Welcome to the Changemakers “Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis” Collaborative Competition. Ashoka’s Changemakers and Global Water Challenge have partnered to open a worldwide search for ideas that projects that, when scaled-up, have the potential to transform the provision of sanitation and water.

For more information on entering, the online review, and voting please view the competition criteria and time line below, or contact us at waterandsanitation@changemakers.net.

Eligibility Criteria
The competition will be open to all types of organizations (charitable organizations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. We consider all entries that:

• Reflect the theme of the competition: Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis. The scope of the competition is to identify innovative solutions around the water and sanitation crises. Entries are invited from organizations and individuals in all countries.

• Are beyond the stage of idea, concept, or research, and, at a minimum, are at the demonstration stage and indicate success. While we support new ideas at every stage, and encourage their entry, our judges are only able to evaluate programs that are beyond the conceptual stage, and have demonstrated a proof of impact, even at small scale.

• Complete the entire entry form and submit before the deadline.

• Entries must be submitted in English or in Spanish and be complete.

Assessment Criteria
The winners of this Changemakers Collaborative Competition will be those entries that best meet the following criteria:

• Innovation: This is the knock-out test; if the work is not innovative the judges will not give it high rankings. The application must describe the systemic innovation that it is focused on. The innovation should be a unique model of change and ready for large-scale spread.

• Social Impact: It is important that the innovation has already begun to have an impact on the field it addresses. Some innovations will have proven success at a small level, while others will have scaled to engage millions of people. Regardless of the level of demonstrated impact, it is important to see that the innovation has the ability to affect the world and not just one village. This will be judged by considering the scale strategy, ability to be replicated, clear how-tos, and a clear description of how you plan to scale up the work.

• Sustainability: For an innovation to be truly effective it must have a plan for how it will acquire financial and other bases of support for the long-term. Are strong partnerships in place for it to have a ripple effect? Is there a clear financial plan in place?

Competition Deadlines, Procedures, and Rules
The phases in the competition are:

• Entry Stage – January 7, 2008 to March 26: Entries can be submitted until 6 pm Eastern US time on March 25, 2008. Online review and discussion can go on during this entire entry period. Entrants are strongly encouraged to consider feedback and edit and revise their blueprint throughout the entry period.

• Online Review and Judging – March 26 to April 22, 2008: Online review and discussion continues. The judging panel will select 7 to 15 finalists from the entry pool.

• Voting – April 23 to May 11, 2008: The Changemakers community votes online to select the three award winners from the field of finalists. The voting period will end at 6:00 EST on May11, 2008.

• Winners Announced – May12, 2008: The three finalists that receive the most votes will each receive a cash prize of US $5,000.

Participating in the competition provides the chance to receive feedback on your blueprint from fellow entrants, Changemakers staff, judges and the Changemakers community. Showcasing your blueprint and the challenges involved in creating social impact advises potential investors about how best to change funding/investing patterns for the sector and to maximize the strategic impact and effectiveness of their future investments.

Disclaimer—Compliance with Legal Restrictions
Ashoka complies fully with all U.S. laws and regulations, including Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations, export control, and anti-money laundering laws. All grants will be awarded subject to compliance with such laws. Ashoka will not make any grant if it finds that to do so would be unlawful. This may prohibit awards in certain countries and/or to certain individuals or entities. All recipients will comply with these laws to the extent they are applicable to such recipients. No recipient will take any action that would cause Ashoka to violate any laws. Additionally, Ashoka will not make any grant to a company involved in the promotion of tobacco use.