A Data-Driven Approach to Identifying Pledge Schools

Using data from the US Census Bureau and National Center for Education Statistics, we have developed a pipeline of school districts and individual schools across the U.S. All of the schools we support have the following traits in common:

• They have not received any reported private donations in the available data

• They are bottom quartile in school revenue (tax money) per student, graduation rate and poverty rate

We are agnostic on district demographics and geography.

From within this pipeline, we randomly select schools each year to contact, structure a pledge program, and ultimately fund

Our Long-Term Commitment to Each Pledge School

We will donate an increasing amount each year in perpetuity. 

Why?

• Impacting the trajectory for these schools and children requires more than a one-time donation. Our Pledge Schools can depend on and plan around this annual income stream to continually fund incremental projects

• We are true partners to these schools. Knowing they have reliable commitment and support can be as valuable as the dollars themselves

• We are developing deep relationships and trust with the schools and their administrators

What we ask of our Pledge Schools in Return

We have no forced or suggested agenda for how the funding is used each year.

Our annual process allows our Pledge Schools to allocate these funds in the way that can be most impactful, via our annual process:

• We notify our Pledge Schools of that year's donation amount

• Pledge Schools submit a requested use(s) for the funding

• We approve of the use(s) and complete the donation

• We require proof of how the donation was used (e.g. receipts, invoices, etc.)

• Finally, we ask for any fun updates on the new project or program (e.g. pictures!)

Then we repeat the next year.