Donors Judging Criteria | 2022

About the Award

This award celebrates individuals and organisations that have deployed capital to support project(s) or initiative(s) to achieve systems change. Within this award, there are four sub-categories that inform the final award leveraging the Catalyst 2030 Funder Diagnostic Survey. These categories were informed by the Embracing Complexity Report. This award is the first of its kind to focus on the funding of systems change entrepreneurs.

1. Leader in Learning:

Embrace a Systems Mindset Demonstrated public promotion of lessons learned in supporting systems change. Demonstrated humility of sharing what has not worked and promoting learning for others. Funding of research and other public documents to support better practices in funding systems change. Funding of monitoring, evaluation, and learning of systems change projects to support learning across the ecosystem.

2. Leader in Trust:

Support evolving paths to systems change & Prepare for long-term engagement Lifting up funders relinquishing control through multi-year unrestricted funding.

3. Leader in Partnership:

Work in true partnership lifting up funders who acknowledge and work against power dynamics, are relational over transactional, listen to what systems change leaders need and provide targeted financial and non-financial support in an effort to co-create the desired impact approach and appropriate funding structure. Take time to build trust with their grantees including through regular honest and respectful discussions, and/or simplify and right-size the application and reporting effort.

4. Leader in Collaboration:

Collaborate with other stakeholders lifting up funders who collaborate with other funders to enhance efficiency through coordinated action, build strong networks with other system stakeholders, and/or leave the leading role to systems change leaders. Recognition of support for collaborations between systems change entrepreneurs. This includes support for the collaboration infrastructure that is required to enable participating organizations to fully invest in collaboration – for example funding for coordination facilities, funding for the overhead associated with collaboration.

Eligibility

Any individual or organization that donates or provides grant funds to support social entrepreneurs in creating systems change. Individuals and organizations can be located in any country and can focus on any impact area. All nominated organizations are required to move through a due diligence process.