Funding available now: The Raise Money for a Cause mission is live!
A new Frequently Asked Question has been posted related to approval times for projects.
The Allstate Foundation has partnered with TIME for Kids to create Service Stars, a new online platform that helps young people serve their communities. Each month will feature a new mission — a topic or purpose to inspire youth service.
Qualifying projects will receive a $500 one-time donation from The Allstate Foundation while funds last. If your project meets the criteria below, the one-time donation may be applied to your project as soon as it is approved and live on the site, while funds are available.
December’s Mission of the Month is “Raise Money For A Cause”. The Allstate Foundation is excited to fund projects featuring creative ideas that empower students to raise money for a good cause. Create a project that identifies a specific external cause that your students are passionate about that benefits those in need. Request resources to help your students raise funds for the cause they chose – from learning how to make cookies for a bake sale fundraiser benefiting an animal shelter, to offering a service like shoveling snow or selling tickets to a show that will benefit a local hospital.
How to qualify:
- Create a project inspired by the monthly mission! See below for eligibility criteria and example projects to get you inspired.
- Use the campaign code “ALLSTATE.” To add a campaign code, go to the "HI" step of your project draft and click the blue text that says "Apply a campaign code."
- Keep your total project goal under $500, including taxes, shipping, fees, and the suggested donation to support DonorsChoose.
In order to qualify, project essays must include:
- Student learning outcomes connected to their experience using the materials
- How student learning outcomes relate to the fundraiser
- How proceeds will be used to benefit a cause or charity
The following are not eligible:
- Projects with the primary goal to raise money without description of student learning outcomes related to the fundraiser
- Materials for direct resale
- Technology for raffling or resale
- Projects where profits will go directly to student(s) in the form of cash or check
Example Projects:
Learn more about the mission of the month by visiting: http://ti.me/servicestars
| October | November | December | January | February | March | April | |
| Mission | Kindness | Fight Hunger | Raise Money For A Cause | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Funding Status | Closed | Closed | Funding available now! | Coming soon | Coming soon | Coming soon | Coming soon |
Frequently Asked Questions:
Your project will not receive the one-time donation from the Allstate Foundation.
No, this offer is only available for one project per teacher. If you've already received this one time donation from Allstate, future projects will not qualify.
No, you must create a new project with the campaign code “ALLSTATE” and your essay must focus on the Mission of the Month as noted on the Service Stars platform.
If there's still funding for that specific Mission Month, your project may still receive the $500 one-time donation! Just ensure that your total project goal is under $500 and that your project has the correct campaign code “ALLSTATE”.
If funding for a Mission Month runs out, then you'll need to post a new project once the new Mission Month begins.
For example, now that October's funding has run out, any projects posted for the "Kindness Counts" Mission will not receive funding, even once November's Mission Month starts. New projects must be posted after November's Mission Month has begun.
*Oct 24: This FAQ was updated to address changes in funding across Mission Months.
Yes, The Allstate Foundation is generously supporting two campaigns on DonorsChoose, including a 2X Match Offer on Community Service projects. Learn more about how to qualify here.
Our team of volunteer screeners typically reviews projects within 2-3 business days. When our volunteer screeners are uncertain about a project or if your project has more complicated aspects, then they will send those projects to our staff screeners. During periods of high project submissions from teachers (like the recent GivingTuesday), our staff has to process far more projects than normal, which slows us down beyond the 2-3 business day timeline. This discrepancy between volunteer and staff screeners may be the reason why your project is still being reviewed.
Most, but not all, projects submitted for this month's Service Stars topic were sent to staff screening. Those that were not sent for staff screening ended up getting approved much faster by our volunteers. There's still plenty of funding left for this month's topic, but we do recommend submitting a project ASAP if you haven't yet, since there are lots of projects in our staff screening queues for this opportunity that we'll continue approving as time allows.