logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | More People Eyeing Philanthropy Prizes

Bruce S Trachtenberg
March 22, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
Subscribe via E-Mail Get the newswire delivered to you – free! {source} [[form name=”ccoptin” action=”http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp” target=”_blank” method=”post”]] [[input type=”text” name=”ea” size=”20″ value=”” style=”font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:10px; border:1px solid #999999;”]] [[input type=”submit” name=”go” value=”GO” class=”submit” style=”font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:10px;”]] [[input type=”hidden” name=”m” value=”1101451017273″]] [[input type=”hidden” name=”p” value=”oi”]] [[/form]] {/source} Subscribe via RSS Subscribe via RSS Submit a News Item Submit a News Item

March 19, 2010; New York Times | Instead of grants, a growing number of public-spirited wealthy people are offering philanthropic support for notable causes and ideas in the form of prizes. The New York Times reports that some $375 million in prize money is available each year.  Along with the growth in numbers and sizes of awards, these prizes are shifting from recognizing “past accomplishments”‘ to providing cash to be applied to support future accomplishments.

Former entrepreneurs turned philanthropists are particularly attracted to these kinds prizes. “There’s an increasing recognition that setting up prizes is a good way to spur innovation and bring about the outcomes they want,” said Tom Riley, vice president of the Philanthropy Roundable. “Fortunately, money is a great tool to bring about the outcomes you want.”

An example is the Kravis Prize, set up five years ago and offering $250,000 to nonprofit groups around the world whose recognition might help them expand their outstanding work.  This year’s winner, Pratham, educates children in rural India. The money is being awarded to the group with some hope that this attention will garner more money that will enable Pratham to serve even more children.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Prizes versus traditional grant awards do have their unique set of challenges, according to some observers. Some fret about the cost of promoting a prize so that it draws enough worthy entries. “If you give a prize and no one knows about it, it’s a waste,” said Melissa A. Berman, president and chief executive of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “Getting it known costs money.” Others worry that prizes might create expectations that can’t be delivered.

That’s why philanthropic prize advocates suggest the better the defined the better they are. The Times describes the X Prize as the “best-known new example” of an incentive award program for achieving a specific goal. It awarded $10 million in 2004 for the design of a new spacecraft. Maybe we need a prize to determine the best philanthropy prize.—Bruce Trachtenberg

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
What Nigeria Can Teach the US About Food Insecurity
Chidinma Iwu
Arab American Philanthropy
Tamara El-Khoury
Forerunners of Food Justice: Black Farmer Movement Spans Generations
Demetrius Hunter
What Would a Social Justice Investment Ecosystem Look Like?
Steve Dubb
Measuring Healthcare Equity in North Carolina
Sonia Sarkar
The Nonprofit Sector and Social Change: A Conversation between Cyndi Suarez and Claire Dunning
Claire Dunning and Cyndi Suarez

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.