With Art Room Aid, you can request supplies for a project you want to complete or for your classroom. Create a profile for your project or classroom (it will be called a "project" either way), add the supplies you need to your project's supply list, and then publish your project for others to see. Once it's published, potential sponsors will be able to find your project and make contributions. Sponsors can select specific supplies to purchase for you or contribute credit towards your project so that you can purchase the supplies you've listed. To help you get contributions flowing, you'll be able to send a link to your project to your friends and family and share it on Facebook and Twitter.

A project leader is the person who runs a classroom, workshop, or project represented by a profile on Art Room Aid; a project owner is a person who creates and maintains that project's profile. Most of the time, they are the same person, but occasionally an organization will ask one person to take on administration of Art Room Aid projects on behalf of project leaders. When projects are published on Art Room Aid, the name of the project leader is shared, as this is likely the name more recognizable to sponsors searching for projects.

If you have a general list of art supplies that you need for your classroom or program, it's fine to create a "project" that represents your classroom or program for the year (or whatever time frame you choose). When it's time to add a description, try to describe some of the projects you'll be working on in your classroom or program, or describe the skills your students will be learning. Bear in mind that we call all profiles on Art Room Aid "project profiles," and try to make the description as clear and engaging as possible, with enough detail to inspire contributions. It's much easier for sponsors to get excited about projects than about a general supply list!

Anyone can create an Art Room Aid project. Art Room Aid is designed with projects for children and art education in mind, but that doesn't mean it's exclusive to them. It can be used by day care providers, schools, after-school programs, community organizations, senior centers — you name it. Anyone who needs art supplies and wants to make a difference is welcome to create a project.

Art Room Aid is designed to support schools and other organizations with art programs. If you don't see your organization, you may add it. Art Room Aid is not designed for individuals to request personal contributions. If you'd like to create a personal list, you may create a Wish List on the Blick website.

Creating a list of specific supplies reassures sponsors that their money will be used for art supplies for your project. This is also why we require that you use the contributions you receive to purchase the supplies you have listed, why you can add items to a published project but not remove them, and why we share contribution and purchasing activity for your project with your sponsors.

Publishing your project makes it public on the Art Room Aid website and visible to potential sponsors. It means you're happy with your supply list and ready for us to share it. Published projects also might be featured on the Blick website to attract even more sponsors. Note that as soon as you publish your project, you will no longer be able to remove supplies from your list or decrease requested quantities, though you will continue to be able to add supplies.

If your project is not public, sponsors will not be able to find it or make contributions. Art Room Aid is designed specifically to draw in contributions from the public to help your classrooms and art programs. If you would like a private supply list for family, parents, and friends to see, you can create a general Wish List on the Blick website.

Yes! Create as many projects as you want. Some art project leaders have separate projects for different classrooms, or even for different projects in the same classroom. They then build seperate supply lists for each project.

No. We send you supplies as soon as they are gifted to you, and credit is made available to you as soon as it's contributed. You're welcome to spend your credit as soon as you get it, but keep in mind that if you know more contributions are coming in (and can wait a bit), you might be eligible for volume discounts, free shipping, or other incentives.

Every organization at Art Room Aid has an administrator. If you associate your project with an organization, but the administrator determines that your project shouldn't be there, he or she can remove it from the organization. When this happens, your project is also automatically unpublished. That means your project still exists and is accessible to you, but in order to publish it again, you must associate it with the correct organization.

Before your project is published, you may delete it at any time. After you've published it, you will need to contact Blick's Customer Service Department ((800) 828-4548) to either delete or prematurely expire your project. We will delete your project if you haven't received any contributions; if you have, we'll adjust the gift deadline so that sponsors can no longer make contributioons. Projects that have received contributions are never deleted for a few reasons. First, you can seed new projects with any leftover funds, and second, you may want to review the details of your past projects or access sponsorship information for them after they've expired.

Yes. The best way to do this is to "copy" your project. When you copy it, a new project will be made using many of the previous project's details, including its supply list. Of course, you can make any changes you want to the the project details and you can adjust the supply list before you save and publish the new project.

You can use any leftover credit to start a new project. Once the project's gift deadline has passed, you'll be able to transfer the credit to a new project by copying the project. This will also copy the project profile details and supply list (you'll be able to update all of this before publishing the new project). As soon as the new project is published, the transfered credit will be available. Note: If there are items on your expired project's supply list that can be bought with available credit, you cannot transfer funds. You must first purchase as much as possible from your existing supply list.

If your project hasn't yet been published, you may remove supplies using the "Remove" link on the "Request Supplies" tab. After you've published your project, you may not remove items from your supply list. If you need us to make an exception to this rule, please contact us at (800) 828-4548. We will remove them at our discretion.

Celebrate! And create lots of art. You might also want to post project updates for your sponsors to see, share the news on Facebook and Twitter, and submit a success story so we can share it with other art lovers on the Art Room Aid and Blick websites. Then, find inspiration and create a profile for your next Art Room Aid project!

Start a new project! If you still need supplies that remain on your expired project's supply list, copy it to create a new project with a new gift deadline. When the new project is created, its supply list will include all of the items you asked for when you created the original project. If you don't need all of these items, you can delete any you no longer need before publishing the new project. Of course, you're welcome to add more.

We display local Art Room Aid projects on the Blick website to customers who are in nearby locations, encouraging them to make contributions. Projects are also featured based on their level of need, with preference given to public schools and not-for-profit organizations. Because we cannot guarantee that your project will be featured, the best way to engage potential sponsors is to share your project using Art Room Aid email messages, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, encourage your friends to share your project with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

The best way to give is by contributing credit directly to a project that interests you. As project leaders collect more credit from you and sponsors like you, they can prioritize items, consolidate shipments to take advantage of reduced shipping rates, and capitalize on special offers available via the Blick website. Some project leaders can also take advantage of their organization's tax-exempt status to make your gift go further.

If you see a message that you can't contribute the supplies you've selected, but it looks like those supply requests haven't been fulfilled, then the project has already been given enough credit by other sponsors to cover more supplies than would remain if you completed your gift. Projects may only receive contributions up to the value of the supplies they've selected — either as credit or the supplies themselves — plus the cost of shipping and handling. To complete your gift, either adjust it to include fewer items, or make a credit contribution instead.

Maybe. Your contribution might be tax deductible if you've given to a not-for-profit organization. To be sure — and to get any necessary documentation of your gift — you'll need to contact the organization you've given to directly.

If there are no projects associated with a school or organization on Art Room Aid, there is no way for you to contribute to that school or organization. Please let the school or organization know about Art Room Aid if you think it might be helpful to them, and then find another list that inspires you and make a contribution!

If something about a project doesn't seem quite right — perhaps the content or photos seem inappropriate for the profile or the project appears fraudulent — please report it to us by clicking the "Report This Project" link in the upper right corner of the project's profile.

Yes, if you become a sponsor. We limit comments to sponsors and project leaders in order to reduce "spam" and also to ensure that those who are posting support the project they're commenting on.

Yes. In fact, if you create an account in order to create an Art Room Aid project, it will function as a Blick account too.

Yes. If you have an Art Room Aid project and also shop on the Blick website, it's very easy to add items to one of your project supply lists from any Blick product page. You can also add supplies from your Cart, any personal wish list, or any lesson plan materials list. To add supplies to an Art Room Aid project supply list, enter quantities for those items, then scroll down and locate the list management tools (to the left of the "Add to Cart" section of the page). Select your project from the drop-down menu and click the "Add to List" button. If you want to move items to a project from your Cart or from Saved Items, select those items, select the project to move them to, then click the "Move to List" button.