DonorsChoose vs LFX Crowdfunding

DonorsChoose connects donors with public school teachers requesting classroom resources. Teachers submit supply or project requests, donors contribute, and DonorsChoose orders and ships funded goods to verified teachers. Teachers can sign up and post projects for free. Classroom Essentials offers curated basic supplies with no minimum, shipping items as funding arrives. Classroom Projects use a catalog of more than 1 million products from over 20 teacher-favorite stores, including Lakeshore, Amazon, and Staples. These projects require a $100 minimum and can remain posted for up to four months; if the goal is missed, donors may redirect contributions to the teacher’s next project. Submissions are reviewed before posting, typically within five business days. Eligibility covers full-time educators at public or public charter schools working directly with students, subject to detailed rules. DonorsChoose says it vets requests, reviews student privacy, and requires permission for student photos. Teachers provide donors a thank-you package with two project photos.

LFX Crowdfunding is a web service connecting open source projects with donors and sponsors for development, events, infrastructure, security audits, and other needs. Project owners can create initiatives for an open source project, a third-party security audit, an event, or a general-purpose fund. Each initiative has a dedicated page with progress tracking, public donation and expense information, sponsor tiers, and a shareable link. Owners can define custom benefits for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers. Supporters can make one-time or recurring monthly donations and cancel recurring gifts at any time. Stripe processes donations, and the service says it never stores full card details. Donors need an LF ID account and must sign in before payment. The Linux Foundation operates LFX Crowdfunding as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit and says funds are disbursed within five business days. The service costs nothing, with 0% platform fees; the Linux Foundation underwrites platform and payment processing fees until $10M in funding. Contributions are not deductible as U.S. federal charitable donations.