FAQ
DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches. Please see below for frequently asked questions and their responses.
What We Fund
When is the deadline for applying to DRK?
DRK Foundation accepts applications year round. There is no deadline by which to apply.
How many applications does DRK review each year?
DRK reviews nearly 3,000 applications every year.
How many organizations does DRK fund each year?
DRK funds up to a total of 20 organizations every year.
If my organization applies for funding and is not selected, can I reapply?
We do not encourage organizations to re-apply unless specifically instructed to do so by a member of the DRK team.
Organizations may re-apply up to twice, no sooner than one year after a decline notification from DRK regarding any previous applications. You will be asked to indicate that this is a re-application in the organization name field of the form.
Should I email DRK Foundation my application?
No. We do not review or consider applications submitted by email to any member of our team. All applications must be submitted through our online form. No exceptions.
My organization is more than 10 years old, can I still apply?
We do not fund organizations that are over 10 years old. There are no exceptions.
My organization is not located in the United States, Africa, Europe, or India. Can I still apply?
DRK only funds organizations operating in Africa, Europe, India, and the United States, and occasionally in Latin America. If your organizations does not operate in these one of more of these regions, please do not apply. There are no exceptions.
What are the attributes of a strong DRK candidate organization?
- Problem-first: Organizations addressing an urgent or critical social or environmental problem in an innovative fashion and in a way that directly benefits underserved populations.
- Systems-thinking: Organizations with solutions work within existing systems, leveraging existing stakeholders, infrastructure, and incentives to grow their impact.
- Scalable: Organizations with solutions can scale significantly, in that they can grow exponentially over time to directly impact a minimum of 10,000 lives within the next five years, and ambitions to grow well beyond that.
- Geographically aligned: Organizations operating in our priority geographies of Africa, Europe, India, and the United States, although we will also consider opportunities in Latin America in select situations.
- Independent entities: Organizations that are structured as independent nonprofit or impact first, mission-driven for-profit entities, including US 501(c)3 and its non-US equivalents, C corporations, B corporations, hybrid organizations, and fiscally sponsored organizations where there is a plan to spin out.
- Financially sustainable: Organizations that have at least a growable stream of earned income revenues or plans to develop an earned income revenue stream in the immediate future.
- Measurable evidence of impact: Organizations that are developing solutions based on data and clear evidence of what works, and through their pilot(s) have a demonstrated ability to clearly and effectively measure their impact on underserved populations.
What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?
- Early stage: Organizations that are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means:
- Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field,
- You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
- Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).
- Venture funding: In the case of for-profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.
What does DRK Foundation look for in terms of team attributes?
- Full-time: Organizations with one or more founders who are full-time or intend to go full-time in the immediate future.
- Innovative: Founders and/or leadership teams designing creative, impactful solutions that leverage existing systems.
- Deep understanding: Founders and/or leadership teams who have a clear understanding of the problem they are solving, including the broader system they must work within to solve it,
- Learning stance: Founders and/or leadership teams who are continually learning and iterating.
- Collaborative: Founders and/or leadership teams who welcome a deep, hands-on, working relationship with DRK the full three-year period,
- Proximate: Founders and/or leadership teams who are proximate to the problems they are solving.
What is not eligible for DRK funding?
- Idea stage or pre-pilot / pre-product stage organizations, or post-Series A stage organizations.
- Organizations older than 10 years. No exceptions.
- Solutions that do not have a primary or predominant focus on supporting a vulnerable, marginalized, or otherwise underserved community
- Innovations that do not integrate with or otherwise seek to align with established stakeholders or distribution channels in the targeted sector.
- Place-based models or organizations that otherwise do not plan to expand or scale their impact in an exponential fashion to achieve their mission.
- Projects or programs housed within another organization (e.g., fiscal sponsor), unless there is an explicit plan to spin out said project or program as a standalone entity in the immediate or near-term future.
- Organizations primarily focused on awareness, advocacy, policy change, or field-building campaigns.
- Organizations with sole focus on the development of research without accompanying direct intervention (e.g., think tanks).
- Programs without an explicit focus on efficacy and/or impact measurement.
- Programs promoting religious doctrine.
- US 501(c)4 organizations, S-Corps, Partnerships (LPs or LLPs), LLCs, or investment funds.
How does DRK support its grantees and investees?
Capacity: The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through a dedicated hands-on Board service role and specialist capacity-building resources across leadership and board development, organizational and fundraising capacity building, financial sustainability, and scaling strategy thinking.
This involves one of DRK’s senior team members taking a board service role for a three year period and serving as a resource to help the grantee or investee navigate their pathway to scale, often involving weekly conversations on key issues. There is also engagement with the broader DRK portfolio support team on specific and targeted issues, such as building out fundraising capacity, establishing a talent strategy, or refining financial models. In total, the capacity support can add up to $500,000 USD worth of in-kind support.
- Capital: DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, usually in multiple tranches. The exact instrument and tranches are decided in conversation with the grantee or investee during the closing process.
- Community: DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating both in-person and digital connections to and within our community. This ranges from small 1:1 meetings to large 200+ person gatherings, including our three-day annual portfolio retreat.
Does DRK reinvest in an organization after its three-year investment period ends?
No, DRK does not reinvest in organizations or provide additional capital after the initial investment period.