Frequently Asked Questions

• About ClassWish »
• Who Can Use ClassWish »
• Educator FAQ »
• Contributor FAQ »
• Spreading the Word »
• Privacy and Security »

About ClassWish

ClassWish.org, an exciting new nonprofit website, helps educators and schools get the supplies they need for their students to excel.

Yes. ClassWish is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions made to ClassWish are tax-deductible.

You can contact us via email or regular mail:

feedback@classwish.org

ClassWish, Inc.
401 Seventh Avenue, office level B
New York, NY 10001

Who Can Use ClassWish

ClassWish is available for all accredited 501(c)(3) or public K-12,private, parochial, magnet, and charter schools in the United States.

ClassWish uses a database of schools that have been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by each state. New schools and addresses updated in the last year may not appear on ClassWish. If you cannot find a particular school, just login and then let us know. We will let you know when we have added it to the database.

Educators (as defined in the User Agreement), including teachers, administrators, and PTA/PTO officers are invited to create Wish Lists for classroom or school-wide needs.

At any school page, you can write-in the name of and donate to support any educator so you do not have to wait for them to create a Wish List.

Also please tell the educators you know about this opportunity to get the supplies they need! Just click here or click "Invite Teachers" from any school page to send an email invitation. Or click here to print a flyer that you or your child can deliver.

We encourage educators, parents, students, community members and other supporters to take an active role in spreading the word ClassWish.

Educator FAQ

ClassWish is available for all accredited 501(c)(3) or public K-12, private, parochial, magnet, and charter schools in the United States.

ClassWish uses a database of schools that have been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by each state. New schools and addresses updated in the last year may not appear on ClassWish. If you cannot find a particular school, just login and then let us know. We will let you know when we have added it to the database.

Educators, including teachers, administrators, and PTA/PTO officers are invited to create Wish Lists for classroom or school-wide needs.

ClassWish.org provides a convenient, rewarding, and efficient way for teachers, administrators, and PTA/PTO officers to inspire parents and others in the community to contribute toward the supplies you need for students to excel.

ClassWish makes it simple:
*Educators create a Wish List of the supplies they need for classroom or school-wide needs.
*ClassWish provides easy tools, such as emails and flyers, to spread the word to parents and others in the community.
*Supporters see exactly what is needed and how they can help.
*Contributions are tax-deductible, and we provide a receipt ¹.
*ClassWish also makes it easy for contributors to seek matching donations from their employers.
*Educators submit a request online for ClassWish to purchase the needed supplies.
*ClassWish receives all educator requests, purchases the items, and has them sent directly to each school.
*To help ensure transparency and accountability, ClassWish.org may display all items sent to educators.

¹ ClassWish is 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Charitable gifts and donations are tax deductible to donors who are United States taxpayers. Download our tax letter »

It's free!

It's easy! Just register, login to ClassWish.org, and search for your school. Then, click to create a wish list on the Teacher Needs tab of that school page.

ClassWish does not require you to get permission. If you are in doubt about school policy, please check with your principal.

At this time, we ask each ClassWish educator to select just one school to display on their profile. If you teach at more than one school, please select the one school that you would prefer to have appear on your profile. Any supplies you request will be sent to that school. Please note that these supplies then become the property of that school, and can only be used there.

To help us honor donors' preferences that all contributions go to support the school they intend to support, we ask educators to spend all of the money in their account for one school before seeking contributions to benefit another school. Any supplies ClassWish provides will be sent to the school with which your Wish List is affiliated. These supplies become the property of that school, and can only be used there. You cannot transfer funds from your account at one school to an account at another, and you cannot take materials ClassWish provides from one school to another.

Creating a Wish List is as easy as shopping online. And since you don't have to pay for the items, it's even more fun!

Once you have signed in and indicated that you are an educator, you can create a Wish List in just minutes. Just follow the instructions on the site.

To encourage contributions and to help ensure accountability, we encourage you to include additional information for each wish, such as grade level, and a short comment about why the supplies will improve the children's education.

You can include on your Wish List any supplies or equipment that supports the educational needs of your students and meet the ClassWish Eligibility Requirements, and that are available from our vendor partners, which are listed at http://ClassWish-Vendors.org.

If there is anything you need and can't find, just let us know, and we will do our best to add it.

We list field trips on the School Needs page for each school, so you can fund field trips for the school, but we do not yet have a way for individual teachers to raise money for field trips.

Yes, you can get inspired by seeing what other teachers have requested.

Most of us care about children, education, and our communities. Your Wish List is likely to receive contributions from parents, grandparents, neighbors, local businesses, alumni, friends, and others you ask.

Many people are eager to help their local schools; they just need to be asked. The first step is getting the word out about your Wish List. Our customizable emails and printable flyers make it easy to spread the word, so you can start getting funding for the supplies you need. We also encourage you to use your existing channels of communication with parents, friends and colleagues.

The more energetically you spread the word, the faster people will know about your needs, and the sooner they will have the opportunity to contribute toward the things you need.

Wish Lists do not expire, and educators are able to add, edit, and delete items at any time, as well as deactivate them.

You can see the entry in your Account when you are logged in. Please note that it may take 24 to 48 hours for new donations to be reflected there.

If someone reverses a credit card transaction toward your Wish List, we will deduct those funds from the amount available for your Wish List.

Once your Wish List has received contributions, you can request items from ClassWish (whether they were shown on your wish list or not) as set forth at http://ClassWish-Vendors.org. After receiving your request, ClassWish will order the items and deduct the amount shown for the items, shipping and tax from the balance of what was contributed toward your Wish List, and we will have the items shipped directly to your school. If the total price of the items you request, plus shipping and tax, exceeds the amount available in your Wish List, you can make a contribution toward your own Wish List.

Absolutely! We know educators need flexibility in meeting their needs. You can see the items contributors recommend you request, but you may request the money contributed toward your Wish List be used for whatever items you need, even if they are not already on your Wish List or are not the items suggested by the contributors. Just be aware that contributors may see what items we deliver to you, and keeping contributors happy is usually the best way to get more contributions.

Most items are sent by UPS, and larger items are generally sent by truck. The shipping rates for items ordered from our vendor partners generally appear on those websites.

We currently do not charge any fees on Wish Lists or School Needs. The difference between the retail price you see and a discounted price we earn by aggregating purchases will cover our operating expenses (just like a store lives off of the spread between wholesale and retail prices). The one exception to that is field trips, where we send the money, rather than ordering items, and we charge a low 5% fee. We do deduct the credit card processing fees of 2.9% and 30 cents per transaction before crediting the donation amounts to educator accounts.

Some websites that process charitable and educational donations add large fulfillment fees. ClassWish deducts only a fee to cover our cost of processing the credit card payment: just 2.9% and 30 cents per transaction.

We have displayed on Wish Lists items provided through our original ClassWish catalog, and we may show items again in the future.

All items ClassWish provides are shipped to the address that we have on file for your school. We receive these addresses from the U.S. Department of Education. If the address that appears for your school is not current, there is a place for you to indicate this when you submit a Request. We will then confirm the correct address directly with your school before shipping your items.

No. To help ensure that the supplies are used only for educational purposes at the school for which you register on our site, ClassWish can only ship supplies to the school address listed in our database.

All items ClassWish provides are contributions from ClassWish to the school or nonprofit to which they are shipped.

Educator may return items ONLY if they arrive damaged. Items must be returned within 7 days of receipt. Some of our vendor partners may have stricter return policies, which are disclosed on their websites and which you will be subject to.

In order to return an item, please send an email to: feedback@ClassWish.org. Be sure to include your name, school and ClassWish ID# (which appears in the URL of your wish list page), the shipping number (from the packing slip), the vendor who provided it, the list of item or items you wish to return, and the reason for the return.

ClassWish will have the vendor issue return call tags and instructions on how to return the item(s).

ClassWish will have our vendor send a replacement if possible. If not, the amount of the returned item (including sales tax and shipping and handling fees) will be credited to your Wish List.

ClassWish invites

• teachers, student teachers, teacher's assistants, librarians, guidance counselors, school nurses, coaches, principals, administrators, part-time after school teachers, other employees directly serving students in an educational capacity, and officers acting on behalf of school Parent Teacher Association units recognized by the National Parent Teacher Association and on behalf of other parent teacher organizations (collectively, “Educators”) in
• K-12, public, magnet and charter schools, as well as private schools, parochial schools, and other nonprofit organizations that are exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and that are in the United States (collectively, “Allowed Schools”) and other 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (“Allowed Nonprofit”).

to create wish lists (“Wish Lists”) indicating the supplies and equipment they need for their students to excel and to submit requests (“Requests”) for ClassWish to provide particular items funded by contributions to such Wish Lists.

ClassWish does not accept Wish Lists or Requests from substitute teachers or staff developers.

Funded Requests cannot be transferred to another teacher.

In order to register on ClassWish.org and create Wish Lists and Requests, you must attest to the following:

• I confirm that I am an Educator in an Allowed School or an employee of an Allowed Nonprofit, as those terms are defined above;
• I confirm that I am NOT a substitute teacher or staff developer;
• The activities for which I intend to use any items received through ClassWish are legal and fall within the standards of my state and/or local board or department of education, and the policies of my Allowed School or Allowed Nonprofit;
• All information I provide to ClassWish is accurate, and I will promptly update the information to keep it accurate;
• Any Requests I submit and any items I receive are solely for use in my classroom and/or school and any items I request through ClassWish will not be for my or anyone else’s personal use;
• I agree that any items provided to me by ClassWish shall become and remain the property of the Allowed School or Allowed Nonprofit to which ClassWish has them delivered. I will not take such items to another school or nonprofit, nor will I take such items for my personal use.
• I commit to including in my Wish Lists and Requests only items that will benefit my students’ education, including extracurricular activities, and to use any items that I receive from ClassWish only for such purposes.
• I agree that in the event that ClassWish determines that any items I received through ClassWish are not being used in accordance with these Eligibility Requirements, I will return such items to ClassWish at my expense.

Contributor FAQ

You can browse ClassWish.org to find Wish Lists created by educators, administrators, and PTA/PTO officers for classroom or school-wide needs. You can also write-in the name of an educator, and we will notify them that we created an account for them. You can also fund School Needs, and we will have the PTA/PTO leader or school principal request items with those funds.

You can make a general contribution toward a Wish List and communicate privately to let the Educator know your preference that your contribution be used for particular items. However, in order to give educators greater flexibility in meeting the most pressing needs of their students, they may request that the funds be used to purchase any items available through ClassWish.org. All items provided through contributions to ClassWish may be displayed on ClassWish.org.

Shipping rates are set forth in our Educator FAQ.

Wish Lists may show what has already been sent to the educator, as well as what they are requesting. Remember, they can use contributions for any items we offer, as they think best, to fill their most pressing educational needs.

ClassWish lets you see exactly what each educator and school needs.

We accept all major credit cards and payment by PayPal. Our credit card processing service is provided by PayPal, and we use an SSL certificate signed by a Certificate Authority (GoDaddy) for security on the page that accepts your credit card information. You can check the security of this page by looking for a locked padlock icon, usually found in the Address Bar or Status Bar of your browser. When that lock is secure, and the web address starts with "https", your information is protected. Clicking on the lock icon will give you more detailed information about our identity, the Certificate Authority and the certificate itself.