Last spring, during Teacher Appreciation Week, Ripple announced a $25 million donation to DonorsChoose and Teach For America — two organizations that have spent decades proving that when teachers have what they need, students succeed. A year later, we wanted to share what that commitment has made possible.
The numbers are significant. But the story behind them is about something more than dollars. It's about what happens when resources reach the right people at the right time.
Why Education, Why Now
The link between grade-level literacy and lifetime economic opportunity is well-established. So is the gap. Millions of students across America still sit in classrooms that lack the basic resources — books, supplies, technology — that make learning possible.
At Ripple, expanding access to financial systems, opportunity, knowledge, is core to what we do. We wanted to invest at a scale that could make a real difference, with partners who had the infrastructure and the trust to deploy it well.
The majority of the $25 million was delivered in RLUSD, Ripple's U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, making this one of the largest stablecoin grants to nonprofits in history, and a practical demonstration that crypto-native philanthropy can operate at real scale.
Supporting Classrooms with DonorsChoose
DonorsChoose has a simple, powerful model: teachers post what their classrooms need, and donors fund it directly. No bureaucracy, just resources reaching students.
Ripple's $15 million donation, one of the largest in DonorsChoose's history, helped fund 48,108 classroom projects across all 50 states. From science kits in rural Montana to books in South Side Chicago, every project was requested by a teacher who knew exactly what their students needed. 86% of those projects were at schools where more than half of students come from low-income households, meaning the resources went where they were needed most.
"It wasn't just the scale of Ripple's commitment that stood out. It was the clarity of intention and focus on impact. That clarity made it possible for us to steward a gift of this size with confidence and deliver meaningful results for teachers and students across the country,” said Alix Guerrier, CEO of DonorsChoose.
The partnership was recognized at the Anthem Awards, where it won the Community Voice Award and a Bronze for Best Education Initiative, and was nominated for Best Education Initiative at the Halo Awards.
By the numbers, in just a year:
- $15M donated to DonorsChoose
- 48,108 classroom projects funded
- All 50 states reached
- 86% of projects at low-income schools
Putting It in Teachers' Hands Directly
We also wanted Ripple employees to feel connected to this work. So we put DonorsChoose gift cards in the hands of every US-based employee and invited them to browse the platform and find a classroom they believed in. Employees directed $25,700 to projects of their choosing including donating science supplies, art materials, books, and classroom furniture. Every dollar landed somewhere a Ripple employee decided it should go.
Employee impact:
- $25,700 directed to classroom projects
- 378 projects funded
- 336 schools served
- 360 teachers supported
Building the Next Generation with Teach For America
Teach For America places talented, trained teachers in under-resourced schools across the country, schools that face some of the steepest challenges and have the most to gain from committed educators.
Ripple's $10 million donation went to work immediately. This fall, 2,300 new TFA teachers entered classrooms supported by direct stipends funded by Ripple, reaching 141,600 students in their first year. Across TFA's full corps of 4,170 first- and second-year teachers, 270,600 students received financial literacy resources: practical education in money management, economic mobility, and building strong financial foundations.
The Ignite tutoring program, which pairs students with near-peer tutors for targeted academic support, reached 6,538 students across fall and spring cohorts.
Perhaps most exciting for Ripple: the partnership launched a Blockchain Bootcamp series at U.S. high schools, bringing hands-on crypto and blockchain education to students who will graduate into a world where digital assets are part of everyday finance.
By the numbers:
- $10M committed to Teach For America
- 2,300 new teachers supported with stipends
- 141,600 students reached by first-year corps
- 270,600 students received financial literacy resources
A Year In
When we made this commitment last Teacher Appreciation Week, we said we hoped it would inspire others to invest in education with the same sense of urgency and intention. That hope hasn't changed.
What has changed is what we know is possible. Teachers supported, bootcamps launched, students learning, the result of two organizations that knew exactly how to put resources to work, and a team at Ripple that believed education is one of the most powerful investments we can make.
We're proud of what this first year has made possible.
