Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize 2025 ($250,000 cash award)

The Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize 2025 at the University of Pennsylvania is an annual global prize that celebrates leadership and innovation in the social sector with an emphasis on impact and transferability of practices.

The Lipman Family Prize recognizes and supports these organizations — providing a service to the broader social sector by connecting organizations across service areas to the broader Penn community. The University of Pennsylvania is home to a dynamic, diverse community of faculty, staff, administration, students and alumni committed to drawing on their knowledge and expertise to partner across disciplines and geographies to improve the world.

Award of Lipman Family Prize 2025

The Lipman Family Prize includes:

• A $250,000 unrestricted cash award for the grand prize-winning organization and $150,000 for each of the two other winners.
• An ongoing partnership with the University dedicated to knowledge sharing and support of the organization. This includes promotion of their work and accomplishments in the Lipman Prize network of organizations, Penn faculty and alumni, and social impact funders.
• Access to tuition-free executive education programs at Wharton Executive Education and the Center for Social Impact Strategy at Penn, valued at approximately $15,000.
• The exclusive Lipman Nonprofit Leadership Scholarship, given in partnership with the University’s School of Social Policy and Practice, valued at approximately $10,000.
• All three winners for the Lipman Family Prize receive the same non-monetary benefits as well as an ongoing partnership with the University dedicated to knowledge sharing and support of the organization.

Check : European Environment Agency (EEA) Photo Competition 2024 ($1,000 prize)

Eligibility for Lipman Family Prize 2025

The Lipman Family Prize is targeted toward organizations addressing globally relevant issues that are usually addressed by the Nonprofit/NGO/Civil Society sector. As a result, the majority of organizations that apply are considered “nonprofit” organizations. They expect that applicant organizations meet the following criteria in order to apply for the Prize:

• Registered as a nonprofit in the United States or hold an equivalent incorporation status in their home country.
• Have been operating as an organization for three years or more.
• Have been monitoring and evaluating its work for three years or more and have those results to share.
• Have a 3-year average of annual organizational expenses between $500,000 and $5M* USD.
• No direct lobbying expenses to influence legislation or elections (e.g. 501(c)4); programs with religious content; or programs that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or disability.

Also Check : RBS-IBG Gilchrist Fieldwork Award 2025 ( up to £15,000 )

Evaluation Criteria 

• Leadership: Lipman Family Prize winners are organizations that achieve good through sustainable approaches. Their models are exemplary and provide solutions for tackling universal problems that can be adapted around the world.
• Impact: Lipman Family Prize winners have exhibited proof of concept for their model and/or specific project. They are poised to scale and see the Lipman Prize as the catalyst for growth.
• Innovation: Lipman Family Prize winners offer innovation and/or an innovative approach to solving a pressing world problem. They are addressing a social challenge in a way that is differentiated in some way from how others have addressed the same problem.
• Transferability: Lipman Family Prize winners embrace the importance of knowledge transfer within the social sector. A core element of their business model has the potential to transfer across geography and/or need, thus offering valuable knowledge assets for the social impact community. Lipman winners seek to not only achieve significant impact within their own operations but also actively contribute to the advancement of the entire social impact field.

Application

The application process consists of four main phases – application submission and reviews, due diligence, selection of the winners and partnership development. Applications are reviewed under the supervision of staff and faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. All applicants will be notified in September whether or not they will continue to be considered in that year’s selection process.

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