Draft:Lever for Change
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Submission declined on 12 September 2025 by SafariScribe (talk).
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Lever for Change is a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which was founded in 2019 with the purpose of accelerating philanthropy by mobilizing large quantities of philanthropic capital, at a faster pace, to support high-impact organizations. Since its founding, Lever for Change has mobilized more than $2.5 billion in philanthropy,[1] while managing philanthropic giving efforts for notable philanthropists, including MacKenzie Scott[2] and Melinda French Gates.[3]
Description
[edit]Lever for Change builds on the work of the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition[4], which started in 2016. That competition seeks to support change at scale by awarding large grants of $100 million every three years[5] to a single nonprofit or pair of nonprofits. Likewise, Lever for Change works to connect donors who can give at scale to vetted high-performing organizations. It does this through a few parallel activities designed to help donors identify organizations capable of achieving impact at scale.
Open Calls
[edit]Lever for Change runs what it calls “open calls.” These tailor made, large funding competitions (typically over $10 million) can attract thousands of proposals from around the world. The high-profile nature of these open calls serves multiple purposes. Headline-grabbing big competitions can help spread the word about the competition and increase the number of organizations applying; it can garner interest from other funders who join in funding the open call and join the open call to increase the total amount of the award offered[6]; it can surface new ideas and approaches[7]; and it can help elevate the problem identified.
Open calls have been used by funders such as Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures to surface new, unfamiliar organizations working in a sector and provide support across that sector.
All proposals submitted to open calls are peer-reviewed and most high-ranking organizations receive feedback on their proposal. The organizations who are awarded the grant as well as other high-ranking organizations are invited to join Lever for Change’s network.
Lever for Change’s Network
[edit]Finalists from all open calls, which includes all top ranked organizations as well as those who were awarded grant funding, are invited to join Lever for Change’s network. Lever for Change provides this group of organizations, which currently numbers more than 400 organizations from more than 100 countries, with tailored technical support, increased visibility, and direct donor introductions. Lever for Change publicly promotes members of this network here and presents the member organizations as “de-risked,” because they have all be previously rigorously vetted during open-calls. Lever for Change maintains that 40% of network members have received additional funding (2019-2024).
Advisory Services
[edit]Lever for Change offers philanthropists advisory services.
Leadership
[edit]Cecilia Conrad, a former economics professor and former president of Pomona College in California, is currently CEO of Lever for Change, building on her previous work leading the MacArthur Foundation’s fellows program. Kristen J. Molyneaux, Ph.D., is the President and a co-founder of Lever for Change.
References
[edit]- ^ "Winning large-scale philanthropic grants: Inside Lever for Change's model". Devex. 9 May 2025.
- ^ "Billionaire Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott Is Donating $640 Million To Grant Competition Winners". Forbes. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Melinda French Gates will give $250M to women's health groups globally through a new open call". The Seattle Times. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "100&Change - MacArthur Foundation". MacArthur Foundation.
- ^ Blair, Elizabeth (22 May 2024). "The MacArthur Foundation wants bold solutions to big problems -- the prize is $100M". NPR.org. NPR.
- ^ "Young Leaders Advancing Climate Solutions Could Win $1 Million Grants". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Reid Hoffman's $10 Million Contest to Restore Trust in Institutions". philanthropy.com. Chronicle of Philanthropy. 27 March 2025.
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