Pride of the Southland Band drummers stand in front of Tower Bridge in London
Where Vols are empowered to ignite change

About

Welcome to UT’s crowdfunding platform, VOLstarter, where students, faculty, and staff can raise money to ignite change. VOLstarter has helped fund scholarships, competition and conference expenses, equipment costs, intern stipends, and more through direct network support.

Find a project

Projects Are:

Affiliated with UT and nonprofit in nature;

Sponsored by a UT department, program, center, or official student organization to which donations are deposited;

Managed and promoted by project leaders themselves.

How It Works

Step 1: UT students, faculty and/or staff apply to fund a project on VOLstarter.

Step 2: Our VOLstarter team reviews each application.

Step 3: Approved projects will be featured on the VOLstarter website for a minimum of 30 days to accept donations. Project leaders can reference this toolkit to help get their project fully funded.

Ready to get started?

FAQ

Your donation will be deposited with the University of Tennessee Foundation and distributed to the department, program, center, or official student organization that is leading the gifted project.

  1. Go to the project page you wish to support.
  2. Click the “Support this Project” button.
  3. Enter your gift amount.
  4. Fill out your information.
  5. Click “Next” and enter your payment information.
  6. Click “Next” to review your information.
  7. Click the “Confirm” button and you’re done!

Yes, contributions through VOLstarter support specific areas of the university and are therefore eligible for income tax deductions, as allowed by law.

Yes, the UT Foundation will send you a gift receipt via email for tax purposes.

Your credit card will be charged immediately upon finalizing your gift on the website.

Please call (865) 974-3011 or email volstarter@utk.edu with any questions.

Yes, all VOLstarter gifts made within the current fiscal year (July 1–June 30) count toward your senior impact gift. Go Vols!

Yes. However, it can take several months for employers’ matching funds to reach the UT Foundation. In the event the match does not arrive before the project deadline, it will be applied to the respective club or organization’s account for future projects.

No. One hundred percent of each donation goes directly towards the project’s monetary goal.

The Tax ID for the UT Foundation is 62-1844686.

By making a charitable gift to the UT Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, the donor understands that charitable donations are not refundable.

All donations given to a project will be distributed to the project leaders, regardless of whether the set goal is reached.