Finding, Funding, and Scaling

Finding, Funding, and Scaling

The MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition offers important lessons on how to conduct large award competitions in ways that can boost the field of philanthropy.

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The Promise of Incentive Prizes

By Jeff Ubois & Thomas Kalil 1

Jeff Ubois interviews Thomas Kalil of Schmidt Futures (a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt) about how calls to solve big problems through competitions can, when done right, galvanize innovation.

Seeking Both Problems and Solutions

By Jeff Ubois 1

The MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change team learned a lot from the first round of grants that will boost collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the next round.

A Competition With Many Winners

By Kristen Molyneaux

100&Change sought to add value to participants by helping to raise the profile of a variety of meaningful solutions.

Selecting a Pool of Bold Ideas

By Anne Ferola & Lindsay Kijewski

How the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy winnowed 100&Change’s Top 200 proposals.

An Open-Data Approach to Transform Grantmaking

By Bradford K. Smith 1

Proposals for grants can offer a wealth of ideas and information to the nonprofit community, if foundations take the right steps.

The Vital Role of Early-Innovation Funders

By Carol Dahl

At The Lemelson Foundation, we seek to foster inventions that will have social impact and improve lives. But our support for early-stage innovation could not succeed without a trusted network of grantees and partners.