Creative Funding for Technology

Digital Wish Programs

Buckle up for a fast-paced ride through a slew of fantastic fundraising tools. Digital Wish is a nonprofit on a mission to bring technology to classrooms in order to prepare students to thrive. We want to share our programs with you.

Watch the archive here.

Print a Yearbook and Raise Money for Technology 

Build a yearbook, and we’ll print it for less. You can run your yearbook campaign as a fundraiser and set the price a few dollars above cost.  All the profits go directly into your Digital Wish account and you can use them instantly to purchase new technology for your school. Students create yearbooks using the very same 21st century skills that will be critical when they enter the workforce.

There are no deadlines, allowing schools to place an order on their own timeline with the promise of 3-week delivery. And because we believe every student deserves a yearbook whether they can afford one or not, eYearbooks are free, along with free shipping on orders of 50 books or more.  Watch a video here.

Get Started

Create and Sell T-shirts to Raise Funds for Classroom Technology

Design a T-shirt online, and sell it for a profit.  All the proceeds can be used to purchase new classroom technology.  Sell high-quality screen printed tees with zero upfront costs and zero risk. We ship directly to buyers, you keep the profit. Parents can order directly online, so you don’t have to manage any of the money.

You can print 1 or 1000 – there are no minimums.  Build school spirit or outfit your school teams. Your fundraiser proceeds are deposited directly to your Digital Wish cash account. Use these funds to fulfill your technology wish!

Get Started, Watch a video.

Trade Used Technology, for New Technology

Anyone can participate in Recycle Forward to raise money for schools.  Recycle Forward helps educators get new technology for their classrooms by recycling used electronics and ink cartridges for cash. We raised $850 for our local school in one afternoon by publicizing the technology drop location in the local papers.

We recommend starting your collection with a highly publicized community drive on a specific date and time frame. After your initial push, make this a year-round program by offering your school as a community drop-off location for recyclable items.

Watch the archive here.

Get Started

Digital Wish’s Other Fundraising Resources

• Run your own technology fundraiser. Make a wish list, and publicize it through Facebook, email and print.

• Free resources for technology educators – lesson plans, grants, webinars, free help desk, and fundraising tools. We can partner for special members-only programs

• Technology Donations and Discounts – We run weekly promotions that benefit members – get on our list so you don’t miss them.  We have had 2-for-1 Flip camcorders, free hard drives, donated Norton software, free modems, $10/month unlimited mobile data plans, and free digital phone systems.

• Sustainability Research – We have implemented 1:1 computing at 30 schools, and conducted a study on sustainability. Share the research. Learn how other successful schools are sustaining their technology initiatives.

About Digital Wish

At www.digitalwish.org, teachers make technology wishes, and donors make those wishes come true with contributions, bringing technology to needy classrooms in all 50 states. Since August 2009, Digital Wish has granted over 30,900 classroom technology wishes through its online network of over 63,000 teachers, and delivered over $13 million in technology products to American classrooms directly impacting over 500,000 students. In research, Digital Wish secured over $1.2 million in stimulus funding to put 1:1 computing into 30 towns, reducing the planning time for technology adoption from 18 months to just 4 weeks, and achieving measured gains in student engagement and 21st century skills. Read the research.

More webinars here

Speaker Bio

Heather Chirtea
Executive Director/Founder, Board President

Heather Chirtea is Digital Wish’s founder and Executive Director. Previously, as the longstanding president of Tool Factory, an educational software publisher, Heather traveled widely throughout the United States to conduct over 400 lively seminars on classroom technology integration each year.  With a dual B.S. in communications and operations management (statistics) from Syracuse University, Heather has co-authored five books on classroom technology; designed more than 60 hands-on technology seminars for educators; launched online services for classroom clip art, worksheets, lesson plans, and formative testing and assessment; and written over 5,000 standards-based test questions. She serves on the board of directors for VITA-Learn (VT) and New England ISTE technology associations.  Digital Wish has granted over 13 million dollars in technology to American schools.