Idea Crossing was interviewed and selected as one of a dozen case studies (see page 13 & 83) in a report on philanthropic innovation prizes released last week by McKinsey & Co's Social Sector Practice. Idea Crossing is the only for-profit organization with a portfolio of experience conducting online innovation prizes spanning corporations, foundations and academia. Other organizations such as the X PRIZE Foundation and NetFlix Prize are also case studies.
Several references are made to our Challenge Accelerator software platform as a tool to help give organizations the ability to run their own innovation prizes and streamline the administration of idea contests. Also featured is the Ruckus Nation idea competition.
Download the report
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Philanthropists and governments have long used prizes to drive innovation for societal benefit, and during the past decade they have grown significantly in number, size and diversity. In response to this growth, organizations have started asking smart questions about when to create prizes, how to ensure they are effective, and how best to administer them.
A new report by McKinsey & Company's Social Sector Office, "And the Winner is...Capturing the Promise of Philanthropic Prizes," takes a close look at the field of prize philanthropy and aims to provide answers to some of these challenging questions. The intent of the report is to help improve current prizes and stimulate effective future use by offering simple design frameworks and by compiling useful lessons and best practices for sponsors. While the report is geared primarily towards the philanthropic sponsor, we believe these perspectives will also be helpful to governments and companies considering prizes.
Key findings include:
- Prizes are useful tools for solving problems for which the objective is clear, but the way to achieve it is not.
- The strength of a prize is usually derived from its strategy, not the size of its purse.
- There are no short cuts for a distinctive prize; significant resources must be invested in its strategy, design, and administration.
- Awarding the prize is just the beginning. Post-prize investment can reinforce a winning idea or bring it to scale, and can be used to apply lessons learned for future competitions.
