Round Three of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s $100 million 100&Change competition has launched with roughly 1,000 nonprofits expected to vie for the winner take all award. Think of it this way, the chance of winning the Powerball lottery is one in 292.2 million.
The competition is open to organizations and collaborations working in any field, anywhere in the world, according to Chris Cardona, MacArthur’s managing director, discovery, exploration, and programs. Proposals must identify a problem and offer a solution that promises significant and durable change. Applications will be accepted online only, from May 22 to August 15, 2024.
Complete applications are due before 5 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Thursday, September 5, 2024. The award will be announced in late 2025. There were 800 applicants for the 2021 competition and 1,400 for the first award in 2017.
MacArthur’s nonprofit affiliate, Lever For Change, is managing 100&Change. Lever for Change influences its networks to find and fund solutions to the world’s challenges, including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of economic opportunity, and climate change.
Lever For Change managed MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving initiative which initially was going to provide $1 million to 250 nonprofits but ended up awarding $640 million to 361 organizations for their work with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. The $640 million was nearly 2.56 times the original plan. The so-called “Open Call” received 6,353 applications.
Some problems cannot be solved by grants of the size that foundations typically provide. By funding at a level far above what is typical in philanthropy, 100&Change addresses problems and supports solutions that are radically different in scale, scope, and complexity, Cardona explained.
For this third round of the competition, the word “just” was added as a criterion to align with the foundation’s Just Imperative, incorporating a sharper focus on how projects advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. No topic is exempt or excluded from these commitments.
To date, 100&Change has leveraged an additional $511 million in funding, spurring the philanthropic sector to rethink its approach to achieving impact at scale, MacArthur officials said.
“When we launched 100&Change, we set out to do something groundbreaking to challenge ourselves and the philanthropic sector,” MacArthur President John Palfrey said via a statement. “We believed $100 million would inspire communities around the world to dream big. We wanted to hear how they would solve a critical problem of our time.”
In the inaugural round of 100&Change in 2017, Sesame Workshop and International Rescue Committee were awarded $100 million to educate young children displaced by conflict and persecution in the Syrian response region. They created a program called Ahlan Simsim. This program combines on-the-ground services for families in crisis with engaging educational media. So far, nine seasons of the television show Ahlan Simsim have reached more than 27 million children across the Middle East and North Africa.
For the second round of 100&Change in 2021, MacArthur awarded a $100 million grant to Community Solutions to accelerate an end to homelessness in 75 U.S. communities in five years. Through “Built for Zero,” Community Solutions supports 105 communities working to make homelessness rare and brief. So far, 64 Built for Zero communities have achieved quality data enabling communities to understand who is experiencing homelessness and what strategies and investments result in reductions in homelessness. Improved coordination repurposed existing properties, and social impact finance can increase access to affordable housing, according to data from MacArthur.
“When we launched the first round of 100&Change, we hoped to inspire and encourage philanthropists to support solutions at scale,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “As a result of the competition’s success, we created Lever for Change to replicate the competition model for other funders and, in just five years, we have influenced more than $2.2 billion in funding and supported over 175 outstanding organizations.”
Said Conrad: “The goal is to find as many additional partners as possible to fund the top-ranked teams from this next round of 100&Change and bring about real and measurable progress around the world.”
Applicants will know what they are being scored on, and every applicant receives feedback on their proposal from both peers and a panel of foundation officials have dubbed “Wise Heads.” The process also provides public exposure to applicants.
An organizational readiness tool is available to help organizations determine whether they are ready to compete in 100&Change. This tool was designed to help potential applicants understand characteristics of the most competitive organizations and proposals, and to determine how well-suited they are for 100&Change. The application must include how a program will battle racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of economic opportunity, and climate change.
More information on 100&Change can be found at www.100andchange.org
