NYU Reynolds / D-Prize Social Venture Competition Spring 2015 First Round Application Packet This is the first round application packet for the Spring 2015 NYU Reynolds / D-Prize Social Venture Competition. It explains the completion rules, process, and instructions on how to draft and submit your application. Please e-mail reynolds.changemaker@nyu.edu with any questions. Concept Note Deadline: February 17, 2015 Good luck!
Competition Rules Who Should Apply? You should be an aspiring entrepreneur ready to launch a pilot, a new project, or a venture this coming spring or summer. If it proves successful, you should be excited to continue growing it full time. We are exclusively interested in ventures that will distribute an already proven poverty solution. We do not fund prototypes of promising new solutions. Our vision is to provide support for talented people to become social entrepreneurs, help the most promising launch a pilot, and over time grow to impact enormous numbers of people. Eligibility to Compete The NYU Reynolds/D-Prize Social Venture Competition is open to graduate and undergraduate NYU students at all NYU global locations. Students may apply as an individual or as part of a team. Those who apply as a team may work with students in any of the NYU global locations. The lead team member must be a current enrolled NYU student. Students must be in good academic standing. Good academic standing is defined as having a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or greater. The Reynolds Program staff reserves the right to disqualify any applicant who does not meet the minimum grade requirement and/or is ineligible to be enrolled at NYU as a result of a disciplinary action.
Deadlines and the Prize Process Concept Note Deadline: February 17, 2015 Submit a two page concept note and resume for each team member. A team of judges will review and invite the most promising ideas to the next round. Invitations will be sent by March 4. All selected teams will participate in an online peer review session on March 10, 2015, time TBD. Review submission guidelines at the end of this application and submit your concept note to: http://www.d-prize.org/reynoldsnyu/. Second Round Proposal Deadline: March 30, 2015 Those invited will receive a second round application packet. You will expand on your concept and draft a full tenpage plan of your social venture. The plan will include an executive summary, a budget, milestones you plan to hit, and your future vision. A team of judges will review and send decisions by April 14. Final Round Team Interviews: April 15-May 1, 2015 The most promising social entrepreneurs interview with judges via phone. Based on plans and interviews, a selected team may be awarded capital to launch. Winners will be notified by May 4. Piloting Winning Ventures In addition to funding, D-Prize and NYU Reynolds will offer mentorship from successful social entrepreneurs, and may assist in helping your venture attract future funding if the pilot proves successful. We will also provide you access to the D-Prize network of past winners, and will do our best to support you in other ways.
First Round Judging Criteria Judging Process All applications will receive an initial screen from at least two judges, and if advanced will receive up to two additional independent readings. Judges may request additional information via email and/or Skype before making a decision. Judging Criteria Proposals will be evaluated on the following: Commitment and quality: you or your team must be passionate about development, have the skills to build a new organization from scratch or refine an existing one, and committed to expanding to a proven, effective, large-scale organization. Quality and thoroughness of the social venture plan: good plans are tightly focused on solving one specific problem. Anyone reading your proposal should have a thorough understanding of exactly what your organization will do, and how you will do it. Projected impact: We recognize that in many cases your pilot program may start small. It is our hope that the social venture will expand to help as many people as possible. We want to understand your plan to grow, and how you will measure your impact over time. Feasibility of post-competition success: a good proposal doesn t end after three months. We want to see your vision for 6, 12, and 24 months out.
First Round Application Submission Requirements First Round Applications consist of a concept note, and a resume or curriculum vitae (CV). Concept Note Please prepare a concept note which responds to the following prompts. Concept notes should be roughly two pages long. What is your new venture idea? We want to understand what will you do, and how specifically will you do it (details count). If you are solving an existing challenge there is no need to restate the problem. If you are proposing your own custom challenge, please explain the problem you are solving and the proven solution you will distribute. Evidence with citations is welcome. How will you measure your success, and what milestones do you intend to achieve over time? For instance, how many people will you reach after your pilot, at 6 months, and at 1 year? The most efficient ideas maximize impact and minimize costs. What makes your idea cost-effective and how will you maximize impact? How do you plan to scale over time? Resume/CV Resumes should highlight a few of your most important and relevant qualifications. Don t bury judges in your whole life story just hit the most intriguing points. One resume must be submitted for each team member. Each resume should be no more than one page. Submission Policies Applications must be submitted following the instructions in this packet. Extra material outside of the application will not be considered. Revisions to applications after submission will also not be considered. Only one application per person or partnership will be considered. Applications must be written in English.
Ready to Apply? Application Instructions Prepare your concept note and resume, and clearly name your files as follows: [YOUR TEAM NAME]_Concept Note_ReynoldsDPrize and [TEAM MEMBER NAME]_Resume_ReynoldsDPrize. Files must be sent in PDF form and are limited to a size of 4MB each. Input your contact details and upload your documents to http://www.d-prize.org/reynoldsnyu/ Application Tips Be succinct. Successful candidates are objective, focused, and clear. These attributes should come across in your writing. Orient your application towards an educated judge who is relatively knowledgeable with the key issues. Scale, impact, cost-effectiveness. Successful applicants will build a plausible case that their intervention is highly scalable, impactful, and cost-effective Keep within scope. The most successful startups are explicit about their focus, and avoid spending resources on too wide or too many areas. A well-focused, tightly scoped idea will perform best in this competition. Questions? Email the NYU Reynolds D-Prize team at reynolds.changemaker@nyu.edu.