Frequently asked questions

Whatever feels right and fits your budget. Many supporters start with about 1% of a paycheck or a flat $10 to $25 per payday and split it between two or three teachers. The minimum is $5.00 per paycheck and the maximum is $5,000.00; contact us for anything larger.

On your paydays, according to the schedule you set (weekly, every two weeks, twice a month or monthly) starting from the next payday you give us. We email a receipt after every charge. You can see the upcoming date on your dashboard.

Two things: payment processing (Stripe's charge, about 2.9% + $0.30 for cards or about 0.8% capped at $5.00 for bank accounts) and the flat 1% PayMyTeacher fee. By default you cover processing so the full gift reaches your teachers. You always see the breakdown before you are charged.

Yes, any time, from your dashboard. Changes to the amount or the split apply from the next payday. Pausing stops charges until you resume; cancelling stops them for good. Gifts already delivered stay with your teachers.

Add them. Enter their name and school, plus an email address if you have one, and we will create the profile and invite them to claim it. You can allocate gifts to them right away.

Their share is collected as normal and held for them while we keep inviting them. If the profile is still unclaimed after 180 days, you can reassign the held gifts to another teacher from your dashboard. You can also stop giving to an unclaimed teacher at any time by changing your allocation.

Every successful charge produces an emailed receipt with the gift, the fees and the split between teachers. Your complete history is on your dashboard.

No. Gifts through PayMyTeacher are personal gifts to individual teachers, not charitable donations, so they are not tax-deductible. We are not a charity and do not issue donation receipts.

Search the directory for your name, open your profile and click This is me. If nobody has added you yet, create a profile from the For teachers page. Either way you will be asked to verify that you are the teacher on the profile.

The quickest way is a code sent to your school email address. If you no longer have one, upload a document that shows you taught at the school, such as a school ID, a contract or a pay stub. Every claim is reviewed by a person before it is approved.

Once you are verified and your bank account is connected, gifts are paid out weekly, including anything that was held for you before you claimed the profile. Gifts paid by bank transfer can take a few business days longer to settle.

Stripe is the payment company that moves the money. Stripe Express is the account it creates for you to receive payouts: it collects your identity and bank details securely, and gives you a dashboard to see payouts and update your account. We never see your bank details.

Absolutely. Many of the teachers being thanked here taught years ago. Verify with a document instead of a school email, and mark your profile as retired so former students can find you.

Gifts through PayMyTeacher are personal gifts from individuals. Whether they are taxable depends on your circumstances, and we cannot give tax advice, so please consult a tax professional. Stripe collects tax information during payout setup where the law requires it.

Your public profile shows your name, school, subjects, grade levels, years, bio and photo if you add one. Your email, address, documents and bank details are never shown to anyone. Supporters see only what is on the public profile.

A teacher confirms a school email address or uploads a document showing they taught at the school, and a person reviews every claim before approving it. Only verified teachers with a connected bank account receive payouts; everything else is held.

Report it to hello@paymyteacher.com with the profile link. We will freeze the profile, hold any gifts, and investigate. Impersonation is against our terms and we remove accounts that attempt it.

If you were charged by mistake, contact hello@paymyteacher.com within 30 days and we will refund any part of the gift that has not yet been paid out to a teacher. Gifts already paid out are the teacher's; we cannot claw them back.

Card and bank details are entered on Stripe's secure pages and stored by Stripe, never by us. We keep only a reference to the payment method and the last four digits so you can recognise it on your dashboard.