Ripple’s $25M RLUSD Grant Funded 48,000+ Classroom Projects

Ripple delivered $25 million in RLUSD to DonorsChoose and Teach For America, the company reported in an insight published May 7. The funds supported classroom materials, teacher stipends, tutoring, financial literacy and a blockchain education series.

DonorsChoose received $15 million and funded 48,108 classroom projects across all 50 states. Teachers requested books, science kits, classroom technology and basic supplies. About 86% of the funded projects served schools where more than half of students come from low-income households. U.S.-based Ripple employees added $25,700 to support 378 projects at 336 schools.

Teach For America received $10 million to support under-resourced schools. The organization provided direct stipends to 2,300 new teachers, who were expected to reach an estimated 141,600 students in their first year. TFA delivered financial literacy materials to roughly 270,600 students and its Ignite tutoring program reached 6,538 students across fall and spring cohorts.

The partnership launched a Blockchain Bootcamp series at U.S. high schools to introduce students to cryptocurrency and blockchain concepts.

Ripple reported that most of the $25 million was distributed in RLUSD, its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, and described the grant as one of the largest stablecoin donations to nonprofits. The company framed the update as a summary of first-year results from an earlier Teacher Appreciation Week pledge rather than a new funding announcement.

The DonorsChoose collaboration received a Community Voice Award, a Bronze award for Best Education Initiative at the Anthem Awards, and a nomination for Best Education Initiative at the Halo Awards.

Ripple wrote: “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.”