Update: As of March 16, 2025 no funding remains for this opportunity.
Updated March 14th: Funds for this opportunity are running low. Submit your project today for the best chance to get a $750 donation!
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Starting March 10th, 2025, qualifying projects will receive a one-time donation of $750.
If your project meets the criteria below, the one-time donation will appear once it is approved and live on the site.
How to qualify:
- Teach PreK-12 in a Hawaiʻi public school.
- On the “HI” page while creating your project, enter the campaign code “HAWAII” by clicking "Apply a campaign code." You will not be able to enter this campaign code until March 10th. Projects without the campaign code will not be eligible for funding.
- Request around $550 in materials cost to keep your total project goal under $750. The one-time donation from the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education covers your project’s combined cost of materials, shipping, applicable taxes and fees, and the suggested donation to DonorsChoose. (View the screenshot in our Frequently Asked Questions to see example cost breakdowns.)
What won’t qualify:
- Professional development, Special Request, and Virtual Trip & Visitor projects are not eligible.
- Teachers Pay Teachers items are not eligible.
- Projects with total project goals higher than $750 will not receive the one-time donation.
Additional information:
We encourage you to shop from our vendors with free shipping to Hawaiʻi:
- Shop CDW-G, Grainger, TIME for Kids, or Ward’s Science for free shipping.
- Shop Best Buy Education except for appliances and large TVs.
Quill.com is unavailable as a vendor for this funding opportunity. If you would like to shop from Quill.com, do not use the “HAWAII” campaign code with your project.
If you’re creating a project for tech resources, be sure to review technology guidelines for Hawaiʻi school districts before shopping.
Note some items may not be available for shipping to Hawaiʻi, such as aerosol cans.
- When shopping on Amazon Business, you’ll see an alert in red when you click into an item indicating it cannot be delivered to your location in Hawaiʻi. If you want to shop for large/oversized furniture, be sure to use the Amazon Business portal to transfer items to your project—check the Frequently Asked Questions section for more guidance. See examples below:
- When shopping for products from Best Buy Education, please keep in mind major appliances, large displays / televisions 55”+ and oversized products are only able to ship to the island of Oahu.
- Shop CDW-G for large displays that are 55”+.
Frequently Asked Questions:
A successful application of the campaign code during project creation will create a new banner on your project page. You will also see a success message after applying it and receive an email stating that your project has the campaign code applied.
Video tutorial
With a total project goal under $750, your project will be fully funded by the Hawaiʻi donation. This equates to about $550 in materials. Below are some project examples that would be fully funded if they were to receive the one-time donation:
“Complete Our Classroom With Supplies”
- Materials cost of $526.95, and total project goal of $691.81
- Materials cost of $537.00, and total project goal of $704.34
“Bringing AI to Life with Graphic Designs”
- Materials cost of $558.82, and total project goal of $731.52
You’ll see a processing fee, fulfillment fee, and a suggested donation on your DonorsChoose project in addition to your $550 for materials. The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education will donate up to $750 to each project to cover these additional fees, including the suggested donation.
Projects totaling more than $750 in fees, suggested donation, and resources will not receive the Hawaiʻi one-time donation. The suggested donation cannot be removed from your project.
No. Projects that have already been approved will not qualify. The only way to receive this funding is to create and submit a new project after March 10th at 6am HT (12pm ET)
Educators can request classroom resources, including but not limited to supplies, technology, and instructional materials. Check out our list of commonly requested items. Resources that will primarily benefit teachers, parents, or other school staff members are not eligible.
No. Funding through this initiative is intended to address the individual and specific need(s) of each educator and classroom. Educators must submit their own projects to participate in the program.
Each Hawaiʻi educator can only have one project funded through this Hawaiʻi State Department of Education funding opportunity. Only one DonorsChoose account per teacher is permitted. Do not create additional accounts.
If your project has not received any donations, you can make any edits you’d like by returning your project to a draft status. You can do this by heading over to the Projects section of your account and clicking on the "Return project to draft" button underneath your project title. Once your project is in draft status, you can make any edits and resubmit it. Then, it will be re-screened by our team and re-posted if eligible. Read more about editing your project.
After your project has been fully funded and you’ve received all of your materials, you’ll be prompted to upload a short essay and some photos showing the impact your materials had in your classroom.
*Don’t cart items with shipping fees – these items will be rejected by our system!
The Amazon Business portal is best for large and oversized furniture, because the portal can more effectively identify which items may have more shipping fees or restrictions based on your location.
To access the Amazon Business portal, complete the following steps:
- Go to your project’s “WHAT” step — where you normally shop
- Scroll to the bottom of the page
- Click “Show additional vendor sites”
- Click on the Amazon Business link
- On the next page, click on “Start shopping on Amazon” to proceed to their portal
- Cart your desired items
- Navigate to your cart checkout page
- Click on “Submit these items for approval”
Video tutorial
If you submitted your project without the campaign code, you can still add it. Return your project to draft within your teacher account, then add the campaign code and resubmit.
(Refer to Question 7 above for more details on returning your project to draft.)
If your project’s total goal is higher than $750, then your project will not receive the one-time donation. You must edit your project and lower the total project goal.
Here are some project examples that would not receive the one-time donation because their total goal is higher than $750:
- Presenting Knowledge Creatively - Total Project Goal = $999.51
- Student Library Creativity and Beautification - Total Project Goal = $927.54
(Refer to Question 7 above for more details on editing your project.)
With thanks to Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and Marc and Lynne Benioff