Exactly where your donation goes.
Sparkden is built on trust, so we publish the plan: what we're raising, what it pays for, and how it ladders up to bringing free cloud, hardware and mentorship to 20,000+ students by the end of 2027.
It's a big goal, and an honest one. Right now we have more students than our budget can carry. We are not shutting down, but until we close that gap it's covered by nonstop fundraising and by our team working separate jobs. Hitting $65,000 changes that, and puts Sparkden on track to serve students for years to come.
Seven lines, largest first.
A target split of the $65,000 goal. It flexes with student need, but SparkCloud cloud operations is always our largest cost, followed by the operating costs and logistics that make everything else possible.
- 01
SparkCloud cloud operations
Largest cost$22,750 35%Our single biggest bill, and it recurs every month. SparkCloud is the free cloud platform students ship to: compute, databases, storage, bandwidth, custom domains and SSL. A project that disappears when a free trial ends isn't real, so we pay to keep every one of them online.
- 02
Operating costs & logistics
Keeps the lights on$13,000 20%The unglamorous part that everything else depends on: shipping laptops and Builder orders to students, packaging and supplies, payment processing, insurance, nonprofit compliance, and the software we run the organization on.
- 03
Hackathon & tech sponsorship fund
Build together$9,750 15%Money to host and sponsor hackathons, cover student entry and travel where we can, and back other student-run tech events. Coding alone is where most kids start; building with a team is where they grow.
- 04
Chromebook Refurbishing Program
New program$7,800 12%We take old, donated Chromebooks, upgrade and modify the hardware, replace ChromeOS with a full Linux install, and hand them to students who don't have a laptop to build on. Funding covers replacement parts (storage, batteries, chargers), tools, and shipping each finished machine to a student.
- 05
The Builder Program
New program$6,500 10%Students upload a 3D model, a sticker design, or something they want laser cut, and we fabricate it in-house and ship it back within a few days. Everything is made by us, so funding goes to the hardware itself (3D printers, a laser cutter, a sticker cutter) plus filament, materials and upkeep.
- 06
Mentorship, AMAs & support
People$3,250 5%Recruiting and supporting volunteer mentors, running AMAs with working engineers and founders, and making sure a student who's stuck on their code gets a real answer.
- 07
Outreach & regional programs
Reach$1,950 3%Flyers, stickers and campaigns so students who've never heard of Sparkden find us, especially in underserved communities. Region-restricted gifts also land here and fund outreach and support in the area you specify.
SparkCloud is the engine.
The reason a student can go from an idea to something live on the internet, with a real domain, a real database and real compute behind it, is SparkCloud, our free cloud platform. Hosting is recurring and it's our largest cost: every new student adds to the monthly bill. Keeping SparkCloud running and free is the most important thing your donation funds.
Explore SparkCloudHow we support students.
Money buys servers and hardware, but people make it matter. This is the structure we're building.
Mentors who've been there
A growing network of mentors who guide students through their first real projects. Not lectures, real help.
Regular AMAs
Live sessions with engineers, founders and creators so students learn how real software gets built and shipped.
Dedicated student support
Real people whose job is to unblock students stuck on their code: fast, patient, and free.
Team-based building
Hackathons and group projects that turn solo coders into collaborators, because the best builders don't build alone.
Region-restricted or earmarked gifts
Some sponsors and grantmakers can only fund specific regions or programs, and we honor that. A region-restricted gift goes directly to outreach in that area and a dedicated support team working with students there. Want your grant tied to one line above (Chromebooks, the Builder Program, a hackathon, SparkCloud for a semester)? Tell us and we'll track and report against it.
Fund the roadmap.
Give once, give monthly, or sponsor a line directly. We're glad to share a detailed budget and progress on request.
The Spark Forward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 42-2930302 · Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.