Contest ’09: Deal
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on November 25, 2009 – 2:30 AM257 Comments
And awaaaaaay we go!
You can find the contest FAQ and the prizing page at the top righthand side, or by clicking these links; the baffled should click here for more information on Donors Choose and the contest.
Please make sure you’ve donated through the Bet Red/TN contest page; you can use the widget right up top there. To search/sort Bet Red projects by state, grade level, subject, or expiration, please use Amanda’s super-handy sortable spreadsheet. All links from the spreadsheet contain the Bet Red challenge ID; just click and go.
We’ve got a big nut to make, friends. Let’s do it.
On the menu for tomorrow: mini-prizes, and the unveiling of the mystery intern!
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Tags: contests
@Sarah D. Bunting
Do we know what we donated on day one each year? And what we donated on our biggest donation days? You know, in case we want to blow those records out of the water?
@ Rachel: “anyone want to go halvies on this project?” Boom goes the dynamite! Your turn.
Bet red.
@Stacy and @Sarah – We don’t have a way to see the stats, but if you go to the end of the list, you’ll see the projects that are completed, and can see the teacher’s thank-you notes posted (it’s one of my favorite places to look!). I love seeing how many page of completed projects there are.
@Mystery – I’m glad to not be the only one so amused – wish I’d thought to capture the image.
I’m always a sucker for calculators. It breaks my heart when kids don’t have the basic supplies they need to learn the basics.
Rachel: I would love to help you with the project, but it is already funded. Goooooooo Awesome!
I have to stop checking the widge – otherwise I’m going to completely blow through my donation budget in a single day.
I enjoy reading the comments, especially when the gift is in honor of a person from the giver’s childhood who loved books or music. Nice.
I was scrolling through the projects looking for one from Massachusetts, which is where I live. The third one I saw was for a literary magazine that was asking for copy paper. Copy paper! The starkness of that request made me cry. Not joking: sat at the computer with tears running down my face. I went back to the list to look for more Massachusetts projects and then thought: you just found a project that made you cry. What the hell more are you looking for? So I went back and donated and later got an email that it was fully funded. Yay!
Reporting for the day shift! Found a project in my hometown that didn’t have any donors yet and expires next month. Also, it involves books for reluctant readers. I am so in for that.
Oh, and right now we’re at $8,587. We rock.
I screencapped my quote on the widget, because I am a dork.
@Dsayko: I AM in Chicago! I’m doing Chess in Wilmette in November! And now I see there is another chess related project that I might have to donate to as well, in the spirit of giving more kids the chance to become as crazy as Bobby Fischer! (tee hee)
Sars, or TMI, is there any way to search the projects through the Bet Red/TN contest page? I can see how to do it on the regular donorschoose site, but when I click on “search” at the bottom of the contest page I’m pretty sure it just goes back to searching all of the donorschoose projects.
If not, guess I’ll just have to page through them all! That might be the point, actually…
@Trash: I don’t have those stats offhand; I could put them together with a bit of digging, though. Send me an email to remind me?
@Rebecca/Karen: There is currently no way to search or sort within each giving page. I’ve already mentioned that this isn’t ideal, but if you want to (nicely) mention to DC HQ that that’s something we really want for the future: smc at donorschoose dot org.
I have a meeting I need to get to… but I would love to come back and see us over $10k… we’re close already! Or maybe you could appeal to the cribbage lover in me and have us up to $15k in 2 hours…. Bet red!
@J: Thanks! I haven’t looked through all the pages to the end yet since I’m at work. I also love seeing what has been completed.
I just provided the final funding for a class here in NYC that wanted to buy vampires books! I am such a huge dork, I had read every book on her list! Vampies, NYC AND encouraging kids to read? That might the most fun I’ve had for my money. Thanks, Sars for once again providing us the opportunity to bring the awesome!
@Trash: Not totally scientific, but this post (https://tomatonation.com/?p=2722) from October 1, 2008, at 3pm says the total was over $9100 at that point. In the comments, it’s noted that $10K had been crossed by 4pm EDT, and at 7:30pm it was over $13K.
Looks like we’re more or less keeping pace with last year.
I’m a little concerned about my ridiculous excitement over donating fetal pigs. (Fetal pig dissection was my very favorite lab of my Honors bio class as an HS freshman. And, yes, I’m a dork. I’ve learned to live with it.) I also contributed to “Urban Kids Need Books!” and “Field Trip to the Franklin Institute in Philly” (in my hometown!) and “Writing is Healing: Medical & Political Writing for College” (because I’m a college writing teacher, and introducing this kind of writing BEFORE students get to college is invaluable). I forgot how much I love this feeling and this camaraderie.
I just noticed one of the projects “Mom, Can Shel Silverstein Spend the Night?” http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=276657&challengeid=23248 only has 4 days before it expires and still needs ~ $500. Can we get some focus on it to make sure it gets funded before it expires.
10K!!! :)
Now, if only someone will finish off my “Teaching Austistic Children Math,” I can donate again. C’mon people, don’t let me down. I’m betting on your!!
On last refresh, jumped up to $10,400.
That’s showin’ ’em, day shift.
@Kim I cried over the children who sit in high schooler desks. DESKS these poor children do not have size appropriate DESKS!
@J, once my Identity Is Revealed, I’ll make the image available.
I went to a job interview and came back an hour and a half later to something like a $3000 difference. Hot damn, you guys!
Over $10,000 and the day isn’t over yet! At this rate, $150,000 will be a fond memory in two weeks! I get paid next Friday, leave some for me, please!!!
Bet Red to win!!
by my count we are just at 53 projects completely funded! I know there are 623 total, but still.
I wasn’t going to donate until tomorrow, when I get paid, but I saw a project that I just coudn’t wait on and sent in just a few dollars. And now it’s already fully funded! You guys rock!
This was probably my least productive (and most awesome) workday ever. :)
Mctwin: No. We are going to fund all the projects on the entire DC website just to thwart you.
Almost 11K!
Guys, Mike is so right about “Where the Sidewalk Ends!” It ends in 4 days, and it’s now half-funded. Chip in?
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=276657&nocache=369976
I think it is awesome that over half of the money raised in the challenge so far comes from the Tomato Nation readership. How cool is that?!?
A brief pause in the awesome to note that this project only needs about $50 more.
…Resume awesome-ing.
I recently drove from New Jersey to Maryland and racked up $18 in tolls (I continue to be amused by how you have to pay to get out of Jersey but not to get back in) on my parents’ EZ Pass, but when I tried to pay them back, they’re all “No, no, you don’t have to pay us back.”
So that $18 dollars is buying pencils.
Stop the Pencil Monster!
Sars: I finished it up. Thanks for pointing that one out.
@Stephanie, I noticed that the Shel Silverstein link you sent out does not count on the TN contest… it doesn’t have the TN id that Mike’s link had. Just fyi!
$13,000, you guys! We’re not even 24 hours in!!
This is why I love October. And all this talk of gambling makes me think of this Sluggy Freelance comic from several years ago (last panel):
http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20040323
I’m going to see what other projects I can donate to! Go us!
Bet red!!! Way to be awesome TN. Nearly at $15k. Let’s get it out.
I have just learned of your existance via a donation to my grant, ID 305098, titled Autistic Students Want to Go to Science and Math Class. I am not familiar with Tomato Nation but what the group is doing for children is heartwarming. As a teacher in a small, low econ. area, I teach autistic children. Your impact is overwhelming especially in this time of financial crisis. Thanks to each of you for helping the grants that you donate to. Whether my grant is funded or not, I just want to take this opportunity to THANK YOU and to let you know that I appreciate what you do.
I believe this is a single-day record. Almost 10% of initial goal.
Awesome.
OK, so I got my donation in before midnight my time- does that count for the first day totals?? :D GO, RED!!
Almost 15K. Good morning to me!
The Shel Silverstein project has $200 more to go with only three days left! How can we deny kids the joy of reading about Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out? Or the one about the huge tower of pancakes and the little rascal who wants the one in the middle?
I cannot tell you how awesome it is to get a package full of thank you notes from kids we help (they sometimes color you pictures!!) . Let’s finish this sucker up.
Good morning all. I really wanted to finish off (or at least put a dent in) that Shel Silverstein project, but have to pace myself. Come on TN, we have to finish it off.
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=276657&challengeid=23248
I’m recruiting to inspire more donors to get onboard…. Let’s see when we can hit 21k and get our first blackjack. BET RED!
Holy crumbles! Over $15K at the start of day 2? I have a fantastic feeling about this month! Now, as soon as Plastic Jungle does what it needs to do I will have $100 ‘free’ dollars to donate to additional projects. Wee!
The Shel Silverstein project is almost funded!
I have resolved to donate to at least one project every day of the month, even if it is only $5 each day (with of course the option to fund MORE than that, depending on the projects).
I think that’ll be a fun way to pace myself throughout the Challenge. It is a marathon, not a sprint, after all!
This project expires today! Let’s get the drama club some lighting.
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=302492
Shel Silverstein funded! I love you guys.
Shel Silverstein funded! I love you guys. Thanks to Mike for flagging that project!
Hey gang, don’t forget that your URLs need to have “&challengeid=23248” in them to count for the TN challenge. So the drama club’s lighting project would be http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=302492&challengeid=23248.
PLEASE make sure we see the challenge ID when you’re pasting in your worthy suggestions, so people’s donations count toward the TN challenge!