Innovation

Innovation means many things - new ideas, bold steps, breakthrough projects, paradigm shifts. For the Island Innovation Fund it means projects that transform existing ways nonprofits do business and that bring widespread benefit to our people and communities.

Innovation is a process. It has several stages (see diagram), that involve trial and error and evolves with time. The Island Innovation Fund seeks projects that have reached a specific stage in the innovation cycle. Ideas that have gone through a pilot or test phase best fit the Island Innovation Fund criteria.

Read more about the background and purpose of the Island Innovation Fund.

Why Innovation? Why Now?

Our nonprofit sector is full of forward thinking leaders who care deeply about the well being of our people, the health of our environment, and the vibrancy of our cultural landscape. As the 21st century brings both unparalleled opportunity and unprecedented challenges for our communities, the need for fresh thinking has never been more important.

The Island Innovation Fund was created to provoke new thinking about ways to improve the work nonprofits do in Hawai'i.  It's about emerging from this challenging economic time by taking bold steps that create big impacts. It's about harnessing the power of creativity and new approaches to longstanding issues. And it's about supporting innovators who are forging better futures for our communities. The Island Innovation Fund looks both to invest in innovative projects and support a culture of innovation within our nonprofit sector. 

Areas of Interest

We believe that nonprofits in all fields benefit from imagining new ways of doing business. Funding from the Island Innovation Fund is open to all fields and communities. We are, however, most interested in projects that deploy at least one of the following 3 strategies:

Human Capital - The nonprofit sector has always been about helping to empower and galvanize people.  We are especially interested in new ways of mobilizing people around common social causes.  How do you recruit and utilize volunteers?  What are new ways to increase civic participation in your community?  How do you give voice to your clients to better help them advocate for themselves?  What are some new ways to develop the talent that can serve your cause?

Networks - No one organization will ever have the resources to solve many of our most complex problems.  We are interested in networked approaches that connect numerous people and organizations with a common agenda of social change.  Networks that bring people together, share resources, overcome geographic barriers, and give voice to a diverse constituency hold great promise for broader impact.

Technologies - New technologies present powerful opportunities for the nonprofit sector to increase efficiencies and broaden reach.  We are interested in projects that deploy new technology to reduce costs of services across a sector, improve communication between those working towards common goals, and mobilize people for advocacy purposes.