Q. What is The Purpose Prize?
A: Five individuals over age 60 who have used creativity, talent, and experience to create new approaches to big problems in their communities or the country will each receive a $100,000 prize. Another ten received prizes of $10,000. The Purpose Prize is not a lifetime achievement award, but is rather an investment in a new generation of social innovators who are tackling critical social problems with innovative and effective solutions.

Q. Why does The Purpose Prize exist?
A: Civic Ventures has developed The Purpose Prize initiative to highlight people in the second half of their lives who are using tremendous creativity to find new ways to solve big problems. By telling the stories of these social innovators, we can inspire millions of Baby Boomers to find ways to use their talents to tackle big issues.

Q: How often is The Purpose Prize given?
A: 2007 is the second year of a prize program funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and The John Templeton Foundation. Five $100,000 winners and ten $10,000 winners will be chosen each year.

Q: Who funds The Purpose Prize?
A: Two foundations, The Atlantic Philanthropies and The John Templeton Foundation provided funding to Civic Ventures for the Prize.

Q: How can the monetary prize be used?
A: There are no restrictions on how the prize money may be used, but our expectation is that the funds will serve as a down payment on future contributions to the greater social good.

Q: What else do Prize winners receive?
A: Winners of The Purpose Prize will receive:

• Public relations and communications assistance;
• Strategy assistance and training;
• Access to a network of social innovators and organizations, institutions, and funders committed to this kind of work;
• Eligibility for additional investments, on a competitive basis, from a new Fund for Innovation seeded by the funders of The Prize.

Q: Who is eligible to be nominated for The Purpose Prize?
A: An eligible candidate is:

• At least 60 years old (by the application deadline);
• A U.S. resident;
• Currently working in a leadership capacity on an initiative or in an organization or institution (public, private, nonprofit, or for-profit) to address a major social problem;
• Working to effect change primarily within the United States ;
• Not an elected official or person whose work is directed towards religious proselytizing.

Q: What are the characteristics of a potential Purpose Prize winner?
A: The ideal candidate should be:

• An outstanding social innovator, working creatively and in a transformative capacity to spearhead significant change.;
• A person having a significant impact on an important social issue, with the potential to have even greater impact in the future;
• A person who has initiated important innovations (in a new or ongoing organization) in the past several years, demonstrating creativity and leadership throughout and promising more to come;
• A person with a strong plan for continuing to address big social problems in the next five years and for whom The Purpose Prize would be a good investment in what comes next;
• A compelling role model and articulate spokesperson whose own story will serve to inspire others not only to think differently about the second half of life, but also to take on leadership roles and perform significant service in this phase;
• A highly ethical individual.

Q: What kinds of work are Prize nominees doing?
A: Nominees work on every major social problem our communities and nation are facing – from energy self-sufficiency and global climate change to education reform, productive aging, violence reduction, environmental justice, youth civic engagement and creativity, children's health, and reinventing the healthcare system.

Q: Who can submit nominations?
A: Nominations are welcome from any organization or individual in the United States with knowledge of a potential candidate. You can nominate someone from your own organization or you can nominate yourself.

Q: Can the candidate be working on non-domestic issues?
A: At this time, the Prize program does not have the resources to carefully evaluate work that is taking place primarily outside the U.S. Therefore, in 2007, the work of the Prize candidates must be occurring substantially within the U.S. In subsequent years, we may be able to consider nominations of people working on international issues.

Q: Does the candidate have to be working for a nonprofit?
A: No. Candidates can be working for different kinds of organizations – nonprofits, government agencies, social purpose ventures, hybrid organizations that mix elements of nonprofit and for-profit, and profit-making ventures – so long as the work is leading to positive social change and has already had a major impact at the local, regional, or national level.

Q: Does the candidate's work have to be an entirely new undertaking?
A: No. The candidate's work could also be using innovative approaches and systems to substantially transform an existing program or organization. However, simply applying strong management skills to improve the performance of an organization is not sufficient to be selected for the Prize.

Q: How will you measure impact at the local, regional, or national level?
A: We are looking for a track record of concrete results stemming from the innovative solutions the candidate has used to address the chosen issue. For example, if the work seeks to reduce the health impact of toxic emissions in a community, the candidate should be able to show reductions in emissions, commitments from corporations to remedy adverse health effects, or improved health resulting from the innovative approach that he or she has brought to this issue.

Q: What do you mean by systemic change?
A: We are interested in solutions that are already yielding, or have the potential to yield, an impact beyond one particular location or pilot project. For example, can it be replicated in new locations, adapted by other groups, or adopted by networks or funders?

Q: Can the candidate be either paid or a volunteer?
A: Absolutely, the candidate can be operating in a paid or unpaid capacity – working as a volunteer, receiving a stipend, or paid a salary.

Q: Can the candidate be an organization?
A: No, the Prize recognizes individuals.

Q: Who makes the final selection of Prize winners?
A: An independent panel of judges selects a final slate of winners. The Judges are distinguished national leaders selected for their experience and judgment, and many are themselves social innovators in the second half of life.

Q: What is the timetable for nominations and selection of Prize winners?
A: Nominations for 2007 are open from October 16, 2006 through Feburary 1, 2007. Fifteen finalists for 2007 will be announced in June, and the $100,000 winners will be announced in the fall. Please see the timeline for the latest updates.

Q: When and how will the winners be recognized?
A: An Awards banquet to recognize the winners will be held in September. The ceremony will precede a two-day Innovation Summit attended by leading Purpose Prize candidates and thought leaders from government, philanthropy, academia and the private sector.

Q: I'm a reporter. Who can I contact to get an interview with one of the judges or winners?
A: To arrange an interview with Purpose Prize judges or winners, please contact Stefanie Weiss, Vice President of Communication for Civic Ventures at 202-478-6151 or sweiss@civicventures.org. For general information about The Purpose Prize, contact Jim Emerman, Executive Vice President of Civic Ventures and director, Purpose Prize Initiative, at (415) 222-07487 or jemerman@civicventures.org.