Teachers turn to the Internet to fund classroom projects

Times are tough and teachers need to be creative sometimes when stocking their classrooms for the year.

Meghan Howell, a second-year first-grade teacher turned to the Internet for help. Though a combination of social media and the website Donorschoose.org, she was able to raise the money she needed in two days. Donors Choose is a charity website where teachers can post their needs as projects in the hopes of finding donors.

DonorsChoose was created in 2000 in New York by social-studies teacher Charles Best. Since its launch, the charity has raised more than $120 million to fund almost 300,000 projects for 6 million students. Anyone can donate to any project on the website, and all donations can be made anonymously.