Acorn Fund
Acorn Fund
The Acorn Fund is designated to financially support Elon students with an original, innovative, and feasible invention, a for-profit or non-profit company/organization, or other initiatives with the potential for positive impact beyond the classroom. Winning projects/ideas will be awarded based on the viability and feasibility of their concepts, which includes but is not limited to the use of the other campus initiatives that offer guidance and support to their ideas, projects, and or/ventures, which provides business and professional counseling and support to student-led ventures and projects.
Last year, the Acorn Fund awarded over $10,000 to 2 undergraduate entrepreneurs who presented new thoughtful projects to our committee. This year, we are excited to hear from a new pool of applicants and help support your innovative projects! We encourage students from ALL Majors and schools to apply!
Applications can be submitted for up to $5,000. The Acorn Fund Manual provides additional details and the application is made available on PhoenixCONNECT during the application window.
Timeline
Information Sessions – attendance at one session required for application eligibility:
- Tuesday, September 9 at 4:30 PM – Moseley 217
- Wednesday, September 17 at 10:30 AM – Moseley 206
- Tuesday, September 23 at 12:30 PM – Moseley 217
Applications due: Monday, October 6, 2025 by 5pm
Pitch Night – Finalist presentations to the Finance Board: Monday, October 20, 2025
Funding Decisions: by October 31, 2025
Applications
The application will be available by the first information session in the fall, but for your planning purposes, typically the questions include:
- Please give a brief description of your venture or project.
- Who is your target audience/customer? How will your product/venture impact your audience/customer?
- How is your project innovative?
- If awarded funding from the Acorn Fund, how will the funding impact or contribute to the advancement of your venture/project?
- Beyond the funding you could receive from the Acorn Fund, what are some steps you (and your team if you have one) will take to ensure your project/venture continues to grow?
- Based on this additional funding, how will you evaluate the success of your project or venture?
- Please include how much you are asking for from the Acorn Fund. Additionally, please also include a detailed budget sheet breaking down how you (and your team) would spend the funds.
Application available after participation in information session
Acorn Fund Micro-Grants
The Acorn Fund Micro-Grants are designed to allow for smaller grants on an on-going basis as long as the funds (approximately $10,000 annually) are available. Awards are typically less than $1,000 and requests can not exceed $2,000.
All applicants must attend a required workshop or meet with the Vice President of Finance during office hours.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year. The Finance Board will review the applications and select finalists. Finalists will be invited to pitch ideas to the committee on the Monday after their request is submitted or at the discretion of the Vice President of Finance.