idealist.org

Truly Refreshing: Entries in the Pepsi Contest

From Scott Stadum, who most recently wrote presentation tools and technology in Haiti.


From Flickr user katerha Many of you are well aware of the Chase Community Giving contest hosted on Facebook that ended last month* and may have mixed feelings about these types of events that award money to charities. A common sentiment is that popularity is often rewarded over efficiency and impact. These contests are by no means perfect in their execution, but they can bring needed attention, if not funding, to the diverse and critical projects within the nonprofit community.

The latest competition, the Pepsi Refresh Project, is another attempt to reward nonprofit projects using an approach similar to the Chase competition. Looking through the entries, I wasn't so much struck by how the contest is being run, but by the diverse entries themselves.

From yoga classes for trauma survivors, to promoting fresh produce to fight obesity, to recycling old t-shirts into re-usable shopping bags, to opening a culturally diverse domestic violence center, the ideas span across the United States and across demographics. Filed under six categories (health, arts & culture, food & shelter, the planet, neighborhoods, and education), they have the potential to change millions of lives. Prize amounts start at $5,ooo and top off at $250,000.

If you would like to vote, it's simple to do so. You can sign in with your Facebook account and are granted 10 votes per day. You can also vote for the same project repeatedly, just not more than once per day. Once you've voted, you can share the individual project or basic competition URL on Facebook or Twitter.

Whether or not you vote at all, I really want to encourage you to take a look at the projects if you want to learn and be inspired. There are a lot of great ideas that need attention, funding, and volunteers, and that won't receive the prize money. So many people across the U.S. are working to make life a little better for everyone else, and many of us have been moved to act by ideas just like these.

*Full disclosure: Idealist.org was one of the winners of the Chase Giving contest.