The Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize 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.
We value building relationships and are passionate about getting to know change-makers around the world. We champion innovative practices and people to accelerate smart solutions across places and problems. The more we can shed light on solutions that work, the more effective we’ll be at creating a better world.
University of Pennsylvania Information
Established in 1740, University of Pennsylvania is a non-profit private higher education institution located in the urban setting of the large city of Philadelphia (population range of 1,000,000-5,000,000 inhabitants), Pennsylvania. Officially accredited and/or recognized by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, University of Pennsylvania (Upenn) is a large (uniRank enrollment range: 25,000-29,999 students) coeducational higher education institution. University of Pennsylvania (Upenn) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as pre-bachelor degrees (i.e. certificates, diplomas, associate or foundation degrees), bachelor degrees, master degrees, doctorate degrees in several areas of study. See the uniRank degree levels and areas of study matrix below for further details. This 279 years old higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on entrance examinations and students' past academic record and grades. The admission rate range is 10-20% making this US higher education organization a most selective institution. International applicants are eligible to apply for enrollment.
Eligibility Criteria
Winners can be working in any geographic region, and making a positive impact in addressing any globally relevant social challenge of public interest. We encourage organizations working anywhere in the world to apply. Organizations do not have to operate outside of their home country to win the Prize
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. We 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.
The budget size eligibility criterion has been updated for the 2024 Prize. Please see the FAQ page for additional information.
Offered Benefits
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.
Application Process
Go to Lipman Family Prize on lipmanfamilyprize.smapply.io to apply
Applicants submit an online application during this open application period, which typically opens on July 1 each year for one month. The current cycle’s specific dates can be found in the “Important Dates” tab.
Essay Questions
Phase 1 essay questions are intended to give applicants the opportunity to tell their story. Every organization has a story, and we want to learn about yours. The essay questions are organized into 5 themes:
- Social Challenge: These questions ask for background information about the societal problem(s) your organization aims to solve in the geographical context(s) you operate, as well as the global relevance of this social challenge. Help us understand the problem being addressed.
- Model Description: These questions ask to explain what the organization does. Given the social challenge described above, how has your organization chosen to address this challenge?
- Model Differentiation: As innovation is a key evaluation criteria for the Lipman Family Prize, these questions ask to explain the distinct approaches and practices your organization has adopted to address the social challenge your organization addresses.
- Impact Measurement: These questions ask for both a process description and for actual impact results. These questions aim to understand your monitoring and evaluation process and how your organization assesses the impact of the model described above in addressing the social challenge addressed above. These questions also are the opportunity to share your organization’s impact data.
- Transferability: These questions aim to understand your organization’s approach to sharing knowledge assets for the benefit of the wider social impact community.
Established in 1740, University of Pennsylvania is a non-profit private higher education institution located in the urban setting of the large city of Philadelphia (population range of 1,000,000-5,000,000 inhabitants), Pennsylvania. Officially accredited and/or recognized by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, University of Pennsylvania (Upenn) is a large (uniRank enrollment range: 25,000-29,999 students) coeducational higher education institution. University of Pennsylvania (Upenn) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as pre-bachelor degrees (i.e. certificates, diplomas, associate or foundation degrees), bachelor degrees, master degrees, doctorate degrees in several areas of study. See the uniRank degree levels and areas of study matrix below for further details. This 279 years old higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on entrance examinations and students' past academic record and grades. The admission rate range is 10-20% making this US higher education organization a most selective institution. International applicants are eligible to apply for enrollment.