be okay – schools are getting by.” However, after running the charter school I learned quickly how you are constantly living by the moment unsure of what is going to happen next. You really don’t know when a payment for $60,000 will be deferred leaving you scrambling to figure out how to pay your teachers’ salaries, supplies or purchase the new computers promised for the classroom.

(Above: Children playing during recess at the Innovations Academy.)

We went through a period where my colleague and I would forgo our own paychecks in order to pay for our teachers. We had to request supplies from our parents with “paper-towel week” and so forth. It was embarrassing. I saw first-hand how difficult it is to depend on state funding…it is unstable and leaves us in a state of constant flux.

DonorNation: Danielle, you recently joined DonorNation’s Advisory Board. What attracted you to the position?

Danielle: Honestly, I have seen other companies try to create funding programs for schools with the best of intentions, however, each has been labor and time intensive and they all require great amounts of energy. Also, these types of programs were asking not only for time, but also money. With that said, I was impressed that DonorNation took a different approach. They are not asking parents to do anything that they are not already doing since many parents already shop online. There is no asking for extra time, energy, labor or spending. This is the first fundraising tool that I see with potential. All of the programs I have seen thus far had the right intention, however, none of them had a solution like DonorNation.

DonorNation: Why do you feel our mission is important?

Danielle: I feel that DonorNation could potentially be the missing puzzle piece and exactly what schools need. If DonorNation can crack the code for our current issue of funding then schools would have the constant stream of funding that they need. The platform seems to have the potential to be like amazon…ultimately being a powerful resource for each and every school.

DonorNation has created a stable funding platform where schools are no longer subject to unreliable government funding and being at the mercy of their cuts and deferments. At the very least, schools can utilize DonorNation to fundraise for specific programs or needs. I especially think it’s great that you can be anywhere and still donate to the school of your choice. For example, even though I live in San Francisco, I still can donate to my charter school in San Diego. Furthermore, as the donor, you can have a direct impact. You know where your donation is going as opposed to it being filtered through a district. You can tell your family and friends to shop online and make a positive impact directly on the schools you care about most.

Furthermore, the DonorNation platform is also a huge win for businesses that want to do good in their community. Instead of expending time building partnerships, businesses can now concentrate on promoting their products and services on the DonorNation marketplace and let their customers funnel the businesses’ donations to their favorite school(s).

DonorNation: Thank you Danielle for taking the time to share your insights with us.

Leave a reply

A Time to Say Thanks to our Nation’s Parents and Teachers

This Thanksgiving we salute the herculean efforts of parents and teachers dedicated to improving the quality of education in schools across our country, especially when their time and resources are so precious. Thank you for the countless volunteer hours you have committed as class parents, field trip chaperons, Board members, committee members and coaches. Thank you for taking the time to read with your kids at night and for supporting them with their class projects. Thank you for helping to make classrooms more exciting and enriching atmospheres for our children to learn in. Thank you for supporting the myriad of school fundraising campaigns. Thank you for your tireless leadership, dedication and inspiration. Without you, our schools, classrooms and students would not be where they are today.

Parents and teachers deserve even greater appreciation given that they are making these investments in time, money and energy at such a tumultuous time for American public schools. Steep cuts to education over the last number of years have had a serious impact on the quality of education in our country. Parents and teachers have been left to bridge the gaps…and they are vast.

According to a report published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in September 2012, restoring school funding should be an urgent priority. The steep state-level K-12 spending cuts of the last several years have serious consequences for the nation:

  • State-level K-12 cuts have large consequences for local school districts. Some 44 percent of total education expenditures in the United States come from state funds (the share varies by state). Cuts at the state level mean that local school districts have to either scale back the educational services they provide, raise more local tax revenue to cover the gap, or both.
  • The cuts extended the recession and slowed the recovery. As of July 2012, local school districts had cut 328,000 jobs nationally compared with 2008. These job losses have reduced the purchasing power of workers’ families, in turn reducing overall consumption in the economy.
  • The cuts counteract and sometimes undermine education reform and more generally hinder the ability of school districts to deliver high-quality education, with long-term negative consequences for the nation’s economic competitiveness.
  • Local school districts typically have little ability to replace lost state aid on their own.
  • These cuts are occurring at a time when schools face demands from parents, employers, and civic leaders to bring greater numbers of students to higher levels of academic proficiency, in large part because workers will increasingly need higher levels of educational attainment to thrive in the workforce.
  • At a time when the nation is trying to produce workers with the skills to master new technologies and adapt to the complexities of a global economy, large cuts in funding for basic education undermine a crucial building block for future prosperity.
  • “As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said, “It is very difficult to improve the quality of education while losing teachers, raising class size, and eliminating after- school and summer school programs.”
Report by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, September 2012

As we take a closer look at the current climate of state funding we find:

  • Twenty-six states are providing less funding per student to local school districts in the new school year than they provided a year ago. 
  • Some states are beginning to restore their school funding over the past year, but those restorations are, for the most part, far from sufficient to make up for cuts in past years. 
  • School funding remains well below pre-recession levels. Thirty-five states are providing less funding per student than they did five years ago. 
  • Seventeen states have cut per-student funding by more than 10 percent from 2008 levels.
  • More than two-thirds of states — 35 of the 48 states surveyed — are providing less per-student funding for K-12 education in the current 2013 fiscal year than they did in fiscal year 2008.


These statistics are alarming; however, they also represent an opportunity. Rather than relying on government funding to ensure our children receive the quality of education they deserve, why not create a system of financing that is reliable and within our control?

donornation empowers schools, local businesses and community members with a tool that allows them to become self-sustaining. It is like the old Proverb “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Enough of government funding cuts! We have the power to be the change. Together we can ensure every school has enough teachers, the right programs and adequate learning time so our children not only learn, but thrive.

At donornation, we share the underlying belief of our country’s teachers “every student can succeed if given the right opportunities”.


So once again, thank you to the parents and teachers who refuse to see the quality of our children’s education diminish and work tirelessly to counter-act the effects budget cuts have on our education system. We are very grateful for the difference you make each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leave a reply

A Time to Say Thanks to our Nation’s Parents and Teachers

This Thanksgiving we salute the herculean efforts of parents and teachers dedicated to improving the quality of education in schools across our country, especially when their time and resources are so precious. Thank you for the countless volunteer hours you have committed as class parents, field trip chaperons, Board members, committee members and coaches. Thank you for taking the time to read with your kids at night and for supporting them with their class projects. Thank you for helping to make classrooms more exciting and enriching atmospheres for our children to learn in. Thank you for supporting the myriad of school fundraising campaigns. Thank you for your tireless leadership, dedication and inspiration. Without you, our schools, classrooms and students would not be where they are today.

Parents and teachers deserve even greater appreciation given that they are making these investments in time, money and energy at such a tumultuous time for American public schools. Steep cuts to education over the last number of years have had a serious impact on the quality of education in our country. Parents and teachers have been left to bridge the gaps…and they are vast.

According to a report published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in September 2012, restoring school funding should be an urgent priority. The steep state-level K-12 spending cuts of the last several years have serious consequences for the nation:

  • State-level K-12 cuts have large consequences for local school districts. Some 44 percent of total education expenditures in the United States come from state funds (the share varies by state). Cuts at the state level mean that local school districts have to either scale back the educational services they provide, raise more local tax revenue to cover the gap, or both.
  • The cuts extended the recession and slowed the recovery. As of July 2012, local school districts had cut 328,000 jobs nationally compared with 2008. These job losses have reduced the purchasing power of workers’ families, in turn reducing overall consumption in the economy.
  • The cuts counteract and sometimes undermine education reform and more generally hinder the ability of school districts to deliver high-quality education, with long-term negative consequences for the nation’s economic competitiveness.
  • Local school districts typically have little ability to replace lost state aid on their own.
  • These cuts are occurring at a time when schools face demands from parents, employers, and civic leaders to bring greater numbers of students to higher levels of academic proficiency, in large part because workers will increasingly need higher levels of educational attainment to thrive in the workforce.
  • At a time when the nation is trying to produce workers with the skills to master new technologies and adapt to the complexities of a global economy, large cuts in funding for basic education undermine a crucial building block for future prosperity.
  • “As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said, “It is very difficult to improve the quality of education while losing teachers, raising class size, and eliminating after- school and summer school programs.”
Report by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, September 2012

As we take a closer look at the current climate of state funding we find:

  • Twenty-six states are providing less funding per student to local school districts in the new school year than they provided a year ago. 
  • Some states are beginning to restore their school funding over the past year, but those restorations are, for the most part, far from sufficient to make up for cuts in past years. 
  • School funding remains well below pre-recession levels. Thirty-five states are providing less funding per student than they did five years ago. 
  • Seventeen states have cut per-student funding by more than 10 percent from 2008 levels.
  • More than two-thirds of states — 35 of the 48 states surveyed — are providing less per-student funding for K-12 education in the current 2013 fiscal year than they did in fiscal year 2008.


These statistics are alarming; however, they also represent an opportunity. Rather than relying on government funding to ensure our children receive the quality of education they deserve, why not create a system of financing that is reliable and within our control?

DonorNation empowers schools, local businesses and community members with a tool that allows them to become self-sustaining. It is like the old Proverb “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Enough of government funding cuts! We have the power to be the change. Together we can ensure every school has enough teachers, the right programs and adequate learning time so our children not only learn, but thrive.

At DonorNation, we share the underlying belief of our country’s teachers “every student can succeed if given the right opportunities”.


So once again, thank you to the parents and teachers who refuse to see the quality of our children’s education diminish and work tirelessly to counter-act the effects budget cuts have on our education system. We are very grateful for the difference you make each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leave a reply

The Impact of Proposition 30 on Education in California

(Image source: mtsac.edu)

As we all know, the election Tuesday was a historical one for our nation with outcomes that affect us on national, state and local levels. In our State of California, Proposition 30 was passed. What does this mean and how does it impact education?

Proposition 30 enables the use of temporary taxes to fund education:

  • Increases personal income tax by 1-3% on annual earnings over $250,000 for seven years.
  • Increases sales and use tax by ¼ percent for four years.
  • Allocates temporary tax revenues: 89% to K-12 schools and 11% to community colleges.
  • Bars use of funds for administrative costs, but provides local school governing boards discretion to decide, in open meetings and subject to annual audit, how funds are to be spent.

Analysts estimate these temporary state taxes will raise approximately $6 billion annually from 2012-13 through 2016-17, with smaller amounts available 2017-18 and 2018-19. The 2012-13 state budget counted on this Proposition being passed. If it didn’t, the budget would have had to be reduced by $6 billion, with the brunt of the cut backs borne by schools.

The passing of Proposition 30 is a huge relief to millions of educators and concerned parents who are crying “mercy!”. In the last four years alone, schools in California have been hit with $20 billion in cuts, over 30,000 fewer teachers and class sizes that are among the largest in the country. The fact that the public willingly agreed to pay more taxes says a lot about how much we value education.

However, how can schools bank on the unpredictable swings in the income of upper-income taxpayers? What happens in seven years when the music stops and the temporary revenues cease to roll in? How is this addressing the underlying problem?

We, too, want to see the quality of education improved and NOW. However, while Proposition 30 may give everyone a short-term respite, it is merely a band-aid. It does not represent a long- term solution; it is not sustainable. The question remains, “where does this leave the future of our children’s education?”

We agree with President Obama; “we want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers…We believe in [an] America…open to the dreams of… the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president – that’s the future we hope for.”

The only way to ensure the kind of future we hope for our kids is by protecting the quality of education offered to our children. We must help schools become self-sustaining so they are not at the mercy of government funding. We need to become the change we want to see.

By unlocking the power of the neighborhood, donornation offers the tools that will allow schools, businesses and the community to become a self-sustaining eco-system and state budget cuts will become a moot point.

donornation offers the promise of a future we all hope for.

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