Lever for Change is designed to help philanthropists overcome the challenges that often prevent them from achieving their philanthropic ambitions. While many philanthropists aspire to make “big bets” for social change, they often struggle to find, evaluate, and implement large grants, in part because they do not have the expertise or dedicated staff these efforts require.

Lever for Change provides donors with the expertise, infrastructure, and day-to-day support to identify the best ideas and solutions that align with their interests. We manage customized competitions on behalf of interested philanthropists, along with matching donors with the vetted proposals in the Bold Solutions Network, a searchable database which contains the top-ranked proposals from all of our competitions, including 100&Change.

Lever for Change centers its work on the core values of transparency, openness, equity, and inclusivity. We take intentional steps to ensure these values are represented throughout our activities and within each customized competition, including sourcing from diverse networks, and building community engagement into competition design from the beginning. We provide applicants with detailed information about the competition, such as evaluation criteria and scoring rubric, competition timeline and process, and the names of judges.

Lever for Change centers its work on the core values of transparency, openness, equity, and inclusivity. We take intentional steps to ensure these values are represented throughout our activities and within each customized competition, including sourcing from diverse networks, and building community engagement into competition design from the beginning. We provide applicants with detailed information about the competition, such as evaluation criteria and scoring rubric, competition timeline and process, and the names of judges.

Yes. Lever for Change competitions can be designed to include a range of organizational structures, including but not limited to: nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations, for-profit corporations, benefit corporations, limited liability companies, joint ventures, and partnerships.

Lever for Change provides support to applicants in a variety of ways, including access to webinars, constructive feedback from judges and peers, and peer-learning opportunities. Additional resources that provide more intensive support, such as cohort-based workshops and coaching, may be available to select organizations and collaborations.

Furthermore, Lever for Change offers top applicants opportunities to gain greater visibility for funding from an array of donors. The highest-ranked proposals from all of our competitions are showcased in the Bold Solutions Network.

Yes. While specific competitions may be structured to fund organizations based or working within a specific geographic location, Lever for Change is a global effort and can source and select outstanding entities from anywhere in the world. More than half of the inaugural 100&Change competition applicants were global in scope, as were almost half (47%) in the second round of 100&Change, with many based outside the United States.

Swift Grants are a funding opportunity for Bold Solutions Network members offering small grants of up to $25,000 for collaborative projects. Visit the Swift Grants page to learn more about the grants and process.

Only active Bold Solutions Network members are eligible to apply for a Swift Grant. To learn more about the Bold Solutions Network and who is eligible to to be a member please visit our Bold Solutions Network FAQs.

We anticipate that there will be another round of awards in 2022. To keep up to date on offerings please sign up for the Lever for Change newsletter.

The Bold Solutions Network is a vital component of Lever for Change’s mission to accelerate social change and help philanthropists overcome the challenges that often prevent them from achieving their philanthropic ambitions.

Research shows that while many philanthropists aspire to make “big bets” for social change, they often struggle to find, evaluate, and fund high-impact philanthropic opportunities, in part because they do not have the expertise or dedicated staff these efforts require. This challenge leaves non-profits and other changemakers under-resourced and unable to scale their programs. Lever for Change’s Bold Solutions Network is designed to fill these gaps and aims to unlock significant philanthropic capital by connecting philanthropists with rigorously vetted, highly-rated proposals that emerge from the competitions it manages. For participating organizations, the Bold Solutions Network offers ongoing learning and networking opportunities to strengthen the impact of their work, raise their visibility, and increase their potential to secure additional funding.