The Ultimate in Contest Philanthropy: MacArthur Foundation’s $100 Million Jackpot
NPQ has covered a lot of contest philanthropy over the years—and not always in a way that is wholly complimentary.
Over the past 18 months or so, the fad seems to have waned a bit, but now the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has upped the ante pretty significantly with its announcement of an award for $100 million for the best proposal to measurably solve a problem facing people, places or the planet. The competition is called 100&change.
The project can be national or international and it has to come from an organization rather than an individual.
The money will be paid out in increments as benchmarks are reached and the process for selecting the winner will involve committees of five (unseen to you) experts who will screen the projects sending finalists to the board who will make a decision by the end of December of this year...