Please use the following guidelines when applying for the ROI Grant Funds.

Eligibility

All past ROI Summit participants (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and past Charlie Award recipients are eligible to apply for ROI Grants.

How ROI Grants are awarded

The ROI Grants Committee is composed of staff members from ROI and the Center for Leadership Initiatives, as well as professionals and board representatives from Taglit-Birthright Israel, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundationand Schusterman Foundation Israel.

@ ROI, Innovation means

The ROI Grants Committee will use the following definitions of innovation to gauge whether projects are aligned with the overarching goals of the ROI Grants program.

• Projects that demonstrate fresh thinking, visionary foresight and distinctiveness in satisfying communal needs.
• Projects that take risks, encouraging new approaches that will ultimately help the Jewish community learn in real time.
• Projects that adapt concepts taken from the business world (return on investment, going to scale, etc.) by combining them with concepts taken from the third sector to express socially conscious visions.
• Projects that aim to re-implement existing ideas in a new context in order to be relevant, improve upon an existing model or introduce a successful idea in a new setting.
• Projects that are spearheaded by innovators who incorporate tension into their thinking process – unifying concepts that at first glance appear to be opposed and attempting to solve problems that may appear insurmountable.
• Projects that have the potential to generate positive change and development in the Jewish world and society at large by creating a platform for the innovators behind them to discover, experiment, explore and invent in order to actualize their vision.
• Projects that are in tune with past or present ROI Summit thematic tracks.

ROI Grants will not fund

Projects that are not being led by ROI members. This means you cannot apply on behalf of a friend or a project that you are not directly leading.

• Overhead costs for office operations
• Established ongoing staff positions (project-based staffing will be considered)
• Capital costs (buildings, renovations, office infrastructure, etc.)
• Projects that are directly funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation or the Schusterman Foundation – Israel; or projects that have received a grant(s) from CLSFF or SFI during the past 3 years (since January 2006).

ROI Grants – 6 Parameters

The ROI Grants Committee will use the following parameters in gauging whether projects are aligned with the overarching goals of the ROI Grants program. We encourage consideration of these parameters when submitting grant proposals.

Cross Fertilization: Collaboration between ROI members and the adoption of innovative practices that connect diverse communities throughout the world. The goal of this cross-fertilization is to increase access to the Jewish community, add entry points, share power, information and creativity, and generate a ripple effect for the ongoing growth of local and global Jewish communities.

Responsive Evaluation: The act of methodologically reflecting on the evaluation process when deciding to proceed to the next development stage of a venture. This task will often involve taking innovative steps toward measuring success (qualitatively and quantitatively) and increasing the project’s social return on investment. Recognizing that reflection and evaluation are key tools that enable learning, we will look for projects that give critical thought to their evaluation process, even if the project is of limited duration.

Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship: Ventures that are spearheaded by young dynamic activists who are intent on launching and developing grassroots projects that advance socially-minded concepts within the Jewish world and society at large.Investing in innovators who want to “fix” the world through change is a matter of mission rather than just a preference for the ROI Grants Fund.

The Market and the Reach: Ventures that utilize new tools and technologies to create new markets and engage many participants.

Volunteer Mobilization: The potential to empower and create a sense of commitment among volunteers is a transformative experience that people go through when working together intensely toward a common goal. This process can be a significant milestone in the development of agents for social change.

Sustainability: Projects that demonstrate the potential for long term sustainability – both in terms of relevancy and in offering a viable model that maximizes the chances of financial stability.

Overview

ROI Seed Fund

ROI Innovation

Portfolio

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