THE POLLINATION PROJECT FOUNDATION

1) An open, encouraging and friendly application process that welcomes and respects first time grant seekers.<br/>2) A diverse grantee-driven grantmaking decision process where grantees and other true issue area experts make the decisions around who gets funded. (Not executives who are out of touch with what is happening on the ground)<br/>3) Taking risks and funding people early, before anyone else has!<br/>4) Sharing our story widely and openly with other philanthropic institutions and groups.<br/>5) Providing cross pollination opportunities among and between grantees and funders.

We have an exceptional international network of organizational partners, grantees, ambassadors and advisors who identify much needed but overlooked projects that aren't on the radar of institutionalized philanthropy.<br/><br/>We are experts in "pushing power to the edges" of our network, meaning we find ways to share power among and between people, including our grantees, not just a small group of board members who make the decisions that matter most. <br/><br/>We are experts in funding individuals.

1) We collect 2 reports from every grantee- a progress report and a final report. We evaluate grantees numerically based on these reports as well as assess how they have performed with their grant relative to our organizational goals. We are able to identify "Superstar" grantees- people who have accomplished far beyond what their initial grant would indicate. <br/>2) We collect anecdotal stories from grantees.<br/>3) We track applications received from various referral sources, and which sources tend to receive funding the most readily.<br/>4) We offer second tier grants to exceptional projects.

As of summer, 2015 we will have made 1000 seed grants and distributed nearly $100K in second tier funding (grants of up to $5K each) to exceptional projects.<br/><br/>We have hosted in 10 in person conversations among donors and other givers as a means of increasing generosity in the world. We produced and hosted a virtual challenge around increasing "true wealth" in the world (nonmonetary forms of wealth).<br/><br/>We have identified nearly 50 high level, superstar grantees who have won international awards and received international media attention.<br/><br/>We have handled over 4,000 grant applications in a personal, considerate and encouraging manner, regardless of whether we funded a project.