CASE+FOUNDATION+Make+It+Your+Own+Awards

The “[|Make It Your Own Awards]” in 2007 at the Case Foundation gave concerned citizens a strong voice in generating and evaluating ideas for foundation initiatives to improve their communities.

Taking public input brought new ideas into the foundation, created a reason for individuals to get engaged in the conversation about how to carry their communities forward, and gave greater public backing to the foundation’s final choices.

In the opening phase of the contest the foundation accepted proposals for $10,000 grants and chose 20 winners, paralleling the typical grantmaking process, but with a diverse panel of outside experts and community leaders in the place of dedicated program officers. In the final phase the foundation then held an open vote in which the public was given complete control over which four of the twenty would receive an additional $25,000. It also provided further non-monetary support.

The process went off smoothly and met with accolades from social entrepreneurs, the citizen voters, and the New York Times, which praised the foundation for its experimental spirit. It has since lent inspiration to a variety of other crowd-directed giving programs.