DonorsChoose.org Launches Birthday Giving Campaign With Stephen Colbert

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 1, 2009) - Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," and DonorsChoose.org, the online charity that connects everyday citizens to public school classrooms in need, today announced the launch of The Great Give-Back Birthday. The online celebration enables individuals to donate their birthdays to support specific classroom projects submitted by teachers nationwide. The Great Give-Back Birthday is the latest in a series of innovative campaigns designed by DonorsChoose.org to directly involve citizens in philanthropy.

Colbert, who celebrates his birthday on May 13, created a birthday giving page at DonorsChoose.org filled with his favorite classroom projects posted by teachers on the website (www.DonorsChoose.org/ColbertBirthday). In lieu of traditional birthday gifts, Colbert is asking his friends, family and fans to visit his birthday giving page and support those projects.

Together with DonorsChoose.org, Colbert has also issued an invitation to individuals across the country to create their own birthday giving pages.

"This year, you can help needy classrooms on your birthday with DonorsChoose.org," said Stephen Colbert. "And the great thing is, if you give your birthday away, you don't age that year. Look it up."

Added Colbert, "DonorsChoose.org makes me feel like every day is my birthday. That, and my 364 counterfeit driver's licenses."

To spread the word, Colbert created a short video about The Great Give-Back Birthday, which will debut at 10:00AM EDT on Tuesday, May 5 at The Huffington Post. Details of the video remain top secret. Visit www.HuffingtonPost.com next Tuesday.

"We're challenging everyone in America to collectively donate 100 birthdays and generate $100,000 in donations during the month of May," said Charles Best, founder and CEO, DonorsChoose.org. "Thousands of classrooms across the country lack the materials that enable kids to succeed. And with budgets squeezed, teachers need the support that concerned citizens can offer."

The Great Give-Back Birthday follows two recent campaigns by DonorsChoose.org that generated a tremendous outpouring of support for public school classrooms. As part of The Blogger Challenge, launched in 2007, bloggers from around the Web invited their readers to donate to classroom projects at the DonorsChoose.org. The bloggers, big and small, competed to raise the highest donation total and refer the most donors. To date, the campaign has provided over $290,000 in classroom materials for public school students nationwide.

Last year, DonorsChoose.org partnered with national association Mustaches for Kids to launch the 2008 "Growing Season." Men from coast to coast competed by growing mustaches to raise money for classroom projects posted at DonorsChoose.org. Participants created custom giving pages at which their friends, family and fans could donate to show their support. The campaign generated more than $340,000 in donations.

For more information about The Great Give-Back Birthday or to donate your birthday, visit www.DonorsChoose.org/Birthday.

About DonorsChoose.org

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the form of photographs and student thank-you letters.

To date, 94,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $33 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through www.DonorsChoose.org, individuals from all walks of life have helped 2 million students from low-income families.

About Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert is the host and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award winning series on Comedy Central, "The Colbert Report." Touted by the New York Times as "one of the best television shows of the year" and praised as "The Best Show of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly, "The Colbert Report" has garnered ratings and critical success as one of the top shows on television.

Colbert's book, "I AM AMERICA (And So Can You!)," spent 29 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, debuting at and occupying the #1 spot for 13 weeks.

About The Colbert Report

"The Colbert Report" is produced by Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions, Inc. in association with Spartina Productions, Inc. Stewart, Colbert and Allison Silverman are the executive producers with Meredith Bennett and Richard Dahm as co-executive producers. Jim Hoskinson is the director. Lou Wallach and Dan Powell are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 91 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B) MTV Networks.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Jeremy Robinson-Leon (ph) 212.784.5702 jeremy@groupgordon.com