What we learned in 2021 from the Arago Honors
I learned a new word last year from hosting the inaugural 2021 Arago Honors Awards for nonprofit innovation. I saw this new word in action first-hand in all eight recipients—Society of St. Joseph, Mother’s Milk Bank; CICOA; Early Learning Indiana; Launch Hope; Spirit and Place; PATTERN; and GANGGANG.
My new word is ideation: an intentional focus on the process of problem-solving by nonprofits that excel at developing new ideas to build and strengthen innovation. Leaders of these nonprofits were very intentional problem solvers in a wide assortment of missions, and in many cases showcased how they were solving multiple problems at the same time through ideation. We found innovation surrounding food insecurity, health, aging assistance, early learning education, workforce development, new business acceleration, arts entrepreneurship, racial equity, and social capital.
The Meridian Foundation wants to share our plans to reward innovation in 2022 through its second awards program for nonprofits in central Indiana.
In surveying a handful of nonprofits that participated in last year’s award program, we learned that many community-based organizations enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on past accomplishments. However, there was a learning curve. Most applicants were not familiar with applying for a non-restricted award for previous work. One survey respondent said, “This is such a refreshing idea to the local philanthropic community. It was helpful to understand it as both a prize and an honor.”
It was an honor to recognize these organizations and we look forward to improving our process to better serve the nonprofit community.
In July 2022 we will host a live Zoom session for potential applicants. Dates will be shared via the Nonprofit News and sent to all prior applicants.
We will also offer 20-minute “office hour” appointments via Zoom to ask one-on-one questions of the Meridian Foundation before applying.
We plan to post the 2022 Arago Honor application form again as a pdf on the Meridian Foundation home page in early June 2022.
The application form will close at midnight on August 15, 2022.
We are hopeful that highlighting the rationale for the eight 2021 Arago Honor recipients will help 2022 applicants understand the Meridian Foundation’s concept of innovation better in this second round. (See the Feb. 28 blog post under News.)
Originally, the Meridian Foundation planned to be more stringent on outcome measurement when recognizing nonprofit innovation. We came to realize that in this post- Covid world highlighting more innovation projects better served our celebration purpose. That is not to say that outcomes are not integral to making a case for innovation, but we relaxed this stance when we recognized as many as eight nonprofits in 2021 with $10,000 cash awards.
One nonprofit in our survey said, “ I think discussing how real impact has to be demonstrated over time…this is where the real innovation comes in. Nonprofits are geared toward quick hits, numbers that can be seen tomorrow. The amount of fish given is easy to record. Teaching how to fish takes longer. This type of mindset is critical for true generational transformation. The Meridian Foundation gets this and should continue to champion this type of nonprofit mindset.”
That is not to say that the Meridian Foundation is not looking for outcomes and ways to measure program results/impact. However, we are pleased to recognize the broader impact of nonprofit innovation. In 2022 the results narrative question on the Arago Honors application is reworked to encourage nonprofits to strategically tell us how the program has changed the lives of individuals, families, the organization, or the community.
We have also added a question, to better understand if a nonprofit’s innovation is designed to incrementally improve an existing body of work or is a brand-new idea disrupting an entire sector. There will be no right or wrong answers, but it will be helpful to understand your leadership’s vision. This is a place to address if your nonprofit was forced to innovate and do more with a smaller operating budget, leading to important social impact, or if you are an established organization where leadership chose to take on a challenging innovative risk.
A new question in the 2022 application form will ask nonprofits to address how the individual or team managing the nominated innovation project embodies DEI. We seek to understand not only who makes up your staff, board members, volunteers, or partners, but also how your team is working to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in your sector.
To help nominators focus on the concept of innovation, we have added a shorter innovation definition from Stanford Social Innovation to the narrative portion of the application form. Writers will benefit by keeping this definition in mind when applying. Innovation is a break from practice, large or small, leading to significant social change.
Thinking broadly, our work n providing these awards remains driven by these words: “Innovation is the organization’s ability to break the culture, to do things in a new and different way, to take advantage of new opportunities and/or deal with new threats. Innovation results from serving new clients, delivering new services, collaborating with others, or developing new revenue streams. Innovation is a substantial change in practice and positively compliments the mission of the organization.”
One survey respondent urged us to revisit this original definition to see what we have learned after the first year. The Meridian Foundation does not want to discard the longer innovation definition because it contains important examples of innovation in practice.
Technology can be an excellent support system for spurring innovation when used unconventionally. Keep in mind that strong innovation occurs when a nonprofit successfully uses technology in a new manner, i.e. electronic data used to forecast or initiate early client interventions or starting a driverless transportation system in an at-risk area of the city. Innovation occurs not only when technology is introduced as a tool, but when the program it furthers, is also a break from practice.
Lastly, we are now asking nonprofit nominators to self-select the appropriate focus area their project addresses—culture, education, environment, food insecurity, housing, health and well-being, transportation, technology, workforce development, new business acceleration, arts entrepreneurship, racial equity, social capital and/or their own choice. As many as three areas may be selected. In 2021 the Meridian Foundation identified the focus areas and this year we seek to give this choice to the applicant.
The Meridian Foundation looks forward to recognizing central Indiana nonprofit innovation again in 2022 with a second cohort of $10,000 Arago Honor Awards. Meeting your leadership teams, reading your ideation stories on paper, and hearing about your success first- hand inspires our philanthropy.