Knight Foundation has supported nearly a dozen open contests, reviewed almost 25,000 applications and chosen more than 400 winning ideas. We’ve learned a lot from this experience about how good contests work, what they can do, and what the challenges are. We’ve captured this in an array of materials that share these lessons. Today with the launch of a new report, “Why Contests Improve Philanthropy: Six Lessons on Designing Public Prizes for Impact,” we’ve brought together our experiences in managing contests across all our program areas: journalism and media innovation, arts and communities. We hope this will serve as an invitation to others to consider how contests, when appropriate, might deepen the work they already do, broaden their definition of philanthropic giving and amplify their impact. Our contest work started with the launch of the Knight News Challenge in 2007. The digital age had turned communications on its head, and we needed a way to respond. The contest enriched our journalism program’s traditional network of blue-chip educators and newsrooms and put a spotlight on an energetic community of emerging innovators, software engineers, designers and media entrepreneurs. It also allowed us to leverage technology—as a powerful tool to open up our giving. All of our programs have now used contests to uncover new trends, widen their networks and support bold new ideas. In total, we’ve granted more than $75 million to experimental arts projects, resident-led neighborhood improvements, tech startups and data applications. Our support has gone to individuals, nonprofits and commercial enterprises.
