Deadline: 12-Mar-23

The 2023 Charity Entrepreneurship (CE) Incubation Program is now open to help you start a high-impact nonprofit. Prepare to start an effective charity with the two-month, cost-covered, intensive training designed by founders for founders.

Stipends

• During the Program
  • They provide:
    • Stipends to cover your living costs during the Incubation Program (e.g., rent, wifi, food, childcare). The stipends are around $2,000 per month and are based on participants’ needs and adjusted accordingly.
    • Travel and board costs for the 2 weeks in person in London.
• After the Program
  • If for any reason you will not be able to start a charity they provide:
  • Career mentorship (their track record for connecting non-founder participants to research grants, related jobs, and other pathways to impact is near 100%).
  • Two-month stipends to provide a safety net during the period of looking for alternative opportunities.

Training

The training is divided into two stages:

• Part 1 (5 weeks): Matching with a co-founder and a charity idea.
  • You will work in pairs with other participants on projects that teach you important skills for starting a charity, and allow you to test out your compatibility with potential co-founders and charity ideas.
• Part 2 (3 weeks): Working with your co-founder to build your charity proposal
  • You will craft and submit a real proposal for funding and get ready to launch. They don’t just teach you about starting a charity, they make sure you have the tools and confidence to actually do it.

Benefits

• 400-page Handbook and over 100 video lectures prepared by experienced founders. Learn the fundamental principles of managing high-impact organizations, including:
  • Cost-effectiveness Analysis
  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Fundraising and Operations
  • Strategic Decision-making
• Work 8 hours a day developing relevant skills in real-world partner projects
  • Is your charity cost-effective? Prepare a Cost-effectiveness Analysis (CEA)
  • Where do you operate? Draft a Geographic Assessment Framework
  • How do you begin implementation? Outline a One-year Plan
  • What is your impact? Prepare a Monitoring & Evaluation Plan
  • How much funding do you need? Draft a Budget
  • How do you best fundraise? Prioritize potential funders
  • How do you work with your co-founder? Come up with a Founders’ Agreement to facilitate your collaboration And many more
  • Receive extensive group and individual feedback, ready-made templates (e.g., sample budgets, one-year plans), and one-on-one discussions about your progress.
• Learn from the best:
  • Hear from experts who have excelled in the nonprofit world as they share their perspectives on entrepreneurship, give advice, and provide valuable feedback.
• Participate in a streamlined co-founder and charity idea selection process by:
  • Providing weekly feedback on your project partners and preferred ideas
  • Meeting with senior staff members for 1:1 mentoring
  • Enjoying individual social calls with all potential co-founders
  • Having constant access to a highly-qualified research team
  • Joining a network of previous founders that are happy to share experience and advice
  • Getting final pairing advice from senior staff members to help you find the best fit.

What they Offer?

• You will graduate the program with:
  • A co-founder
  • A high-quality charity idea
  • and plan for implementation
  • A robust funding proposal
• They offer you:
  • A seed grant of up to $200,000 (not guaranteed, but 80%+ of projects in recent years have received funding)
  • Operation support
    • Get professional operations and HR support from the CE team that will help you to set up your organization quickly.
    • Start with a US charitable fiscal sponsorship, allowing you to accept tax deductible donations.
  • Further learning
    • Weekly ‘getting started’ sessions for the first 4 weeks
    • Regular emails with further videos and resources that are relevant to you later in your charity journey (e.g., on hiring, or charity registration)
  • Mentorship
    • Monthly mentorship meetings with the CE team
    • Access to a broad network of mentors and potential funders
    • Coaching from external topic experts (e.g., on co-founder relations or M&E)
    • Support in WIX website design
  • Community
    • Join a Slack group of over 100 charity founders and effective charity employees
    • Enjoy weekly London socials and annual gatherings
    • Tap into the knowledge and template base of their network of incubated charities

Eligibility Criteria

• CE accepts candidates of all ages from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Experience is helpful but not necessary. They train people with over a decade of expertise alongside those with little to no work experience or formal education.
• Fact 1: 
  • 50% of their most successful founders from previous years didn’t even think they should apply. Don’t doubt your potential.
• Fact 2: 
  • Nobody comes onto the program qualified to start a charity. That’s what the course is for!
• Fact 3: 
  • The base traits that make a good charity entrepreneur include grit, intelligence, resourcefulness, a focus on outcomes, and commitment to making a real difference.
• Fact 4: 
  • For most people, the highest-impact time to start a charity is right now.