We started out as a team of high-school students with a bold idea.

Imagine a world where students across the nation—and perhaps the world— are empowered to take their ideas and turn them into a reality. Despite their age, their thoughts are taken seriously and even actively sought out in the decision-making process. In this world, students would have access to a variety of powerful tools, opportunities to learn, outlets to get their voice heard, and a network of passionate peers to supercharge their impact. We're working to make that world a reality.

Our philosophy is to focus our energy on the learning that happens through coming up with, planning, and launching an idea. We believe that this hands-on process provides students with a unique experience to be entrepreneurial while also helping them advance their own visions for their community. Indeed, skills of planning, collaboration, communication, and execution are crucial not only for aspiring entrepreneurs, but also for most 21st century jobs.

Since our founding, our entirely student-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has been working hard to make this a reality through a wide variety of programs, including Sponsr.Us Projects, Catalyst Clubs, Ignite Conferences, leadership showcases, and workshops.

Our programs

Sponsr.Us Projects

Our longest-running program provides students access to our free crowdfundraising platform and mentorship network to help them launch initiatives in their community. We guide students through planning a fundraising campaign and planning the launch of an initiative. Through this process, we teach students a variety of critical 21st century skills.

Unlike other platforms, such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, we don't charge for use of our platform. After all, we're students ourselves! We even cover credit card processing fees so that each penny goes to supporting student endeavors. This has saved our projects hundreds of dollars from the upwards of 10% in fees that they would need to pay otherwise.

To date, we’ve worked with eight student initiatives and our organization has raised tens of thousands of dollars for a wide range of student projects and initiatives from across the country, including a student-run orchestra, a financial aid program for a debate team, and a STEM research journal.

Catalyst Clubs

This is a grassroots movement of students from across the nation who believe in our vision joining together to make an even bigger impact. Students who launch a Catalyst Club in their community get access to funding, resources and support from our organization as well as to a broad network of passionate students.

Learn more and apply to become a Catalyst Club here.

Ignite Conferences

Through free one-day conferences targeting local youth, we help students learn skills and meet individuals to help them make a difference in their community. We’ve run four additional Ignite events, impacting the lives of hundreds of students through the workshops and talks led by student, community, and business leaders.

Past speakers at our events include:

• Daniel Koh, the chief-of-staff of the City of Boston
• Vicky Wu, Founder and Executive Director of Youth CITIES
• Casey Gerald, Co-Founder & CEO, MBAs Across America
• Sean Blanda, Director of 99U by Behance
• Gillian Pressman, Greater Boston Site Director of Generation Citizen
• Scott Wolovich, Director of New Sun Rising

Our history

In 2014, we launched Sponsr.Us Projects, enabling students launching non-profit community initiatives—clubs, events, and cause-driven fundraisers—to get free access to our crowd-fundraising platform and mentorship network.

In spring of 2014, we put on our first youth leadership conference at Harvard, Sponsr.Us Ignite @ Harvard.

In 2016, we launched our Catalyst Club program, which provides funding and mentorship to students who join our national movement by promoting student-led action within their community.

In Fall 2017, we'll be putting on our inaugural Youth Impact Summit, a competition for high-school students of all ages to gain access to funding to expand their initiatives. Students interested in participating will launch a new initiative in their community and receive feedback on it. Additionally, students will tackle real-world problems through a case-study developed in partnership with the local community.

Our organization

Sponsr.Us is led by a national team of high school and college students from across the country. The 2017 team consists of:

• Mudit Goyal - Director of Operations
• Hima Tammineedi - Director of Projects
• Alex Jo - Director of Development
• Visvajit Sriramrajan - Director of Communitty
• Parima Sharma - Associate Director
• Ryan Brigen - Regional Director, Pittsburgh

We also currently operate a chapter at Harvard University.

Interested in joining us? Learn more here.