When I saw D-Prize mentioned in a post on Stanford Social Innovation Review, I thought, “Genius!” Distribution is one of the pillars of marketing, even in the public sector. What good is it If you have a great solution but can’t get it to the people who have the problem?
D-Prize also gets bonus points for a great brand identity. Their tagline, “Distribution Equals Development,” needs just three words to describe their philosophy and prime focus. Their visual is of a dandelion flower gone to seed, with individual seed pods drifting across the logo. Again–genius!
Prizes are $20,000 each. That’s not a bunch of money, especially compared to the huge sums given by the major foundations. Still, it can be more than enough to help a couple people with a bright idea take a big step towards making a bright solution available to the people who need them.
Current focus areas include education, energy, health, governance, and infrastructure. Past winners include a crowd-sourced funding platform to provide scholarships to Kenyan girls, and a system of locally run kiosks that operate on solar power to charge mobile phones and also sell solar lamps.
If you have your own bright distribution idea to help development, start submitting. First round deadline is November 30, 2013.