Riot Games announced Thursday that it has partnered with education nonprofit DonorsChoose to match donations for teachers looking to bring gaming and esports programs into their classrooms. Today’s announcement marks the third consecutive year of the two organizations working together to support gaming and education initiatives. The new campaign is part of overall charity efforts through the Riot Games Social Impact Fund.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Riot and DonorsChoose will provide additional support for teachers and students in more rural communities. The overall goal of this endeavor is to raise money for teachers who want to use gaming as a “gateway to learning, teamwork, and future careers” in STEM, game development, and more.
Riot Games and DonorsChoose are teaming up using a Riot Games Social Impact Fund campaign that will match every dollar that is donated to projects related to gaming and esports on the DonorsChoose campaign site up to $200,000 USD.
Teachers who need financial support can submit project proposals that ask for help purchasing needed items such as consoles or PCs for an esports club or team, programming equipment, software to teach a game development or design class, and more. In its announcement, Riot noted that it is focused on “funding projects from Equity Focus Schools where 50% or more of students come from low-income communities.”
The company added that it “fully funded all gaming and esports projects from rural communities that were posted on the DonorsChoose platform at the time this campaign launched and was able to support 4,500+ students.”
The company hopes to improve on 2024’s numbers; in 2024, the donation matching campaign funded 542 projects, with 84.1% those from schools with 50% or more of students from low-income households, per Riot data. There was a 73% increase in the number of gaming and esports projects posted to the DonorsChoose platform in 2024.
“We’ve seen firsthand the powerful role gaming and esports can play in education, from boosting engagement to opening doors into tech and creative careers,” said Jeffrey Burrell, Head of Social Impact at Riot Games. “This year, we’re especially proud to expand our efforts by flash funding projects in rural communities, helping teachers reach students who might not otherwise have access to these experiences. Our goal is to support as many teachers in as many communities as we can not only teach through games, but also inspire the next generation of designers, developers, and leaders in our industry.”
You can learn more about this particular campaign by visiting www.donorschoose.org.