Need more data on this nonprofit ? Try a GuideStar Pro Report. More Info

Educational Institutions

AdoptAClassroom.org

Give Teachers A Hand

aka AdoptAClassroom.org

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

http://www.adoptaclassroom.org

Donate Now

Mission

Adopt-A-Classroom advances equity in education by powering today's classrooms to prepare tomorrow's graduates.

Ruling Year

1999

Executive Director

Ms. Ann Ruhr Pifer

Main Address

401 Second Ave. N, Suite 350

MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401 USA

Keywords

education, teacher, student, school, learning, kids, community

EIN

65-0828272

Number

8155486535

Cause Area (NTEE Code)

Elementary, Secondary Ed (B20)

Arts Education/Schools (A25)

Children's Rights (R28)

IRS Filing Requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Social Media

Blog

Programs + Results

What we aim to solve

School budgets are tight and many families cannot afford to provide school supplies for their children. Teachers fill the gap by spending an annual average of $740 out-of-pocket on their classroom. We connect teachers and schools with funding to ensure every student has what they deserve to succeed in school.

Our programs

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Classroom Adoptions

When you choose a classroom and make an adoption, we direct 100% of these funds to the teacher. The teacher can then purchase purchase items that enrich the learning environment. Adopt-A-Classroom emphasizes accountability and responsibility. We send you information about your adopted classroom and an itemized invoice detailing exactly what the teacher purchased. We also send the teacher contact information about you. Throughout the school year, you communicate with the teacher and students and visit the classroom to experience first-hand the impact of your contribution. As you participate in subsequent years, you enjoy the cumulative effect of your efforts with each new class of students, as well as develop a lasting and meaningful relationship with the teacher.

Population(s) Served

Students

Adults

Budget

$2,300,000

STEM Fund

Teachers may apply annually to receive funding for classroom materials specifically for STEM subjects. Priority is given to teachers in Title 1 schools

Population(s) Served

K-12 (5-19 years)

Budget

Arts Fund

The Arts fund supports arts education programs in schools—from drama to finger-painting—so teachers can stock their classrooms with the supplies they need. Arts programs are especially vulnerable to limited budgets as teachers rely on expensive consumable products. A student’s creativity shouldn’t have a limit, and your support makes this a reality.

Population(s) Served

Students

Adults

Budget

Inclusive Classroom Fund

What is an "Inclusive Classroom" and why is it important? Every student learns in their own way and often at their own pace. And, we know teachers are uniquely positioned to identify and address each student's individual needs. The Inclusive Classroom Fund will support teachers wanting to incorporate reading materials better representative of their students cultural and experiential backgrounds, materials for ESL students, equipment and curriculum materials for special needs students, anti-bullying programs and workshops, diversity training for teachers, alternative learning therapies, and much more.

Population(s) Served

Students

Adults

Budget

Where we work

Our Results

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one. These quantitative program results are self-reported by the organization, illustrating their committment to transparency, learning, and interest in helping the whole sector learn and grow.

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Number of children who received school supplies

TOTALS BY YEAR

Population(s) served

K-12 (5-19 years)

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Charting Impact

Five powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What is the organization aiming to accomplish?

What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?

What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?

How will they know if they are making progress?

What have they accomplished so far and what's next?

AdoptAClassroom.org addresses educational inequity by connecting donors with teachers and schools who need funding. Our goal is to ensure that all students have the tools they deserve to succeed in school. By 2025, we want to reach all of our nation’s school districts and provide funding for 3 out of 4 Title 1 schools.

We recruit individual donors to support education across the nation by adopting classrooms and schools. We reach out through traditional mail, email marketing, and social media. We recruit teachers and schools to participate in our programs by distributing information to school districts, participating in national and regional education conferences, and volunteer outreach. We also partner with corporations and foundations to fund classrooms and schools on a larger scale.

Our website: Teachers and schools can register on our free crowdfunding platform AdoptAClassroom.org. Donors may search and adopt teachers and schools directly on our website. Our proprietary eCommerce marketplace: No cash changes hands in our system. Teachers and schools spend their funds on our private eCommerce marketplace consisting exclusively of educational products and office supply vendors. Teachers and schools can get what they need, when they need it. All spending in our marketplace is tracked for full transparency. Our programs: Our Teacher Program, School Program, and Spotlight Funds serve accredited K-12 public, private, and charter schools and teachers. Spotlight Fund grants fund need based on subject area or Title I status. Our staff: Our staff of 12 employees is organized into Marketing & Development, Finance & Administration, and Operations & Technology. We leverage technology to keep our team as small and efficient as possible.

We gauge our progress and impact on the following metrics: - Total $ amount raised - # of schools, teachers, and students supported - # of Title I schools reached - # of school districts in the country reached

Since 1998, we have raised $36 million, adopted 200,000 classrooms, and supported 4.5 million students. By 2025, we want to reach all of our nation’s school districts and provide funding for 3 out of 4 Title 1 schools.

How We Listen

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

Source: Self-reported by organization

We shared information about our current feedback practices. Read more

How is the organization collecting feedback?

We regularly collect feedback through: electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees.

How is the organization using feedback?

We use feedback to: to identify and remedy poor client service experiences, to identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, to make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, to inform the development of new programs/projects, to identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, to strengthen relationships with the people we serve.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

We share feedback with: the people we serve, our staff, our board, our funders, our community partners.

External Reviews

Financials

AdoptAClassroom.org

Need more info on this nonprofit?

FREE: Gain immediate access to the following:

Address, phone, website and contact information
Forms 990 for 2018, 2017 and 2016

A Pro report is also available for this organization.

See what's included

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

Need more info?

FREE: Gain immediate access to the following:

Address, phone, website and contact information
Forms 990 for 2018, 2017 and 2016

A Pro report is also available for this organization.

See what's included

Board of Directors

as of 5/11/2020

Board Chair

Ms Jennifer Swanson

Optum

Term: 2018 - 2020

Ami Anderson
Tenet Healthcare

Julie Krueger
Google, Inc.

Scott Pansky
Allison+Partners

Martha Phelps
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Matt Johnson
GoKart Labs

Kurts Strelnieks
StarBank

Jennifer Coates
Bowman & Brooke

Erik Huckle
Amazon

Robert McReavey
retired

Timothy Moynihan
Petco

Patrick Strother
Strother Communications Group

Neely Tamminga
Distill

Ryan Vernosh
St. Paul Public Schools

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Board Leadership Practices

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section, which enables organizations and donors to transparently share information about essential board leadership practices.

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

BOARD ORIENTATION & EDUCATION

Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations?

Yes

CEO OVERSIGHT

Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year?

ETHICS & TRANSPARENCY

Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year?

Yes

BOARD COMPOSITION

Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership?

Yes

BOARD PERFORMANCE

Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years?

Organizational Demographics

In order to support nonprofits and gain valuable insight for the sector, GuideStar worked with D5—a five-year initiative to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in philanthropy—in creating a questionnaire. This section is a voluntary questionnaire that empowers organizations to share information on the demographics of who works in and leads organizations. To protect the identity of individuals, we do not display sexual orientation or disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff. Any values displayed in this section are percentages of the total number of individuals in each category (e.g. 20% of all Board members for X organization are female).

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Gender

Race & Ethnicity

Sexual Orientation

We do not display sexual orientation information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Diversity Strategies

We track retention of staff, board, and volunteers across demographic categories

We track income levels of staff, senior staff, and board across demographic categories

We track the age of staff, senior staff, and board

We track the diversity of vendors (e.g., consultants, professional service firms)

We have a diversity committee in place

We have a diversity manager in place

We have a diversity plan

We use other methods to support diversity