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Frequently Asked Questions
The following questions and answers pertain to the 2010 Purpose Prize.

 

Eligibility and Criteria for Selection
Nomination and Selection Process
Prize Information
Technical FAQs

Eligibility and Criteria for Selection

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 of March 5, 2010).
  • Someone who has initiated important innovations (in a new or ongoing organization) in an encore career. Encore careers combine personal meaning and social impact with continued work in the second half of life.
  • 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 in the United States or abroad.
  • Effecting measurable change.
  • Initiated the innovation for which he or she is being nominated within the past fifteen years with the promise of more creativity to come.
  • A legal U.S. resident (residents of U.S. territories are also eligible).
  • Not an elected official.
  • Not involved in a project that is strictly religious or sectarian. That is, we will not award The Prize to a person whose efforts are confined EXCLUSIVELY to individuals within a denomination or for THE SOLE purpose of expanding the religious mission of the denomination or faith. People working in faith-based settings that have a broader social mission are eligible AND ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

Q: What are the characteristics of a potential Purpose Prize winner?
A: Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Will the person be a compelling role model whose own story will serve to inspire others, not only to think differently about the second half of life, but also to take on new leadership roles and perform significant service in an encore career?
  • Is the person an outstanding social innovator, working creatively and in a transformative capacity to spearhead significant change?
  • Has the person initiated important innovations (in a new or ongoing organization) within the past fifteen years?
  • Does the person plan to continue to innovate and lead in the years to come?
  • How important is the issue the person is addressing? How much of an impact has their work had on that issue? Is their work already effecting, or does it have the future potential to effect, systemic change?
  • What does she/he plan to do in the next five years? Would The Prize be a good investment in the future work of this individual?
  • Is the person a highly ethical individual?

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

Note: Tax law requires individuals who self-nominate or are substantively involved in their nominations to report Prize grants on their personal income tax return. (Winners not substantively involved in their nominations may designate the award be given to a 501(c)(3) organization, in which case their individual tax status will not be affected.).

Q: Can the candidate be under 60 years old?
A: No, the candidate must be at least 60 but could have embarked on the innovative venture with the past fifteen years.

Q: Can the candidate have received recognition or honors in his or her local community or field?
A: Yes, but in general we are looking for individuals who are not already widely recognized outside of their geographic region or field. Telling their stories will highlight different types of social innovation in the second half of life, and we hope that this will inspire others to follow similar pathways towards an encore career.

Q: Can the candidate be a U.S. resident but working on non-domestic issues?
A: The Purpose Prize® considers individuals whose work is having its most substantive impact outside the U.S. or globally. You must check the button on the application form indicating that the submission is substantively international or global.

Q: Can more than one person be nominated for a single award if all are responsible for the accomplishments?
A: Yes, but each individual in the partnership must meet all the criteria and must share substantively in the transformation or creation of the program or organization. The application form includes the ability to add "team members" who meet all these qualifications.

Q: Can more than one nomination be submitted for a single individual?
A. No. Each person can only be nominated or apply once each year. If you try to enter a nomination for a person who has already applied or been nominated, you will be informed when you submit the nomination form online. If you know that someone else is nominating the same person that you wish to nominate, the best approach is simply to work on a nomination form together with the other nominator(s) and submit one consolidated nomination form.

Q: What if the person to be nominated is involved in more than one organization or cause?
A: Although the form only allows one primary organization to be entered for each nominee, you can use the space provided in the essay questions to elaborate on all the affiliations and accomplishments of the nominee.

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 have to be providing a social service?
A: No. Although many of the previous winners have created programs that deliver a social service, we are looking for people who are making important change in many different ways -- providing a service for an unmet need, engaging people at all ages in the responsibilities of citizenship, combating intolerance, violence and strife, changing the patterns of our thinking to prepare us for the challenges of a global economy, etc. These are just some of the ways people can be tackling big problems. We welcome submissions from people whose approaches include all these and more.

Q: Does the candidate have to have started a new organization?
A: No. We strongly encourage nominations for people who are 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 recent does the work need to be?
A: The Purpose Prize® is not a lifetime achievement award. The work for which the person is being nominated must have been started in an encore career within the past 15 years and demonstrate recent bursts of creativity and effectiveness. The intent of the program is to provide role models that show that new kinds of socially significant work, built on years of experience, are possible at this stage of life.

Q: How will you measure impact at the local, regional, or national level?
A: We are looking for a proven track record of innovative solutions to the issues the candidate is addressing. 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: What do you mean by the term Encore Career?
A: Encore careers combine personal meaning and social impact with continued work in the second half of life. To learn more, see www.Encore.org.

Q: Are there types of innovation that cannot be considered for The Prize?
A: In general creative endeavors that do not include work to spread their impact throughout society will not be considered. Here are some examples of what we mean.

  • Due to our limitations, we are unable to evaluate scientific or technological inventions on their own merit, although we recognize that these can be important social innovations. Therefore, an inventor would need to describe how he or she has the spread of the use of an invention resulting in a measurable social impact.
  • Similarly, an academic researcher or artist would need to demonstrate that she or he has also been involved in taking research or art and using it to address a significant social problem with demonstrated effects.

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: I nominated someone or applied myself for The Purpose Prize® last year and was not selected as a Fellow or winner. Can you tell me how to improve my nomination/application or if I'm a good fit for The Purpose Prize®?
A. Civic Ventures' does not have the staff capacity to offer individual counseling on nominations or applications. Please review the eligibility and selection criteria as well as the profiles of Fellows and winners from 2008 and preceeding years to asses if a candidate might be a good fit for The Purpose Prize®.

Q. Can winners and Fellows from a prior year apply again for the Prize? Are they given priority?
A. Winners of a $50,000 or $100,000 Purpose Prize are no longer eligible for a future prize. Past Fellows may reapply.

Q. I would like to nominate someone who does similar work, has the same employer, or lives in the same city as a past Fellow or winner. Does this put my candidate at a disadvantage?
A. No. All applications are evaluated on merit alone. Having the same or similar issue, geographic region or even the same employer as a previous winner will not count against you or your nominee.

Nomination and Selection Process

Q: When do nominations reopen?
A: The nomination season for the 2010 Purpose Prize began on March 10, 2009. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on March 5, 2010

Q: Must the nomination be in English?
A: Yes.

Q: Can the nomination be submitted in hard copy to Civic Ventures or does it have to be submitted online?
A: Civic Ventures prefers online submissions via the Prize web site. Microsoft Word copies of the form may be downloaded and used to create drafts, but should only be emailed to Civic Ventures if you are unable to use the online form for some reason.

Q: Do all questions have to be answered?
A: Yes. Incomplete nominations will not be reviewed.

Is it a good idea to send letter(s) of support and/or additional materials along with my nomination/application?
A: To be fair, we will judge all candidates based on their applications alone. Please do not send additional materials for our review. Candidates who are selected for further review will be contacted about two months after the nomination period closes and asked to provide additional information.

Q: Are there eligibility requirements for nominators?
A: All nominators must be well acquainted with their candidate's qualifications, and they should be available for possible follow-up questions throughout the selection process.

Q: Can I nominate more than one person?
A: We encourage you to nominate as many individuals as you feel would be strong candidates for The Purpose Prize®. The fact that one person nominates more than one candidate will have no bearing on our evaluation of the candidates, whose work will speak for itself.

Q: I tried to nominate someone and learned that an application had already been submitted for this person. I would like to contribute my support of this candidate. How can I do so?
A: Once a nomination has been submitted, the application is no longer open for editing. However, if you attempt to create a nomination for someone and learn that another nominator has already begun working on one, a pop up box will appear with the contact information for this nominator. You may contact him or her to offer your help with the nomination. Civic Ventures is not responsible for facilitating collaboration between nominators.

Q: Do nominators have to inform their candidate that he or she is being nominated?
A: No, this is not required. However, it is important for nominators to be very familiar with their nominees work to put forth a strong, well-informed nomination. Tax law requires individuals who self-nominate or play a significant role in preparing their nominations to report the Prize on their individual income tax return. If you think the person you are nominating may wish to have the option of designating the prize to a nonprofit organization, and avoid any tax liability, then the person should not be directly involved in preparing the nomination.

Q: Will the nominee know who nominated him or her?
A: The nomination form requires you to let us know if the nominee is aware of the nomination. If they are not, nominees will only be informed that they were nominated for The Purpose Prize® and who nominated them if they are chosen as semi-finalists. At that point, in May, nominees will be told of the nomination and asked for further information about their work history and program achievements.

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

Q: What is the timetable for nominations and selection of Prize winners?
A: Nominations must be received (not just postmarked) by 11:59 pm, Eastern Standard Time, March 5, 2010 for the 2010 prizes. Late nominations will not be reviewed. Semi-finalists will be contacted in May and asked to answer additional material and have individual interviews. Winners be will notified in Fall of 2010 and receive their prizes at a major event before the end of the year.

Q: What additional material and/or steps will be required if a nominee is selected as a semi-finalists?
A: If a nominee is selected as a semifinalist, he or she will be required to:

  • Submit a written narrative expanding on the information submitted in the original nomination form.
  • Provide references to support the nomination.
  • Participate in a phone interview with Purpose Prize staff.
  • Keep their status in the selection process confidential.

Q: How will I know that my nomination has been received?
A: You will receive an email acknowledgement if your nomination is submitted online; you will receive a postcard if your nomination is submitted by mail or fax.

Q: Can I check on the status of my application?
A: We regret that Civic Ventures' small staff cannot respond to individual inquiries regarding the status of applications.

Q: Can I set up an appointment to discuss my application?
A: We regret that our small staff cannot meet individually with all nominees. However, semifinalists will be contacted for a phone interview in May 2010.

Q: Whom should I contact if I have questions?
A: Please submit your questions to info@purposeprize.org. Our small staff cannot handle individual phone calls. If you do not receive an individual reply to your question, check the FAQ section of the guidelines on the web site. We will update them to reflect the questions we receive.

Prize Information

Q: How often is The Purpose Prize® given?
A: The Purpose Prize® is given annually wiith funding provided by by The Atlantic Philanthropies and The John Templeton Foundation. Five $100,000 winners and five $50,000 winners will be given beginning in 2009. In previous years, the prize awarded five $100,000 winners and ten $10,000 winners.

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

Q: What is the monetary award and how can it be used?
A: Monetary awards are either $100,000 or $50,000, beginning in 2009. There are no restrictions on how the prize money may be used. But our expectation is that the funds are a down payment on future contributions to the greater social good. For example, it may be used to cover living expenses to enable the winner to continue innovating. Or it may be used to further the work of the individual's organization.

Q: Is the monetary award taxable income for the Prize winners?
A: If the winner keeps the monetary award, it will be taxable income. If the winner was nominated by a third party and did not participate in the initial nomination, they may designate the award be given directly to a 501(c)(3) organization, in which case their individual tax status will not be affected.

Q: What else do Prize winners receive?
A: Winners receive:

  • Public relations and communications assistance;
  • Access to a network of social innovators and organizations, institutions and funders committed to this kind of work.

Q. What does it mean to be recognized as a Purpose Prize Fellow?
A: In addition to the 10 people selected for cash prizes as Purpose Prize Winners in 2010, each year Civic Ventures will identify 40-50 others as Purpose Prize Fellows. Although Fellows do not receive a cash prize from Civic Ventures, they are offered other benefits of association with The Purpose Prize®. These include:

  • All expenses paid to attend one Purpose Prize Awards and Encore Careers Summit and an invitation to attend subsequent Summits at their own expense.
  • The right to use the designation as a Purpose Prize Fellow in releases to the press, funders, and on one's website.
  • The opportunity to participate in a learning community with other Fellows to exchange ideas, resources and support.
  • Other benefits that Civic Ventures may be able to secure through third party supporters of The Purpose Prize® Fellows, such as access to training, subscriptions, and technology.
  • Purpose Prize Fellows who are not cash prize winners may reapply each year for The Purpose Prize®.

Technical FAQs

Q: What kind of software/hardware do I need to access the online application?
A: Please make sure you have one of the following browsers, with cookies and JavaScript enabled:
  • Internet Explorer 5.0, or higher
  • Firefox 1.1, or higher
  • Other browsers, such as Mozilla Netscape, Safari, Chrome, and Opera are not supported but will likely work fine.

Q: How do I save a started application and return to work on it later?
A: Instead of clicking the "Review Application" button at the bottom of the form, you can take a break by clicking the "Save Application" button, then closing your web browser. You will receive an email with instructions on how to log back into the system to resume work on an incomplete nomination and complete your application.

Q: If I start an application and save it to finish later, does Civic Ventures have access to my work-in-progress application?
A: Civic Ventures can access incomplete applications in order to help users who may be having trouble locating their application. Civic Ventures only review applications once they are completed and submitted.

Q: I would like a paper copy of my completed application. How can I print my completed application?
A: When you click on the button to review your completed application before submitting it, you can use the print button on your browser to print the final application. We suggest you do so and keep a copy for your records.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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