Receiving a financial award from the THINK, DO, THRIVE Grant Program provides a valuable learning and life-skills opportunity to develop and experience a number of critical professional practices. These include venture planning and management, budget ownership and management, fiscal responsibility and professional reporting.
Previous awardees of the Student Entrepreneurship Fund and Student Project Fund, through Sears think[box], are encouraged to apply.
Eligibility for the Morgan Startup Grant
To be considered for the Morgan Startup Grant applicants must be full-time CWRU undergraduate students (at least 12 credit hours), full-time CWRU graduate students (at least 9 credit hours or one credit hour of thesis), alumni (maximum 7 years graduated), or CWRU Faculty.
Applicants applying to this fund are operating revenue generating businesses or can demonstrate that they will become revenue generating before November 1, 2025.
Application Timeframe
Update: Applications are no longer reviewed on a rolling basis.
Applications are due no later than September 19, 2025. All applications will be reviewed and recipients will be notified no later than September 29, 2025.
The Morgan Startup Grant application will be open once during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Application Opens: August 1, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
Application Closes: September 19, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
How Grants Are Awarded and Used
To receive an award, the scope of the proposed business model idea must be able to report realistic and achievable deliverables before the reporting deadlines detailed on this page.
The maximum amount of funding available per project is $3000 to cover costs such as:
- Subscriptions (Canva, ChatGPT, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.)
- Professional Goods and Services
- Web Design
- Domains
- Market Research
- Legal Services
- Program Development Services
- Etc.
- Operational Costs
- Rent for brick and mortar
- Google/Microsoft
- Licenses
- Packing supplies
- Etc.
- Salary - up to $1500 can be used as a living stipend
- Building Internships
- Travel and Competitions - (Only available to faculty and alumni. Students can apply to the Sopko Travel Grant for business related travel.)
- Requires pre-approval
- Travel specific to trade shows and customer discovery
- Must be a competitor in competitions
- Food—up to $500 for meetings, networking, etc.
Funds may be used to pay for external support in these areas that cannot be performed at think[box].
Please note that funding will NOT be awarded to support any of the following:
- Entertainment
- Funding for academic conferences
- Career Coaching
- Expenses that do not appear on an approved budget
Review Criteria
The review committee for the Morgan Startup Grant considers all proposals and notifies applicants by email as to the status of their application(s). Proposals are considered based on the following criteria:
- History of revenue generation or revenue generation by November 1, 2025.
- Businesses with formal licenses, patents, operating agreements, or other forms of valid documentation within their state of operations.
- Information presented in application must have a clear connection to entrepreneurship, innovation, functionality, and/or creativity that supports your professional, technical, or social skill set development.
- Does the idea involve a creative aspect, a challenging or educational aspect, or a new idea or process?
- Applicants have clearly expressed their business plan, provided adequate financial documentation, and established scalable strategies for their business.
- SMART Goals: Have you or your team selected goals for your idea that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound)?
- Feasibility: Can you or your team realistically reach the goals you set out given your existing skill set(s)?
- Monetary Feasibility: Is the requested funding appropriate for your business goals?
Review Committee
Please direct all questions regarding the grant to Brittain Elswick (bxe88@case.edu).
- Alison King, Mentoring Program Director, JumpStart
- Tyler Fond, Senior Manager, Small Business Development, Greater Cleveland Partnership
- Kim Fleddermann, Business Development Manager, Great Lakes Energy Institute
- Sophia Ciancone, Owner and Lead Strategist, Sorella Communications
- Leslie Lim, Heart, Vascular, and Thoracic Institute Program Manager II, Cleveland Clinic
- Sarah Dallas, Prototyping Manager, Sears think[box]
Fund Disbursement
If you are selected to receive support from the Morgan Startup Grant, you will be required to sign an agreement indicating acceptance of the terms outlined for the Morgan Startup Grant AND meet with the grant manager before you receive the award.
At that point, you will receive payment of 100% of the total award value, with the understanding that you are required to complete the requirements of funding in addition to the final report. When the final report is due, you will be contacted to arrange the return of unspent or undocumented funds to LaunchNET.
Fund Administration
If you are awarded funds, you are fully responsible for their use and management. You are expected to keep accurate financial records and a summary of transactions, and must scan receipts to include in your project’s final report. Please be aware that monetary awards of $600 or more are taxable and, if you receive an award higher than this amount, you will be issued a Form 1099 at the end of the calendar year. Please consult a tax professional if you have questions.
Participation Requirements
Continuous learning and building robust networks is the key to success for those who are pursuing entrepreneurship as an interest or as a career path. This is why our grant program requires recipients to participate in a minimum of two programs within the grant cycle.
If you've received financial support from the Morgan Startup Grant, you are required to attend 2 Programs during the academic year AND must submit a final report by the date enumerated in the Morgan Startup Grant Agreement.
- [REQUIRED] Applicants are required to participate in the LaunchNET program opportunities listed below.
- 2 one-on-one mentoring sessions with LaunchNET before November 1, 2025.
- 2 co-hort work sessions - dates provided after grants have been awarded.
- Apply to the Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition (not required to be a finalist)
- Applicants awarded funding are required to create 1 post on LinkedIN regarding the microgrant. (Required to tag: Burton D. Morgan Foundation and CWRU Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship)
- Grant recipients awarded in the Fall semester should complete this before Winter Break.
- [OPTIONAL] Any external program from the NEO entrepreneurship ecosystem (I-corps, VentureWell, JumpStart, etc.)
- [REQUIRED] You must submit a final report by May 1, 2026. The final report must include:
- A description of the completed milestones
- Photos, drawings, and/or renderings of the final project
- Results from any competition(s) or presentations
- A completed Expense Report, following the Expense Report Instructions, of venture purchases to date
- Scans of all receipts indicated on the spreadsheet