Welcome to the “Banking on Social Change – Seeking Financial Solutions for All” Collaborative Competition, which aims to find innovative solutions and catalyze a community of changemakers around financial transactions for social change.

For more information on entering, the online review, and voting please view the competition criteria and time line below, or contact us at bankingonsocialchange@changemakers.net

Eligibility Criteria

The competition will be open to all types of organizations (charitable organizations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. We consider all entries that:

• Reflect the theme of the competition: Banking on Social Change – Seeking Financial Solutions for All. Entries will demonstrate innovative solutions around financial transactions for social change.
• Indicate growth beyond the stage of idea, concept, or research. At a minimum, entries should be at the demonstration stage and indicate success. While we support new ideas at every stage and encourage their entry, the judges are only able to evaluate programs that are beyond the conceptual stage, and have demonstrated a proof of impact, even at small scale.
• Have the entire entry form completed and are submitted before the deadline.
• Are submitted in English or Spanish.

Assessment Criteria

The winners of this Changemakers Collaborative Competition will be those entries that best meet the following criteria:

• Innovation: This is the knock-out test. The entrant must describe a systematic and/or disruptive innovation that allows financial security to become a reality for everyone. The innovation should be a unique model of change, demonstrating a substantial difference from other initiatives in the field and ready for large-scale expansion.
• Social Impact: It is important that the innovation provides a solution toward increasing financial security for everyone. The entry must demonstrate impact on the target population it addresses, either a specific underserved community or the society at large. Some innovations will have proven success at a small level, while others will have grown to engage millions of people. Regardless of the level of demonstrated impact, it is important that the innovation has a potential for application globally. This will be judged by considering the innovation's potential for scale and replication, in addition to the entrant’s ability to formulate a clear “road map” to reaching larger goals.
• Sustainability: For an innovation to be truly effective it must have a long-term plan for securing financial backing and community support. Entries should describe not only how they are currently financing their work, but also how they plan to finance their work in the future. The most successful entrants go beyond discussing whether or not they will charge for services and describe a business plan. They should also demonstrate that they have strong partnerships and support networks to address an ongoing need, and to aid in scalability and the maintenance of a clear financial strategy.

Competition Deadlines, Procedures, and Rules

Online competition submissions are accepted until October 1st, 2008 at 6pm, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. At any time before this deadline competition participants are encouraged to revise their entries based on questions and insights that they receive in the Changemakers discussion. Participation in the discussion enhances an entrant’s prospects in the competition and provides the community and the judges an opportunity to understand the entrant’s project more completely.

There are three main phases in the competition:

• Entry Stage, July 16th – October 1st, 2008: Entries can be submitted until 6 pm US Eastern Daylight Time on October 1st, 2008, and throughout this stage anyone can participate in an online review discussion with the entrants.
• Online Review and Judging – October 2nd – November 5th, 2008: Online review and discussion continues. Simultaneously, a panel of judges who are experts in the field and a team of Ashoka staff select the 10-15 competition finalists.
• Voting – November 10th – November 26th, 2008: The Changemakers community votes online to select the three award-winners from the field of finalists. The Changemakers Collaborative Competition winners—the three finalists that receive the most votes—will be announced on December 1st, 2008 and will each receive a cash prize of US$5,000.

Participation in the competition provides the opportunity to receive feedback on your blueprint from fellow entrants, Changemakers staff, judges and the Changemakers community. Showcasing your blueprint and the challenges involved in creating social impact advises potential investors about how best to improve funding/investing patterns for the sector and to maximize the strategic impact and effectiveness of their future investments.

Prizes

Early Entry Prize: The best entry submitted by 6:00 p.m. EST, August 15th will win a camcorder and digital camera (Equal value of US $1000). Being an Early Entry Prize winner does not preclude you from winning the competition in any way, or guarantee finalist status—all entries will be equally evaluated per the Changemakers criteria at the completion of the entry period.

Competition Winners: The top three entries will win US $5,000 each. After the judges select the 10-15 finalists from the entire competition, the Changemakers online community will vote for 3 winners from among the finalists.

Disclaimer — Compliance with Legal Restrictions

Ashoka complies fully with all U.S. laws and regulations, including Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations, export control, and anti-money laundering laws. All grants will be awarded subject to compliance with such laws. Ashoka will not make any grant if it finds that to do so would be unlawful. This may prohibit awards in certain countries and/or to certain individuals or entities. All recipients will comply with these laws to the extent they are applicable to such recipients. No recipient will take any action that would cause Ashoka to violate any laws. Additionally, Ashoka will not make any grant to a company involved in the promotion of tobacco use.