SPARK™ Prize Competition | Gwinnett County unitedwayatlanta.org

GWINNETT 2020 PRIZE™

SPARK™ Prize Competition | Gwinnett County unitedwayatlanta.org

2020 SPARK Prize Gwinnett FAQsAre you a nonprofit or community group looking to create a spark to address the needs of children and families in the Gwinnett community? Get your pitch ready because SPARK Prize is back! Through SPARK Prize, a “Shark Tank” style live competition, we award grants to help communities test innovative ideas that can move the needle on our region’s most pressing issues. Prizes will be awarded at our Gwinnett Forward Celebration event on April 17, 2020.

To enter the 2020 SPARK Prize competition, submit a video here. Read below to learn more about United Way of Greater Atlanta’s SPARK Prize Gwinnett selection criteria and frequently asked questions.

How do I apply?Interested applicants are asked to submit a 3-5 minute video explaining the problem they are attempting to solve, their innovative solution, and the partners who they will work with for implementation. Videos do not have to be professionally recorded; cell phone/digital camera videos are highly encouraged! Videos can be submitted via the SPARK Prize Gwinnett link. Submissions that are chosen as semi-finalists will be required to submit a written proposal. What is the deadline for submission?The deadline for video submission is February 7, 2020, by 6:00 p.m. Semi-finalists selected to move forward will be notified by February 27, 2020, and will be required to submit a written proposal due on March 13, 2020, by 6:00 p.m. The final round of participants will be notified by March 27, 2020. How much is the award?These awards will help Gwinnett test innovative ideas. Requests can be made in any amount up to $25,000. Awards will be given based on the ability of the applicant to demonstrate a clear project plan and use of the funds. How many awards will be made?We anticipate about 2-8 prizes will be awarded. Ultimately, the SPARK Prize investors will determine which ideas they want to invest in. All finalists who present at the live event will be eligible for funding. Who is eligible?Any individual, group or organization that has an innovative idea can apply, with special consideration for organizations or groups with a budget under $500,000. (Individuals and community groups must have affiliation with a registered 50lc3 that will serve as their fiscal agent.) Programs/Projects must serve one or more Gwinnett zip codes, especially those with low/very low child well-being, and address at least one of the priority areas - Early Learning, Food Insecurity, Homelessness and Healthcare. See our Child Well-Being Map here for clarification on Gwinnett communities with low or very low child well-being scores.

SPARK™ Prize Competition | Gwinnett County unitedwayatlanta.org

We applied for United Way’s previous SPARK Prize competition. Are we eligible to apply for this year’s competition?Yes! If you applied or were even selected for a further round of consideration during the previous SPARK Prize competition, you are still eligible to apply. However, if you were the final top SPARK Prize award winner, you are not eligible to apply. Is this funding renewable?This funding supports 9-12 month projects. There is currently no commitment being made for additional funding. Having a nonprofit or small business partner may also help with consideration for sustainability. How will award winners be selected?This award is designed to reward organizations that provide direct service within the Gwinnett County area. All videos will be reviewed by a panel of community leaders, including entrepreneurs, nonprofit service leaders, issue experts and others who will vet ideas for:

• Alignment – How well the project or program is aligned with at least one of United Way of Greater Atlanta in Gwinnett’s child well-being priorities - Early Learning, Food Insecurity, Homelessness and Healthcare.

• Solution Oriented – Clearly articulates a need with goals that directly address a particular community/social problem, removes barriers, or increases efficiencies.

• Creativity – Ability to demonstrate creativity, new or unconventional thinking. • Innovation – Project or program is unique and cutting edge for the field; new to the community• Thoughtful Implementation – Feasibility of the implementation plan (sufficient resources, feasible scope of

work and timeline, clear goals and objectives).• Leverage – Ability to use funds to leverage additional skills, expertise, human capital and other resources

to ensure the project’s success (Examples: Engage 100 community volunteers, 25 hours in-kind web development expertise, or $2,000 matching funds).

• Collaboration – Uses a collaboration model where partners work together for a shared solution that leverages assets or strengths of each.

Finalists will be selected from the semi-finalists and will be required to submit a proposal. The final winners will be selected by a panel of judges live at the Gwinnett Forward Celebration event on April 17, 2020, using the above set of criteria. Why is United Way offering this grant competition?United Way of Greater Atlanta is committed to ensuring every child, family and community can thrive. We understand that to make real community change happen no one can do it alone. The SPARK Prize grew out of listening to our stakeholders - both nonprofit agencies and donors. They both expressed a desire to support innovative and collaborative ideas that help solve community problems and remove barriers to improving child well-being. United Way has offered similar opportunities that were more suited for larger organizations and recognized that smaller nonprofit agencies and community groups face the same limited resources, creating obstacles to innovation.

SPARK™ Prize Competition | Gwinnett County unitedwayatlanta.org

Why invest in smaller nonprofits and community groups? Innovation often emerges from smaller nimble organizations and from organizations coming together to collaborate. But their creativity and innovative solutions can lay dormant because of lack of flexible resources. United Way believes we must empower people and organizations to be innovators and assist leaders to accelerate solutions. Can the prize be used for planning or research?The SPARK Prize is designed to reward individuals and organizations that have already spent some time planning and are ready to move into testing their idea. There should be a well-thought-out concept. The prize supports projects that can be implemented within 9-12 months of the award. Additionally, all funded projects will need to have clear milestones of progress and measures of success that show the impact on individuals and families. How do I know if I have a truly innovative idea?Our best advice is to test your idea with a wide variety of people and practice making your “pitch.” This will help to refine your idea and allow you to master your presentation.

Do a little research. As you look to apply your idea, see if anything similar exists already, here in our region or in other communities. It will also be important that you have a good understanding of the problem that your idea solves.

Determine what type of innovation you are proposing. Consider the following categories of innovation, adapted from the Harvard Business Review.

• Core – These types of innovation optimize existing services or functions. These innovations are usually incremental and leverage existing assets to yield a meaningful improvement in results. Often the new idea, if successful, will become incorporated as a standard within the organization (or among partners).

• Expansion – These types of innovation enhance or expand existing services and may have some characteristics of core and transformational innovations. Expansion innovations may use existing assets to engage with clients differently or use volunteers in a new way. These might also be initiatives from another arena that have not been applied to your organization or within your community.

• Transformational – These innovations represent a breakthrough or significantly change how a service or function is delivered. The initiative disrupts the norm and suggests new ways of meeting a need or engaging clients that requires the organization to develop new capacities and/or bring on new skills (or for the collaborative group to implement a new shared/system approach).