Skoll Foundation

Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship?
2. How does the Skoll Foundation define a social entrepreneur?
3. What types of social entrepreneurs does Skoll Foundation fund?
4. Where can I learn more about social entrepreneurship?
5. Whom should I contact if I have questions?
6. What is the process and timeline for applying for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship?
7. Does the Skoll Foundation have a formal nominating process for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship?
8. Is there a deadline for applications or an advantage to applying at a particular time?
9. What are my organization’s chances of being selected to receive an Award if I submit an application?
10. How will I know that my online application has been received?
11. What happens to my application after it is submitted?
12. Is there a budget size requirement for organizations applying for the Skoll Awards?
13. Can we include pro bono and in-kind contributions as part of our organization’s budget?
14. The guidelines state the Skoll Foundation will not support new or early-stage business plans or ideas. Can you provide clarity about that requirement?
15. Does the Skoll Foundation only fund non-profit organizations, or do they also fund for-profit social enterprises?
16. Can I apply for support of a new program or initiative if it builds on my organization’s previous experience as a social entrepreneur in a related field?
17. If I applied previously for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship and was declined, can I reapply?
18. Can I submit more than one online application?
19. Is it possible to submit the application in a language other than English?
20. How can I learn what certain words and phrases mean in the application materials?

1. What are the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship?

The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select few social entrepreneurs who are solving the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Award includes a core support grant to the organization, to be paid over three years, and a noncash award to the social entrepreneur presented at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship every spring.

The application process for these Awards is open from January 4 – March 1, 2012. A preview of the application can be viewed anytime. To be considered, organizations must meet this specific Awards criteria: Winners have a tested and proven social innovation that addresses an issue of critical importance and is positioned for large-scale impact.

2. How does the Skoll Foundation define a social entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs change the face of business; social entrepreneurs are the change agents for society. They seize overlooked opportunities by improving systems, inventing new approaches and creating sustainable solutions to transform society for the better. Social entrepreneurs search, constantly, for superior ways to solve the problems that plague society.

3. What types of social entrepreneurs does the Skoll Foundation fund?

The selection process for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship program is competitive. Hundreds of applications are submitted for the fewer than 10 Awards given annually. Given the highly selective nature of the Award, not all organizations that meet the eligibility requirements and align with our criteria will receive an Award.

Qualifying organizations will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Impact potential: Organization’s innovation is positioned to directly affect policy, behavior and/or infrastructure/system(s) on a large scale and can show evidence of significant impact already achieved.
• Inflection:Organization has a proven approach that has already been implemented with success and is now ready to apply the approach on a much larger scale.
• Innovation: Organization has an approach that fundamentally disrupts the status quo to solve social and/or environmental problems.
• Issue: Organization works on an issue that is identified by the Skoll Foundation as one of world’s most pressing problems.
• Skoll leverage: Organization will benefit from engaging with Skoll Foundation beyond a purely funding relationship, such as collaboration with our network of entrepreneurs or access to media opportunities.
• Social entrepreneur: Organization is led by a visionary social entrepreneur.
• Sustainability: Organization has a clear, compelling plan for expanding impact and achieving long-term financial and operational sustainability.

4. Where can I learn more about social entrepreneurship?

For a more in-depth discussion of social entrepreneurship and examples of successful social entrepreneurs, we encourage you to peruse our website and listen to stories from some of past Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship recipients.

5. Whom should I contact if I have questions?

We regret that we are unable to respond to individual requests, give status updates or provide individual feedback. It is our goal to provide clear guidance and advice through our overview, FAQs, glossary of terms, eligibility quiz and online application to help organizations develop competitive proposals. If you have reviewed all these resources and still have questions, email info@skollfoundation.org. Only inquiries not addressed in the resources listed above will be answered.  If you have technical questions regarding the online application, please click on the “need support?” link at the bottom of each page.

6. What is the process and timeline for applying for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship?

Please read the criteria thoroughly to determine if your organization is eligible to apply for a Skoll Award. There is only one deadline for the 2013 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship: Thursday, March 1, 2012. The application process includes the following stages:

Schedule for 2013 Awards process

• Accepting applications: January 4 – March 1, 2012
• Organizations notified of application status: July 2012
• Finalist due diligence on select organizations: July – October 2012
• Skoll Award recipients announced: November 2012
• Skoll Award recipients celebrated at the Skoll World Forum: March 2013

7. Does the Skoll Foundation have a formal nominating process for the Skoll Awards?

The Skoll Foundation does not have a formal nominating process. Applicants must apply on their own behalf for a Skoll Award.

8. Is there a deadline for applications or an advantage to applying at a particular time?

There is only one deadline for the 2012 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship: Thursday, March 1, 2012. Applications submitted after this time will not be considered. An earlier application submission date will not affect the decision-making process.

Guidelines for the 2014 Skoll Awards selection process will be available online in late 2012. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when the 2014 Skoll Awards deadlines are announced.

9. What are my organization’s chances of being selected to receive an Award if I submit an application?

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship is highly competitive. Of the hundreds of Skoll Award applications the Skoll Foundation receives each year, less than 2 percent are chosen for the Skoll Award. In order to compete successfully, an organization should meet all of the key criteria.

Many exemplary organizations that apply for the Skoll Award are not selected. This is an unfortunate reality of a highly competitive, open awards process. Our selections reflect our best assessment of the alignment between application and our key criteria, not an assessment of the value of an organization’s work.

10. How will I know that my online application has been received?

Within 24 hours after electronic submission, you should receive an email acknowledgment that your application has been received.

11. What happens to my application after it is submitted?

Your application will first be reviewed for completeness, eligibility and adherence to the application guidelines, including character limit. Incomplete and ineligible applications will be declined without further review. Applications that meet eligibility criteria will be read and reviewed carefully by multiple Skoll Foundation staff. After a thorough review, applications that most highly align with Skoll’s Award criteria will be invited to submit a full proposal.

12. Is there a budget size requirement for organizations applying for the Skoll Awards?

While the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship do not have an absolute budget threshold for eligibility, we have found that organizations with annual revenues below US$2.5 million that have activities primarily in developed countries and below US$1 million that have activities primarily in developing countries tend to be at a disadvantage in the selection process.

The selection process prioritizes organizations based on their readiness for replication and scale, thus favoring mezzanine-level organizations above these budget thresholds. Please visit the websites of previous Award recipients and note organizational budgets, numbers of partners, sites, beneficiaries and the scope of activities.

13. Can we include pro bono and in-kind contributions as part of our organization’s budget?

As long as there is sufficient documentation, pro bono and in-kind contributions can be included in the organizational budget. The documentation needs to show a routine practice of assigning cash value to contributions included in the annual budget and audited financial statements. If your organization is invited to submit a full proposal, this documentation will be required for the prior three years.

14. The guidelines state the Skoll Foundation will not support new or early-stage business plans or ideas. Can you provide clarity about that requirement?

Organizations should have at least a three-year track record that demonstrates proof of concept and measurable results. A small number of Skoll Award recipient organizations were younger than three years at the time of the Award. However, these tend to be the exception because most early-stage organizations lack the maturity and track record of mezzanine-level organizations. In these cases, the organization was founded or reorganized after the work was piloted or incubated under a different umbrella.

15. Does the Skoll Foundation only fund nonprofit organizations, or do they also fund for-profit social enterprises?

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship is focused on non-profit organizations. Many of our grantees have earned income streams, but they are 501(c)(3) public charities or foreign public-charity equivalent.  The Skoll Foundation does make investments in for-profit enterprises, but does not accept unsolicited proposals.

16. Can I apply for support of a new program or initiative if it builds on my organization’s previous experience as a social entrepreneur in a related field?

Skoll Awards are intended to help organizations take initiatives to significant scale based on a track record of at least three years. In general, new programs and initiatives will not meet this criteria. Any final assessment of this requirement will depend on your ability to show how your organization has achieved proof of concept and measurable results applicable to the new work.

17. If my organization applied previously for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship and was declined, can we reapply?

Your organization may reapply for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship provided that it has made significant advances since the original submission. Before preparing a new application, we ask that you complete the eligibility quiz to determine your organization’s alignment with the Award criteria.

18. Can I submit more than one online application?

The Skoll Foundation will consider only one application from each organization per year. Exceptions will be made for organizations applying as a fiscal sponsor for unrelated programs.

19. Is it possible to submit the application in a language other than English?

At this time, it not possible to submit an application in a language other than English. While we welcome applicants from around the world, we require that applications and any subsequent materials be submitted in English. If English is a barrier for the social entrepreneur who will attend the annual Skoll World Forum and other events, we encourage you to identify an appropriate source of translation assistance and include the associated costs in your budget when you apply for the Award so that the social entrepreneur can get the full value of these opportunities.

20. How can I learn about certain words and phrases in the application materials?

Please refer to our glossary of terms.