Do Good Challenge

Students and teams that advance to the Finals of the Do Good Challenge will be able to: 

• Compete for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place prize funds as well as additional Audience Choice awards during the Finals event
• Share the impact that they’ve made with campus and community leaders
• Spread the word about their work through Do Good Institute social media platforms and web stories
• Receive personalized coaching from the Do Good Institute on how to craft an effective and engaging pitch and build public speaking skills

Eligibility of Individual Applicants

• Applications to the Do Good Challenge must include a minimum of at least one individual designated as a Primary Applicant. Primary Applicants are responsible for submitting the Do Good Challenge application through the application portal. Primary Applicants will be the main point of contact for all ​Do Good Challenge communications​, notifications and questions, and take primary responsibility for receiving and responding to all correspondence. Primary Applicants typically hold leadership roles for the organization, initiative, project, or venture and are highly familiar with its work and activities. The Primarily Applicant must also be the individual who intends to pitch if selected to advance to Semi-Finals or Finals.
• If a Primary Applicant intends to co-pitch with another individual if advanced to the Semi-Finals or Finals, the Primary Applicant must add that individual as a Secondary Applicant to the application. The application portal will allow the Primary Applicant to invite up to one additional applicant to be affiliated with the application.
• Primary Applicants must be currently enrolled as a full- or part-time, degree- or certificate-seeking student at the University of Maryland, College Park. Primary Applicants may be undergraduate or graduate students. Primary Applicants may be required to provide proof of enrollment, such as transcripts.
• If selected to advance in the competition, the Primary Applicant and Secondary Applicant (if applicable) must attend and pitch in-person at the Do Good Challenge Semi-Finals and Do Good Challenge Finals (see: Important Dates and Deadlines). 

Eligibility of Team

• Applications to the Do Good Challenge must have a clear social or environmental impact. Teams may be in the form of different structures - formal organizations such as nonprofits or LLCs, individual or community-based initiatives, student or Greek organizations, or independent teams or ventures. Both for-profits and nonprofits are eligible to apply. Student organizations do not need to be an official, SORC-registered organization to be eligible.
• The organization, project, initiative, or venture may be new or existing.
• The organization, project, initiative, or venture must be student-led and student-run.
• Non-students may be members of the organization, initiative, or venture. However, the Primary Applicant must meet the eligibility requirements under “Eligibility of Individual Applicants”.
• Teams who have competed previously and were not selected as a 1st place winner in the last seven years may reapply. If a Primary/Secondary Applicant was part of a team that won 1st place, they are eligible to apply again if they are competing as part of a different team.

Students interested in the Do Good Challenge will need to apply using our application portal. Applications are due before 11:59 pm on February 9, 2026 to be considered. 

Prospective and interested applicants can watch a recorded Challenge Information Session to learn more about what makes a great application, the facts and figures you want to include, what you need before submitting, and more.  

Interested students that have more specific questions, are interested in application feedback, or want to scope out how your work could fit into the Do Good Challenge can sign up for a live virtual Challenge Application Session or schedule a 1:1 information call with the Program Coordinator.  

Check out past teams and winners from the Do Good Challenge! 

• 2025: Black Stars Wellness Initiative (Founders) and UMD Chapter of Food Recovery Network (Leaders)
• 2024: App Dev Club (Projects) and The 2nd Lt. Richard W. Collins III Foundation (Ventures)
• 2023: Kesem at UMD (Projects) and Sustainabli (Ventures)
• 2022: Combating Overdoses in Rural Areas (Projects) and Vitalize (Ventures)
• 2021: Roots Africa (Projects) and Chat Health (Ventures)
• 2019: FLAME (Projects) and Hydraze (Ventures)
• 2018: TerpThon (Projects) and Symbiont Health (Ventures)
• 2017: Vintage Voices (Projects) and James Hollister Wellness Foundation (Ventures)
• 2016: Terps Against Hunger (Projects) and MedFund (Ventures)
• 2015: Miles for Smiles (Projects) and Press Uncuffed (Ventures)
• 2014: Students Helping Honduras (Projects) and Justlikeyou.org (Ventures)
• 2013: Microjusticia
• 2012: Food Recovery Network

This year, $40,000 will be awarded during the Do Good Challenge! Expert judges will select prizes based on issue, idea, impact, and potential shared in the team pitches and Q&A. Each of the three finalist teams in each track compete for a $10,000 first place prize, a $5,000 second place award, and a $2,500 third place prize. There will also be additional Audience Choice awards given out during the Finals event. 

Some semi-finalist teams will also have the opportunity to compete for funding. During the Finals event, the top two or three semi-finalist teams will get on stage to deliver a lightning pitch for the chance to win a $1,000 or $750 prize chosen by the audience. 

The Founders Track is for applications where the applicant is the original founder or creator of the organization, venture, project, or initiative. This means that the Primary Applicant played a significant, pivotal role in its inception. 

The Leaders Track is for applications where the Primary Applicant is currently serving in a leadership role within the organization. This means that the Primary Applicant currently serves in a role that serves in strategic, leadership or decision-making positions. This could include roles such as director, president (or co-president), manager, etc. The Primarily Applicant does not need to have been involved in the original founding but plays a significant role in leading, managing, or advancing the impact of the work. Student organizations which are chapters, projects, or subsidiaries of an existing non-profit or organization must apply to the Leaders track. Student organizations where the Primary Applicant is the founder or a creator of an original new organization may apply to the Founders Track. 

In past Challenges, the tracks have been called Projects and Ventures. All eligible teams are still welcome to apply and sort themselves into a new track. Generally, former Project teams like student organizations will now fall under the Leaders track and former Venture teams like registered nonprofits will fall under the Founders track. 

The Do Good Challenge is a competitive opportunity. Past finalists have been well into the implementation phase of their development and are already seeing significant and measurable impact from their work. Teams in the idea stage or that are just starting to implement may be better suited for Mini-Grants, Impact Bootcamp, or being an Accelerator Fellow.

This year’s Finals event will take place on April 23, 2026. The event is typically attended by upwards of 500 guests. The audience will include campus leaders including President Pines, deans, returning alumni, university donors, social impact professionals, students, faculty, staff, and any of your invited friends and family.   

The event starts with a Private Reception for invited guests with refreshments, followed by a Public Reception where all attendees can engage with students across Do Good Institute programs, and then culminates in the main Finals event where students will take the stage to make their pitches. 

All finalist teams will be assigned a coach to help them further develop their pitch presentation and their pitch deck. All finalist teams should expect to meet with their coach at least three times before the event. On the day of the Finals event, Do Good Institute staff will lead a tour of the event space and hold a dry run rehearsal so that everyone feels comfortable when they get on stage.  

• The Do Good Institute has discretion on which teams are invited to compete in the Do Good Challenge and reserves the right to include or exclude any teams at its sole discretion for any reason.
• Applicants authorize the Do Good Institute to use, edit and publish any information or material submitted to, prepared for, or presented for the Do Good Challenge – including but not limited to team member information (including names, majors, and other affiliations), impact data, photos, videos, testimonials, and success stories – in web, printed, video, and social media materials. Some teams may be profiled on the Do Good Institute website and may appear in Do Good Institute and/or University of Maryland publications and other promotional materials.
• Applicants will be required to provide appropriate documentation to receive prize award payments, which typically include W-9s, EINs, and/or KFS account numbers. No prizes will be awarded without the required forms submitted.