HuffPost Charity Chain: Needs-Generated Philanthropy at DonorsChoose

Are you tired of writing a check to a worthy non-profit without knowing if you money is going for some paper-shuffler or fancy lunch? Fortunately, we are entering the era of "New Philanthropy," where you know exactly where your money is going. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers all over the United States post what they need for their classrooms and donors scan the site and decide which projects to fund, in whole or in part. So a teacher might want, say, a video camera to bring the teaching of Shakespeare alive for her inner city students. Or 30 copies of a novel for a special project. Or a microscope. This is needs-generated philanthropy, and as everyone from Bill Clinton to Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) have attested, the DonorsChoose model is transformative.

I'm on the board, so not a neutral journalist on this one. But it's not too late to buy some DonorsChoose gift certificates for the holiday season or make a contribution yourself. Once you start scanning the teachers' proposals it's highly addictive.

Previously: Nora Ephron's First Annual HuffPost Charity Chain