  For nearly four years, NASA's Kepler space telescope searched for planets
like Earth around more than 150,000 stars similar to the Sun. In 2008 with
in-kind support from several technology companies, our non-profit organization
established the Pale Blue Dot Project, an adopt-a-star program that supports
scientific research on the stars observed by the Kepler mission. To help other
astronomy educators conduct successful fundraising efforts, I describe how this
innovative crowdfunding program successfully engaged the public over the past
seven years to help support an international team in an era of economic
austerity.
