Bir Silgi Bir Kalem

Bir Silgi Bir Kalem

Type	Nonprofit organization
Founded	2012
Headquarters	Istanbul, Turkey
Key people	Onur Aydin, Founder Caglar Kaya, General Coordinator
Number of employees	10
Website	http://www.birsilgibirkalem.org/

Bir Silgi Bir Kalem (One Eraser One Pencil) is an online platform established in January 2012 with the aim of bringing Turkish public schools in need with the contributors who wish to donate to such institutions. At any time of the year, the authorized teachers from the institutions can announce their in-kind donation requests to donors through the website created for this purpose. The same website is also used by individual and/or corporate contributors to meet the requests.

In order to create a smooth and secure donation experience, both the schools and the contributors are supported by the project team. The team in question is responsible for the supply of donations, logistical support, tracking the donation process, communication of feedback as well as sharing requests through social media and answering any questions raised by the schools/ contributors.

Donation Process

Schools

Authorized teachers from each school are expected to create a profile for their institution and provide visuals and brief information about their institution. Every school is required to register to the system with their online credentials provided by the Turkish Ministry of Education. It is crucial to provide true, complete and accurate information about the institution and its needs in order to strengthen the communication between the institution and the possible contributors. Subsequent to the complete creation of the profile, schools can announce their needs through the website at any time.

Following the fulfillment of their request, the school is required to provide evidence that the donations are used for educational purposes by taking pictures of the students with the products and submitting it to the system with a letter addressing the contributor written preferably by students. These letters and photos are shared on the website as well as the social media accounts of Bir Silgi Bir Kalem.

Donors

The contributors may choose the institutions they wish to donate by filtering them by name, city or the requested products. After choosing the request which they wish to fulfill, the website will direct the contributors to various online shopping sites with different price and product ranges. The contributors are free to shop from any of the provided sites, or they may decide to supply it through their own means. Following the purchase, the contributors may monitor every progress regarding their donation through the website. Every contributor will receive a letter from the relevant institution after the donation reaches the school and the students. As well as being a communication link between the school and the contributor, this letter is also a surety for the contributor that his/her donation has reached the right place.

Collaboration

Bir Silgi Bir Kalem project is primarily carried out with the support and recognition of Turkish Ministry of National Education. Main corporate sponsors are Turkish Philanthropy Funds, Orhan Holding and Dermosilver. Bir Silgi Bir Kalem is also supported by many corporations throughout the donation process. Google, Teknosa, The Boston Consulting Group, Vitamin, Positive, Yurtiçi Kargo and Clickbus Turkey can be listed as active supporters of the project.

Bir Silgi Bir Kalem project is conducted in cooperation with non-governmental organizations namely Sabanci Foundation, Ashoka, Ari Hareketi and Bogaziçi University Alumni Network.

Statistics

Bir Silgi Bir Kalem has raised more than TL 1,017,000, helped more than 2,580 schools, and funded over 2,500 projects that have aided the education of more than 86,700 students since 2012.The statistics are continuously updated and can be tracked from the project website.

See also

*Philanthropy

*Crowdfunding

*Fundraising