About TartanFunder

TartanFunder is an exclusive, university-supported crowdfunding platform for students, faculty, staff and alumni to raise money for initiatives that benefit the Carnegie Mellon community. Since the crowdfunding platform launched in 2015, more than 6,000 generous supporters have made more than 150 projects possible.

Whether you’re interested in leading a campaign, making a contribution or spreading the word on social media, your participation helps our Tartan family do the work that matters. Let’s make a powerful collective impact today.


TartanFunder Guidelines

  • 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).
  • Examples of appropriate projects include a student club, organization, or alumni network looking to raise money for innovative creations, service trips, events, and other CMU-specific uses.
  • Each project team must work with a designated department business manager who is responsible for ensuring that funds are spent consistent with Carnegie Mellon University’s requirements and the project budget.
  • TartanFunder is sponsored by University Advancement through the Office of Annual Giving. There is a standard 12% administrative fee charged on all gifts made to the university, including those gifts for CMU Crowdfunding projects.
  • Each CMU crowdfunding contribution is a charitable gift to CMU, designated to the project of the donor’s choosing.
  • CMU crowdfunding project campaigns are typically open for funding support for 30 days and remain on the site afterward to provide project updates to the donors.
  • Gifts can be made to CMU crowdfunding projects by anyone worldwide, provided they have a credit card. Payments must be made in U.S. dollars only.
  • A person is considered a donor if they make a gift with a unique credit card and billing address. The name on the credit card will be the name recorded as the donor.
  • A project’s success is based in part on the amount of personal outreach and social media exposure generated by the project leader/team.
Visit the project pages to learn more, spread the word and support the project teams!

For more information, email crowdfunding@andrew.cmu.edu