Philly School District launches fundraising site

The Philadelphia School District has launched a new donation website, Philly FUNDamentals.

The new platform allows organizations or individuals to donate money to any school within the school district. Requests include anything from school supplies to more for field trips.

“It’s necessary because funding traditionally has not been as robust as we had hoped and we’ll do anything we can to provide resources,” said Mayor Jim Kenney.

More than 200 schools are already listed on the site. So far, each school is requesting about two projects that need funding.

All schools are plotted on a map and donors can search any school in the district.

Every school’s profile includes the request, school performance information, demographics of students, and financial need.

Superintendent William Hite said that this idea has been in the works for more than a year. Hite explains that people often want to invest in schools but do not know how to go about it.

Before this site, the school district had to determine where donations went rather than letting donors making that decision. The website encourages transparency, Hite said.

“This allows for individuals to just be sitting at their computers and then make those donations to schools,” He said.

Both Hite and Kenney say donors should not worry that the city will pare back it’s support as donations come in.