You can help students ask, “Why not me?”
As optiMize engages in its twelfth year, we are reimagining our programs to continue to meet the needs of our communities in a post-Covid era, with a focus on continuing to offer best-in-class programming to our incredible student teams.
The optiMize community engages more than 1000 students a year across a range of programs, courses, and community leadership opportunities. We are the largest student-led social innovation incubator in the country.
As our scale continues to grow at the University of Michigan, optiMize now also operates programs in partnership with community colleges across the state — expanding our collaborative innovation and strengthening transfer bridges. In the first three years of these efforts, our partner community colleges have increased matriculation to UM by 150% on average.
We’re working toward a future where college looks a lot more like optiMize. And we’re asking for your help to make it all happen.
Our goal for the 12th annual optiMize Summer Fellowship Program is to fund 30 projects with $300,000.
$3,000 gives a student fellowship funding to focus on their project all summer without having to hit pause to take a traditional summer job. optiMize Fellows are selected after completing the 5-month Social Innovation Challenge.
$10,000 supports an entire project team with summer fellowships and a seed grant to launch their work.
Naming opportunities exist for larger gifts. Some optiMize students are supported by named funds that were created by larger gifts. If you are interested in making a larger gift, please reach out to Scot Weiner, who serves as optiMize’s liaison in the University of Michigan College of LSA’s development office.
Smaller gifts make a big impact. Last year, we were the #1 department at UM for funds raised on Giving Blueday — a day when students, alumni, and parents make donations to support their favorite programs. On the day, we raised $64,000 from 252 donors, with most giving $100 or less.
No matter what amount you can give, your support helps students illuminate possibilities for a better world.
Can you help us reach our goal?
“optiMize is modeling what social innovation programs can and should look like to come up with the most exciting and collaborative innovations. It is also a model for the university in how it’s showing ways to transform undergraduate and graduate education. optiMize helps us see what is possible and help us believe that it is possible.”
What kind of projects will my donation support?
All donations directly support optiMize Fellows, allowing them to work full-time for the summer to bring their projects to life. Currently, too many worthwhile projects are left unfunded, and you can help us fix that! Here's just one example of an optiMize project:
More on previously funded optiMize teams >>
Why give to optiMize?
Meeting immediate need for a program that’s grown annually for nine years. Each year there are incredibly impactful student projects that we just can't fund. Your gift helps us support more student projects, transform more students' lives, and make a bigger impact on the world.
Giving to the University of Michigan. optiMize is a department at the University of Michigan. All gifts are processed through the university’s system.
Relationships with the innovators of the future. Giving to optiMize helps build a strong relationship with the most innovative students in the world! We host special dinners for students and supporters to meet throughout the year.
An incredible community of donors. Our donors are leading philanthropists from around the country. By supporting us, you join them in the optiMize community.