Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Grants for Entrepreneurs and NGOs

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is accepting applications for its grants program with an aim to achieve substantial positive change in the world.

The team conducts deep diligence on social enterprises that move to the final stages of consideration, as many of the proposed ventures are cutting edge.

This includes a thorough scan of existing approaches to the issue at hand and the likelihood of success and sustained impact the proposed project could achieve, as well as an assessment of the entrepreneur’s leadership ability.

The Foundation will look for:

Exceptional Entrepreneurs: The Foundation seeks out entrepreneurs who exhibit characteristics of extraordinary leadership: vision, intelligence, influence, ambition, discretion, and follow-through. Draper Richards Kaplan entrepreneurs have proven track records that demonstrate a full spectrum of competencies.
Potential to Scale: To affect meaningful change upon the major challenges of time, they need big solutions to big problems.

They support social enterprises — non-profit, for-profit, and hybrid organizations — that can expand enough to directly benefit a large number of beneficiaries and impart enough momentum to influence broader systems that encumber progress. Scaled organizations act as models to other groups in the sector and have the clout to affect policy, public opinion, and economies.

Sustainable Impact: The Foundation looks for leveraged solutions that will create lasting positive change. They look for game-changing ideas that create better opportunities and outcomes for the future.
The Foundation fund:

Leaders tackling important social issues that can make a difference in the lives of many.
Models that have the likelihood to be able to scale.
Social enterprises in the early stages of their development where DRK involvement (financial, as a board member, and through other support) can make a real difference.
On average, organizations are 1-3 years old and the leader is prep ared to execute an ambitious plan.
Social enterprises that are national or global in reach and/or social issue.
Domestic (U.S.) and international organizations.
The Foundation supports non-profit, for-profit, and hybrid social enterprises.
The Foundation does NOT fund:

Community-based organizations with no interest in scaling.
Organizations whose sole focus is on the development of research.
Programs promoting religious doctrine.
Some common reasons social enterprises are not considered eligible for funding:

The organization is no longer at the early stages of its development.
The organization is local in scope, focused on a small region with no plan to expand its reach or service area.
An organization is a program of a larger organization, rather than a stand-alone entity.
The entrepreneur does not choose to make building a social enterprise a full-time commitment.
The idea is not unique or is a replication of a program that already exists.
The Idea is unfocused. The social enterprise is trying to solve too many problems or is using too many models and programs to achieve its goals.

Idea and/or implementation strategy lacks clarity. The plan is not comprehensive or is hard to understand.
Scaling plans are not viable. The revenue model or the operational model is not sustainable.
Ideas will not create systemic social change. The solution presented does not address root causes or deliver enduring benefits.

There is not a solid plan to measure outcomes.
The Model does not have the potential for large-scale (national or global) impact.
Applications Accepted All Year Round!