Philanthropy Now: Prizes, Purpose, People

Leveraging Capital through Data Science and Prizes (Dick Merkin, Heritage Group)

• Identified a $800 billion waste problem in US healthcare, noting NIH funding ($30B) represents only 1% of total care spending.
• Launched a $3 million global prize to incentivize the creation of predictive algorithms for hospital readmissions, attracting 39,000 entries from 41 countries.
• The winning teams improved prediction accuracy six-fold, leading to reduced readmissions and a proposal to donate the algorithm to CMS (Medicare/Medicaid).
• Established a second prize to crowdsource healthcare questions directly from US citizens to address local government needs.
• Utilized prizes to stimulate industry development, citing historical precedents like the English Longitude prize (spurring shipping) and Napoleon's canning prize (saving troops from disease).
• Implemented "progress prizes" (ranging from $50k to $150k) to keep underdog teams engaged, eventually fostering cross-border collaboration between teams from the Netherlands, Australia, and the US.

Combating Modern Slavery via Technical and Religious Alliances (Andrew Forrest, Walk Free Foundation)

• Developed technical credibility by partnering with Palantir and Digital Globe to map global slavery hotspots (e.g., charcoal camps in Brazil, brick kilns).
• Built a coalition of 6.5 million supporters with a target of 50 million, sharing technology and know-how with partner NGOs.
• Secured a historic executive agreement between Anglican, Catholic, and Islamic leadership (including the Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Al-Azhar al-Sharif) to jointly fund and combat slavery.
• Framed slavery as a moral imperative transcending religious differences, successfully uniting groups with centuries of historical conflict.
• Adopted a "business-like" approach to philanthropy with "unrealistic targets," aiming to create a self-sustaining economy where freed slaves can become entrepreneurs.
• Announced a global literacy prize targeting a 4th-grade reading level for 1 billion people in Africa and Asia.

Deep Engagement and Technology in Education (Tsitsi Siwa, Higher Life Foundation)

• Transitioned from writing checks to deeply personal involvement, leveraging her mobile phone business (MTN Zimbabwe) to fund and staff the foundation.
• Expanded beneficiary reach from 600 to 40,000, with a current target of 1.5–2 million students using mobile and tablet technology.
• Utilized the diaspora of skilled professionals educated overseas to bridge the gap between capital and local implementation capacity in Zimbabwe.
• Deployed tablets and mobile platforms to deliver textbooks and educational content, bypassing infrastructure limitations (lack of electricity/water) and reducing costs by reusing devices.
• Adopted a "time investment" philosophy, urging business leaders to apply hard-edge management principles (frugality, measurement, empowerment) rather than just "feel-good" giving.

Systemic Educational Reform and Citywide Models (George Weiss, Say Yes to Education)

• Evolved a program starting with 112 inner-city Philadelphia students to a citywide model in Syracuse and Buffalo serving 65,000 to 108,000 students.
• Learned to adjust expectations based on student needs rather than imposing middle-class standards, focusing on maximizing individual potential rather than specific institutions.
• Shifted program start age to the 6th grade, reducing teen pregnancy rates from 50% to 3% and drastically lowering felony rates through early intervention.
• Implemented a "citywide compact" offering free legal aid to parents, extended school days/years, social workers in every school, and mental health clinics on-site.
• Established a "guaranteed college" model with 64 private universities providing free tuition, mentoring, and support systems, achieving a 90% retention rate in Syracuse versus a national average of 68%.
• Identified a critical lesson: success metrics should focus on college graduation rates rather than just matriculation rates.

Cross-Sector Collaboration and Democratization of Giving (Jean Case, Case Foundation)

• Promoted the "Recognize, Reward, and Inspire" strategy, leveraging the reputation of philanthropists to champion causes rather than relying solely on financial capital.
• Invested $4 million in three micro-donation platforms (including Network for Good), unlocking nearly $2 billion in additional public giving.
• Co-hosted a White House summit and facilitated a presidential order compelling federal agencies to utilize prizes and grand challenges to tap into crowd wisdom.
• Successfully partnered with NASA to launch challenge.gov, creating a platform for open innovation (e.g., solar robot challenges).
• Collaborated with Merck (diabetes) and the NCI (breast cancer) to create incentives for commercializing neglected NIH patents, offering licensing for $2,000 payable only upon commercial viability.
• Published learnings on prize management to train other organizations (e.g., Pepsi, Chase) and prevent participant drop-out through incremental progress rewards.

Strategic Insights on Business-Philanthropy Integration

• Argued that pure charity is unsustainable; lasting change requires for-profit models that empower individuals (e.g., freeing slaves to start businesses) or "impact investing" in developing nations.
• Highlighted the "Same Sky" initiative in Rwanda, employing genocide survivors and HIV-positive women, which achieved scalability only after securing contracts with major retailers (Chico's, Macy's).
• Advocated for "soulful economy" transparency, urging consumers and businesses to audit supply chains for ethical labor practices (e.g., the Bangladesh fires).
• Noted that 1001 Voices capitalized as a for-profit to advance free enterprise in sub-Saharan Africa, bypassing non-profit regulatory constraints to build self-sustaining economies.
• Emphasized that business leaders must apply their core competencies (data, strategy, scaling) to philanthropy rather than adopting a generic "servant" role.

Q&A on Collaboration and Integrity

• Addressed the redundancy in philanthropy by citing "FasterCures," which unifies disease-specific foundations (Alzheimer's, Breast Cancer) to share data and accelerate research.
• Responded to concerns about the "ugly side of philanthropy" (e.g., Walton family's link to labor issues) by stating that audits reveal slavery in supply chains only when leaders actively seek it.
• Argued that most executives are not knowingly complicit but require guidance to align their conscience with their supply chain realities.
• Concluded with a parable about a lighthouse placed on the center of an island (vs. the edge), illustrating that good intentions and resources fail without the correct strategic application.