There is definitely more to love about Target beyond their amazing designer collaborations. Case in point, the mega store has announced a new initiative called "Give With Target" to help raise a whopping $1 Billion for schools nationwide by 2015.

And raising money for schools has never been easier-- aka no purchase necessary.

Using a personal Facebook account, students can vote once per week for the K-12 school of their choice--schools will receive one $25 Target gift card for every 25 votes, with a maximum payout of $10,000 per school. Kids can literally become digital cheerleaders for their schools.

But that's not all--Target is set to donate up to $5 million to schools across the country. Of that lump sum, $2.5 million has been earmarked for a number of $25,000 grants that will be presented to 100 in-need schools.

Barack Obama is also getting into the back-to-school spirit. At the Urban League's annual conference last week, the President outlined a new program called the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans--aiming to create a range of education programs for black students via several federal agencies.

We look forward to seeing how Obama's new program plays out. In the meantime, voting for the "Give With Target" initiative only runs until September 8--so start clicking!


Check out Target's new back-to-school commercial--a compilation of home videos showing the super psyched reaction of high-schoolers finding out they have been accepted into college.