For nearly four years, NASA's Kepler space telescope searched for planets like the Earth around 150,000 stars similar to the Sun. In 2008 with a grant from Google, my non-profit organization established the "Pale Blue Dot project", an adopt-a-star program that supports scientific research on the newly discovered alien solar systems. I will discuss how this innovative fundraising program has engaged the public over the past six years to support science in an era of U.S. government austerity