durch

I would like to request your help in starting a charity to help local schools get the computers they need while educating our youth at the same time.

For about 2 years now I've been thinking about getting involved with some local schools. Powerful computers for school use can be built for so cheap now, it seems like a good idea to
1) Raise some money
2) Give a presentation to local schools about building a computer from scratch and maybe even overclocking
3) Actually build a computer for the school with the help of the kids you gave the presentation to

It just seems like such a simple concept that would not only get the schools the tech they need, but also educate and inspire some future engineers, computer scientists and overclockers. If OCN teamed up we could get a lot of projects going across the country. I have some ideas but lots of questions mainly focused on software (i.e. purchasing Windows, Office, etc). Anyone know if there's a way to get that for charity/education purposes for cheap? Especially in bulk? I know my college had MSDNAA, but I dunno if that applies to K-12 too and if it does how to get involved and keep this all legal. Also, if anyone knows of a way to get parts for even cheaper than newegg retail prices that'd be great. I figure it's a possibility since parts would only be used for charity for schools, just have no idea who to talk to. I'd love to hear from others that are interested and start sharing some ideas and getting something started.

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airplaneman

You cold probably email a bunch of stores/websites and explain what you are doing. They will probably give you a nice discount if you credit them somehow. Just be like "for any of you interested in doing this yourself at home, newegg.com etc has great prices on all their stuff". I think it's a good idea but schools don't really have that big a budget, and computers aren't top on their priority..my high school was using like 12 year old text books...and this wasn't a poor school or in a bad neighborhood, the money just isn't there.

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Q9650 @ 4.5, 1.4 vCore (1.376 CPU-Z)

durch

Yea I was considering this, getting local computer stores to sponsor the program through donation of parts or discounts, and somehow tastefully promote the store for their help with advertisements or at least publicly mentioning their support.

Keep the ideas coming!

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airplaneman

Maybe get an add campaign going within the neighborhoods, make it known and try to get people to donate money. Computers are the future so I'm sure people will be willing to donate a few bucks here and there. The school only really needs the towers/boxes w/e since they can just use their current monitors and other peripherals.

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Q9650 @ 4.5, 1.4 vCore (1.376 CPU-Z)

bigstan

Its a wonderful idea, you should initiate this ASAP....

jackeyjoe

have you tried asking around for those "broken" computers and "fix" them then give them to the schools. This may require lots of man power but it is better than them ending up in the rubbish. Good luck to you sir

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durch

Yea, I know there's a way for people to claim the donation for a small tax break if they itemize. Anyone know how that works? If you receive an old computer as a donation, would you have to provide them with some sort of receipt to not only validate the donation but also to give an estimation of the value of the donation? Also, how would the regulation on our charity work? I assume we'd have to report all donations received and account for where the donations end up. I can't imagine the government would just let someone accept donations and never check up on them to see where they end up.

Can anyone shed some light on these topics?

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wirehead

Great thought "durch", I guess each one of us should try and initiate this in our respective cities.