Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers
Double Your Donation
Your Employer May Match Your Volunteer Hours!
We absolutely appreciate the contributions of your valuable time and amazing talents with DataKind in the data for social good movement! Our commitment to this work requires meeting our financial goals, which you can easily support with the time you’ve already donated, since many companies offer employee matching. (win-win!)
Completing this short form - https://forms.gle/YY6ip4WMT1j3u3Pj9 - will help generate a personalized letter you can forward to your employer in order to request a matching donation. They will then be able to make a donation to DataKind on behalf of your time volunteering!
Thank you for being an important part of the DataKind volunteer community. Together we are harnessing the power of data science and AI in the service of humanity. If you have any questions or need further documentation, reach out to community@datakind.org. We’re happy to help!
Why raise funds as a nonprofit powered by spectacular volunteers?
Being a not-for-loss nonprofit, we fundraise to support the service of ensuring your experience is as smooth and fulfilling as possible - this includes finding passionate project partners and scoping out preliminary details for high-impact projects so it’s primed for you, the volunteer, to be the technologist bosses you are. And we want to continue growing the great work across our global network, which requires finding corporate partners who are willing to give financially to support this work.
Share a Funding Opportunity with DataKind
Hey there! If you’re a Chapter member or leader and have found a potential funding opportunity you’d like to apply for, whether it’s a grant, open call competition, a chance to gain computational resources, funding a project, unrestricted funding - either for a DataKind Chapter or DataKind Global - THANK YOU for looking out and you’ve come to the right place! We love when our community and DataKind Global work together in this process - with more eyes and ears out there in the World Wide Web, we can find mission aligned opportunities that propel our work using data science and AI to transform lives around the globe.
We have a formal process to review funding opportunities in order to ensure we make informed, transparent and documented decisions about whether or not to apply based on fit with DataKind goals, project priorities and team capacity. We so appreciate that you are thinking of ways to help us secure financial support! Please complete the Request to Pursue Funding form at least two weeks in advance of the application deadline. DataKind’s Business Development team will then follow up and let you know whether or not you have approval to apply.
Q&A
When should I fill out the Expression of Interest form? When you find a compelling opportunity aligned with DataKind’s work and values, the sooner you fill out the form, the better. Since we’re a close team, many hands go into completing an application and more time helps us plan our capacity across teams. For reference, this spreadsheet lists opportunities we have considered and their status.
How long will it take? We’d expect 45 mins, no more than an hour. Doing your research beforehand, having a second tab with the funding opportunity link open to refer to, and blasting some good tunes will help the process.
What should I expect when filling it out?
Previously, when funding opportunities were shared by our community, we would set meetings to ask questions about the proposed project ideas, timeline and budget logistics, and what support would be needed. This form covers details of proposed funding and allows us to return with a decision and idea for the plan of execution. The sections of the form include:
- Introduction: Info on who you are, the funding opportunity link, timeline \& overview
- Project Outline: You share details about the funding project you’d propose for the opportunity, alignment with Sustainable Development Goals and/or DataKind Impact Practices, and why you think it’s a good match for DataKind at this time.
- Award Details: Award details on the opportunity, how much you’d like to apply for, and filling out a simple, high-level budget.
- Partnerships: Share about what partners might be involved, or need to be involved, in your project proposed for funding, as well as the skills you might require.
- Recommendation: Give us your best pitch! Then let us know how you see the division of labor for the application - where will you lead and where will you need DataKind Global to lead?
When should I expect a decision?
We will follow up with a decision approximately one week after reviewing the submission and going through our decision-making process. We may reach out with follow-up questions in the meantime.
How does a decision get made?
Top factors we’ll look for and use for decision-making:
- Timeline of the application deadline. Opportunities with deadlines less than two weeks away are unlikely to be picked up due to capacity constraints. (There are circumstances where we can accommodate, i.e. replicating previous DataKind submission)
- Award amount. Ideally, a grant opportunity for a DataKind Chapter is in the $1,000 - $10,000 range. For DataKind Global, opportunities we would likely pursue are at or above $50,000.
- Team capacity of DataKind Global required to complete the application. How much involvement is required to see the application through completion (editing/proofreading, writing, drafting budgets, research, etc)?
- Does the project being proposed align with the opportunity purpose? DataKind values? DataKind focus areas (i.e. Impact Practices)?
- Does the project use data science, machine learning, or artificial intelligence in the service of humanity?
Who receives the form?
Completed forms will go to Asnat Ghebremedhin, Associate, Business Development, who will review it with the DataKind team and come back with a reply. Feel free to email Asnat, asnat@datakind.org, if you have any questions.
Why a form?
We’ve captured this process in a google form so nothing falls through the cracks and we’re able to see all crucial information about an opportunity at a high level. The hope is to quickly make an informed, transparent, and documented decision toward pursuing an opportunity or a clear reason why we wouldn’t move forward at that time.
If you have suggestions to improve the process, we’d love to hear them!
Contributer(s): Rachel Wells, Asnat Ghebremedhin
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, visit our website or email community@datakind.org.
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