Carnegie Mellon University

Crowdfunding the Next Great Idea

CMU's Crowdfunding platform allows you to directly support groups of Carnegie Mellon students, faculty, staff and alumni by donating to projects that impact and benefit students and/or others within the CMU community. These passion projects have modest fundraising goals and cover a wide range of topics and areas, from visionary transportation systems to unique theater pieces.

Interested students, faculty, and staff should complete the online application.

Application FAQs

The CMU Crowdfunding platform is designated for university-related projects that impact and benefit CMU students and/or other entities within the CMU community, and with funding goals of $2,000-$10,000.
Project leaders and teams must be directly affiliated with CMU (i.e. students, alumni, faculty, and staff).
No, at this time individuals cannot use CMU crowdfunding to cover research costs.
A crowdfunding campaign requires significant investment from the project leaders to be successful. Project Leaders need to submit the application, attend the virtual orientation, create a project page, develop a communication plan and actively fundraise for the length of the campaign (~30 days.) The Office of Annual Giving can be a resource for all groups, as it supports all crowdfunding projects throughout the campaign.
For more information, contact: Daniella Staudacher, Associate Director of Annual Giving.