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Applications for Fall 2023 are Open!

Things to note:
-Responses will be limited to one application per organization
-Responses will be collected via Google Forms
-View LOI application questions before applying

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Interested in Applying? Learn more about the eligibility and process below.

This is a critical time to honor nonprofit innovation

While this is a new innovation honor for central Indiana nonprofits, applicants should understand it builds on previous work of the Indiana Achievement Awards (2000-2005) and Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis (2006-ongoing) by the founder of the Meridian Foundation, Donna Oklak.

As we begin to come out of the current pandemic, we know first-hand it has spurred a high level of innovation by nonprofits that needed to adapt quickly to meet community needs while staying connected. We hope these new awards will shine a light on nonprofit innovation and help reduce risk while making innovation stickier and more replicable. Can these awards improve the culture of accelerated innovation and make it a driving ethic of the social sector in central Indiana? Will funders invest more in the best quick-paced innovation ideas? Can nonprofits cite improved outcomes to validate program success? Can the collaborations that were built as a result of the pandemic be strengthened further?

The Arago Honors by The Meridian Foundation will honor nonprofit innovation with unrestricted $10,000 awards in 2023.

How do we define innovation?

To help nominators focus on the concept of innovation, we have added a shorter innovation definition from Stanford Social Innovation on the narrative portion of the application form. Writers will benefit by keeping this definition in mind when applying. Innovation is a creative break in practice, large or small, solving a community problem.

Thinking broadly, our work in 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 by 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. “

When considering if their work fits the definition, nonprofits should be able to prove their innovative program is distinctive and adds value to the community. Innovative organizations know how to use their environment to promote change. Successful innovating organizations rely on their mission, use collaboration to accomplish goals, promote ideas among staff members, listen to stakeholders and continually measure performance. Evidence that the innovation adds to the organization’s sustainability also builds the nonprofit’s case.

Other Eligibility

Applying nonprofits will be asked to share the number of Full-Time Employees (FTEs) of the nonprofit in their LOI as a method for determining an organization’s size. The ranges in the FTEs will be used to sort the applicants and ensure that liked-size nonprofits are being considered. The ranges will be 1-10, 11-25, and 26-100 with consideration, as well for nonprofits with more than 100 employees. The variety of nonprofit sizes will determine the applicant pool and may vary from year to year.

Innovation often has a date when it began and requires sufficient time for outcomes to achieve measurable results. For the Arago Honors, we seek to honor nonprofits that began their innovation in 2018 to the present. We realize that setting a marker for innovation is somewhat arbitrary, but will help the honor focus on more recent programs.

Applicants must be a nonprofit organization under section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Service Code and be based In Marion county, Indiana or the seven donut counties of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, or Hendricks. Applicants may self-nominate or apply on their own behalf.

Process Requirements

The first step in the application process will be for a nonprofit to complete the LOI on the Meridian Foundation website and submit it with two attachments—proof of IRS 501c3 eligibility from the IRS and a budget for the nominated program. The deadline for LOI submission will be Midnight on August 1, 2023.

Nonprofits that are deemed to be worthy of further consideration will be contacted to submit information concerning the second stage of due diligence by The Meridian Foundation. This stage will delve further into the nonprofit’s board members, financial information, and specific questions for each applicant based on their LOI.

Nonprofits selected to receive a $10,000 unrestricted grant/honor from The Meridian Foundation for innovation will not be required to submit grant reports. Recognition for the innovation award by the nonprofit will be posted on The Meridian Foundation website.