Elevate Prize Foundation Inc.

## Approach & Strategy

The Elevate Prize Foundation operates on a distinctly visibility-first theory of change. Founded in 2019 by Miami businessman and philanthropist Joseph Deitch, the foundation's tagline "Make Good Famous" captures its core thesis: social impact is constrained not by the talent of changemakers but by the public's lack of awareness of their work. The foundation therefore bundles unrestricted cash grants with sustained media, storytelling, and platform-building support — treating communications infrastructure as inseparable from organizational effectiveness.

The flagship Elevate Prize is not a one-time grant but a 2-year intensive engagement. Winners receive $300,000 in unrestricted funding ($250,000 to the organization, $50,000 personal award to the leader) plus structured support across three tracks: (1) Visibility — brand development, messaging, press, social media, and public speaking coaching; (2) Organizational Growth — strategy, operations, fundraising, governance, and scaling advice; and (3) Whole Leader — mindfulness, self-care, and executive coaching to sustain the individual driving change. This holistic model sets Elevate apart from conventional grantmakers and signals that the foundation values founder sustainability and culture-shifting capacity as much as programmatic outputs.

The foundation actively seeks organizations operating at a "critical juncture" — where targeted resources, visibility, and tailored support will unlock the next stage of impact. This inflection-point framing shapes every program: the GET LOUD Award (monthly $25,000 via Instagram nominations, no application required) deliberately removes friction to reach grassroots organizations that traditional philanthropy overlooks; the Catalyst Award ($250,000) targets cultural influencers who can shift public narratives; and the Founder's Award provides discretionary grants to extraordinary social entrepreneurs who defy conventional categorization.

The foundation is deliberately cross-sector and globally oriented. Winners and grantees span criminal justice reform, climate resilience, refugee services, global health, education technology, economic justice, and indigenous rights — and come from Indonesia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Kenya, India, the UK, and across the United States. The unifying thread is not an issue area but a leader profile: bold, founder-led, systems-oriented, and committed to the power of storytelling.

## Funding Patterns

Program Structure and Award Amounts:

Financial Scale (IRS Form 990-PF): - 2019: Revenue $6.3M, Expenses $705K — startup/ramp year - 2020: Revenue $886K, Expenses $4.4M (Qualifying distributions: $700K) - 2021: Revenue $21.8M, Expenses $8.2M (Qualifying distributions: $7.7M) — peak funding year - 2022: Revenue $334K, Expenses $9.6M (Qualifying distributions: $8.9M) — deploying endowment

The foundation's asset base declined from $25.6M (2021) to $15.9M (2022) and current reported assets stand at $1.54M, reflecting an operating foundation model that actively deploys capital rather than growing an endowment. Total qualifying distributions across four recorded years exceeded $21.4M. The foundation is primarily donor-supported (founder-backed) rather than endowed in the traditional sense.

All grants are unrestricted. This is a deliberate and consistent policy across every program — the foundation explicitly believes in trusting leaders with flexible capital. There are no restricted project grants, matching requirements, or indirect cost caps. This makes the Elevate Prize and affiliated awards highly valuable to organizations that struggle to fund operations, leadership, and overhead through project-specific grants.

Geographic Distribution: Global. Past winners and grantees include organizations based in Rwanda, Afghanistan, Kenya, India, Indonesia, the UK, Israel, Micronesia, and across the United States. The GET LOUD Award has reached 15+ countries. There is no geographic preference or restriction.

## Peer Comparison

The Elevate Prize Foundation occupies a distinctive niche among global social impact prize-givers. The following table compares it to similarly positioned peers:

Key Differentiators: - Unrestricted + visibility bundle: Unlike Skoll (large but more restricted) or Ashoka (network but no cash), Elevate combines meaningful unrestricted cash with active media and storytelling support. - Mid-stage focus: The $2-10M budget sweet spot is underserved. Many major funders (Audacious Project, MacArthur) prefer either very early stage or already-established organizations. - Monthly grassroots channel: The GET LOUD Award's Instagram-nomination model has no peer — it democratizes discovery and moves funding in weeks rather than grant cycles. - Whole-leader philosophy: Explicit investment in the leader's wellbeing (not just their organization) is rare in philanthropy and resonates strongly with founder-led organizations facing burnout. - Cultural influence lever: The Catalyst Award targeting celebrities and cultural figures (Kerry Washington, Dwyane Wade, Sesame Street) to activate social change is a unique strategic play.

## Recent Activity

2025 Elevate Prize Winners (10 organizations): The 2025 cohort spanned AI-powered justice (Adalat AI), U.S. care system advocacy (Caring Across Generations), prosecutor-initiated resentencing (For the People), migrant women's rights (Justice for Migrant Women), ethical AI data work for underserved communities (Karya), youth mental health in Kenya (Shamiri Institute), Afghan girls' education (SOLA), subsidized housing resident support (Springboard to Opportunities), school nutrition (Chef Ann Foundation), and regenerative farming (Farmers for Forests). Geographic and issue breadth was wide, with strong representation of global south organizations.

2026 Catalyst Award: Presented to Kerry Washington at Sundance Film Festival — $250,000 to her foundation for civic engagement work. Washington also joined Elevate Studios as Executive Producer for Season 2 of "Nevertheless: Democracy Defenders."

2025 Catalyst Award: Sesame Street / Sesame Workshop received $250,000 for children's wellbeing and educational equity work, presented live at the Make Good Famous Summit.

GET LOUD Award (2025-2026): Monthly awards continued across themes including Disability & Autism Acceptance, Immigration, and others. 64+ total grantees, $1.1M+ awarded since inception across 15 countries. Recent grantees include Midwest Immigration Bond Fund, Project U First, Yaya Por Vida, NDN Girls Bookclub.

Founder's Award (2025): Two recipients — Millennium Campus Network (training 20,000+ youth social impact leaders globally) and Equality Now (reforming 120+ discriminatory laws worldwide for women and girls).

Elevate Studios: Season 2 of "Nevertheless: Democracy Defenders" in production with Kerry Washington as Executive Producer. The media arm is expanding its content ecosystem.

2027 Elevate Prize nominations expected to open April 2026 based on annual cadence.

## Application Tips

For the Elevate Prize (annual flagship):

1. Nominations open in April. The foundation opens nominations once per year. Monitor elevateprize.org/the-elevate-prize/ starting early spring. Missing the window means waiting a full cycle.

2. Fit the mid-stage profile precisely. The stated sweet spot is organizations with $2-10M annual budgets, though smaller organizations have succeeded. You must be led by a founder, Executive Director, or CEO who is at least 18 years old with 501(c)(3) or international nonprofit equivalent status.

3. Lead with systems change, not service delivery. Winners consistently work on advocacy, policy, cultural intervention, and structural change — not just direct services. Show how your work attacks root causes and shifts systems, not just symptoms.

4. Demonstrate commitment to storytelling and visibility. The foundation explicitly selects leaders who understand and value the power of storytelling and culture. Frame your narrative around platform-building and culture-shifting. If you have not invested in communications, explain why visibility is your next growth lever.

5. Position yourself at a critical juncture. The Elevate Prize is designed for a key moment of transformation. Make the case that you are on the verge of the next stage of impact and that the Prize's combination of funding, visibility, and support would unlock it. Generic applications that do not articulate a transformation moment will not resonate.

6. Show international or cross-cultural relevance. Even domestic U.S. organizations benefit from framing their work in terms of global systems, transferable models, or international solidarity. The foundation's community is global.

7. For GET LOUD Award: No application required. Nominate your organization on Instagram in the relevant month's theme post, or cultivate community members to nominate you. Follow @elevateprize and engage with monthly nomination calls. Awards are $25,000 unrestricted and move quickly.

8. For Founder's Award: Solicitation is explicitly not considered. Build relationships through the broader Elevate Prize ecosystem — attend the Make Good Famous Summit, engage with the community — and let your work speak for itself.

9. Highlight whole-leader wellbeing. The foundation considers "whole leader" capacity in its selection. Be honest about founder sustainability, team culture, and readiness to step into a larger platform. Organizations with strong self-care and leadership development practices are viewed favorably.

10. Study past winners for positioning. Review the 2020-2025 winner cohorts at elevateprize.org for patterns. Winners share a profile: bold individual leader, systems-change orientation, global or scalable model, and compelling personal narrative — regardless of issue area.