Sharing insights about social innovation from Google.org Impact Challenges

Social impact organizations and nonprofits around the globe fight tirelessly to build a better future. Their teams connect with their communities, build coalitions, and come up with new solutions to some of the world’s toughest issues. Time and time again, we’ve found that the best answers come from those closest to the problem.

To help these organizations take their ideas to the next level, we created the Google.org Impact Challenge (GIC) in 2013. Organizations share their long term vision and let us know how they are making an impact in their communities. We work with a panel of experts to select those ideas with the greatest potential for change. Organizations like WattTime, an AI Impact Challenge grantee that’s pioneering a new approach to tackling climate emissions, receive a strategic package of funding and technical support. Since the start of the program, we’ve awarded more than $90 million to over 400 organizations around the world.

Now, with the help of the LEAP Center for Social Impact and Boston Consulting Group, we’re able to share a deeper dive into what we’ve learned from seven years of Impact Challenges — what’s working, ongoing barriers faced by changemakers, and actions that both public and private sector organizations can take to nurture innovation. Kevin Brege — the global lead for Google.org Impact Challenges — was featured in Philanthropy News Digest earlier this week sharing highlights from this survey of 80 GIC Grantees.

Here are three key themes and opportunities that we found.

• Flexible funding fosters innovation and increases potential. Social sector contributors who are looking to accelerate impact should consider how they can remove barriers and conditions in order to foster innovative projects and solutions.
• Community engagement uncovers moonshot solutions. Social sector stakeholders must leverage the perspectives of their target communities within the solutions they design.
• Wraparound support multiplies impact. Effective support goes beyond funding.

Check out the full report to dive deep into these insights and learn more about opportunities to remove obstacles. We hope these lessons will help all nonprofits, funders, policymakers, and social enterprises to accelerate positive change for many years to come.