Overview of Moonshot Accelerator
The Moonshot Accelerator is a central unit of the ASU Foundation. We provide teams of ASU faculty, staff, and their community partners with a continuum of support and learning opportunities to secure philanthropic resources for their ideas at any scale. As part of the continuum of supports, we:
- Design and lead experiences that equip ASU faculty and staff with the tools they need to collaborate with the ASU Foundation and pursue philanthropic funding for their work (at any scale).
- Build a robust moonshot pipeline through programming that equips ASU teams with the foundational approaches and tools for moonshot thinking.
- Provide specialized support and coaching to enhance the competitiveness of ASU teams who are advancing proposals in philanthropic moonshot competitions.
Join our mailing list to stay in the loop with our upcoming programming and other moonshot opportunities!
How the Moonshot Accelerator can help you
Advancing ideas to address society’s most complex challenges requires rigorous design, collaboration across sectors, systems thinking, and dynamic iteration—and philanthropy is uniquely positioned to help test and scale such ideas. Higher education institutions like ASU are well positioned to generate these ideas, but effectively translating them into philanthropic investment requires intentional strategy and relationship-building.
The ASUF Moonshot Accelerator equips ASU teams with the training, frameworks, and support needed to engage donors and build investable projects over time. From first-time philanthropic gifts to moonshot investments of $10M or more, the Accelerator helps ideas become ready for meaningful philanthropic partnership. Learn more about our programs and training below:
- Discovering Philanthropy Program: The Discovering Philanthropy program is a workshop series designed to help ASU faculty and staff better understand the philanthropic sector and how to engage with philanthropic funders to advance their work. Through workshop sessions, faculty explore the philanthropic landscape, connect with ASU Foundation’s frontline fundraisers, and develop a philanthropically compatible vision and framing for their work. Additionally, ASU Foundation development staff have the opportunity to request unit-specific workshops.
- For more information on the Discovering Philanthropy program, email arianna.beverly@asufoundation.org
- Join the Discovering Philanthropy mailing list to stay up-to-date on learning opportunities.
- Join the Discovering Philanthropy mailing list
- Moonshot Cohort Program: The Moonshot Cohort prepares teams of ASU faculty, staff, and their community partners to design, strategize, and lead big ideas to address complex societal challenges and position themselves to secure philanthropic funding for their work. The Moonshot Cohort is a 9-month program (August-May), taking teams through monthly in-depth sessions on topics, frameworks, and approaches common in the philanthropic space. The Moonshot team holds an open application process every spring, selecting up to ten teams for participation in each Cohort cycle.
- For more information on the Moonshot Cohort, email monro.obenauer@asufoundation.org
- Moonshot Workshops and Moonshot Thinking Primers: The Moonshot Accelerator team hosts in-depth workshops (4-8 hours in length) and Moonshot Thinking Primers (60-minute webinars) that equip ASU faculty, staff, and their community partners with the foundational approaches and tools for building a moonshot idea. Workshop and webinar topics include: theory of change, systems thinking, scaling pathways, and measurement and evaluation.
- Moonshot Workshops and Moonshot Thinking Primers are advertised through our Moonshot mailing list.
- Join the Moonshot mailing list
- Coaching and Proposal Development Support: The ASU Moonshot Accelerator team provides 1:1 coaching and proposal development support to ASU teams submitting proposals for philanthropic “moonshot” competitions (see examples here). The Moonshot Accelerator team also coordinates support from other central services teams, including Outreach Hub and Writing Services, bringing the full capacity of ASUF to bear on these high-risk, high-reward opportunities.
- Active Moonshot RFP opportunities are shared through our Moonshot mailing list.
- Join the Moonshot mailing list
Meet the Team
Michelle Govani, Assistant Vice President, Moonshot and Science Philanthropy, michelle.govani@asufoundation.org
Jace Reed, Assistant Director of Development, Moonshot and Science Philanthropy, jace.reed@asufoundation.org
Monro Obenauer, Assistant Director, Moonshot Cohort, monro.obenauer@asufoundation.org
Arianna Beverly, Program Manager, Discovering Philanthropy, arianna.beverly@asufoundation.org