What’s special: Insideschools.org provides independent, professionally written reviews of all New York City public schools and gives free advice to parents about school choice.Downside: Due to a lack of funding, the website may have to fold, or severely curtail its free services. On Sunday, the Daily News urged New Yorkers to “rally to save” Insideschools.org. Calling us the “single most valuable independent source of information on New York City public schools,” the editorial lamented that we may go out of business.Our financial woes might not surprise our regular readers, who receive our appeals for donations and see the notices on the website. But many of our users have asked how we got in this financial predicament and what’s going to happen next.Since 2002, Insideschools.org has produced independent, in-depth, professional reviews of all New York City public schools. When we launched, there were 1,100 schools – today there are more than 1,500, including 100 charter schools. The New York City school system has undergone several overhauls under Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein - and we have done our best to stay apace and keep you informed of the changes.But even with a tiny (and modestly paid) staff, and a small cadre of freelancers and volunteers, it is increasingly expensive to keep doing what we do best: send trained reporters into the schools and write reviews that are professionally edited. At the same time, we’re keeping up with what’s happening in school policy, politics, and admissions. There is truly no other site like ours in the United States, but what makes us unique is also what makes us “expensive.” In today’s economy, even the most established for-profit news gathering organizations are struggling to stay afloat. And this is where we find ourselves today – seeking generous, civic-minded funders who would allow us to continue the work that New York City public school parents have come to rely on: 1.1 million readers visited our site in the past year alone. Barring an infusion of new funds, we will have to reduce our staffing significantly while we regroup and look to find a more sustainable model.If you are able to help out with a contribution, please visit our Donate Now page (and a sincere thanks to everyone who has already donated.) If you, or anyone you know, can help Insideschools in a “big way,” please contact us. Thanks for your support… we’ll keep you posted.
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Do you guys have a Paypal address for donations? I’m not using credit cards anymore, but would be happy to donate from my Paypal account if you have one.
Comment by Magda — June 16, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
with 1.1 million parents logging on, you should consider selling ads on the website. you can still maintain the integrity of the organization while developing new revenue streams.
Comment by brooklynmom — June 16, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
Thank you, Magda! There is an address on our donate page that you could send a check to or you can donate through PayPal, even though we don’t have an account. Here is the link to the PayPal system that allows you to donate to us.
Comment by Lindsey Whitton Christ — June 16, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
My wife and I have just made a donation to Insideschools, news which I share only to say I wish we could give ten times as much as I we have. It’s not a question of whether we could afford to make the donation, but whether we could afford not to.
Insideschools has been an extraordinarily important resource as we negotiated our son’s transition to high school — and we begin the process very very soon with our daughter.
Clearly, Insideschools is a unique, irreplaceable, journalistic resource for every parent in the City of New York. I truly hope every one of those parents steps up to help however they can.
Comment by Thom Duffy — June 16, 2009 @ 6:21 pm
Charge people 5-10 dollars per year. Also every school listed on here should also pay $10-$20 per year. Also I think insideschools could maybe sponsor or participate in a community event every few months. It could be a small as having a table at a popular family street fair or an awareness flyer that goes out to schools. There are many people that don’t have a chance to go online. With more awareness maybe advertisers may want to come on board.
Comment by blues clues — June 16, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
I think that I had sent this comment previously.
If your organization had a PayPal account, you would definitely get more donations. If every person who reads your site give $1 each time, you would be able to stay afloat, independent (getting money from the schools sounds like the road to bias-ness to me), and give your “modestly paid staff” a raise.
Comment by Cathy Brown — June 16, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
I’ll send along a few bucks. Have you considered Google Adsense?
Comment by cw — June 16, 2009 @ 10:41 pm
I would pay to use your site- I made a small donation but if you charged suggested donation price (like musuems) i’m sure most people who could would pay and one daty a week keep it free for those who are struggling!
Comment by Alicia — June 16, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
Hello,
I would like to make a donation. When I click on your paypal link I go to the paypal page, but there is no link to your account. What is your paypal link? Thanks.
Comment by Manuel — June 17, 2009 @ 11:15 am
the best nyc education reference
Comment by proud parent — June 17, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
why don’t you charge every one that logs to your website a small fee $0.50 to $1.00 per week or month like the post office or everytime anyone logs on to your wegsite. I canot see you go, please I am a parent,teacher, director of a day care and informant for the parents, what else can we do to help! maybe charge an annual fee to get the invaluable information you provide. what ever you do please do not charge the schools, because then that would make you “bias” do some advertising for like child friendly places, or places that are friendly towards children and parents where parents and children can get together make friends
Comment by Borbon, Maria — June 17, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Your website is the place to go for the latest and most accurate scoop on NYC schools. Since becoming a part of the NYC public education system this school year (daughter in K) I have turned to your site time & again since first investigating G&T testing and results last Spring. I will donate ASAP!!
Comment by Jen of SI — June 17, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Thank you all for your continuing support during this critical time! In response to your suggestions, we just set up a PayPal account where you can donate to here.
Comment by Insideschools staff — June 17, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
Hope you can hang in there! I’m a recently excessed teacher at a big phasing-out school and check out every school I apply to on your site, plus I’ve got a young child who will be in kindergarten in 2011. I’ve just made a modest donation.
Comment by Valerie — June 17, 2009 @ 9:22 pm
Would you please tell us how much you need and by when? Something to motivate your many fans? I’m thinking a big thermometer showing how close you are getting to the goal, or some indication of how many donations received thus far. I’ve donated and tried to get the word out and it would be helpful to know how it’s going.
You’ve been a great resource for me and I would hate to see the website go away.
Comment by bkmom — June 17, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
Lindsay, that link to Paypal doesn’t say anything about how to donate to Inside Schools. Is there an address to send money to? (It’s super-easy to open a PayPal account.)
Comment by Magda — June 18, 2009 @ 10:30 am
Hi, I think it is best if a NYC school wants their name to appear on this popular website to pay a yearly registration. If you go on the NYDOE school website, the information on each school is not as informative as Inside Schools.
Comment by Maria — June 18, 2009 @ 11:37 am
Charge everyone $10 (or $20) to register, don’t just allow free access. If someone is truly not able to pay the registration fee, offer a promotional code at your discretion. I don’t think charging schools is a good idea… you will lose some listings. All schools need to be listed, good and bad, for the parents to be able to access information.
Comment by Janet — June 28, 2009 @ 2:29 pm