How Lever for Change distributed $2.6 billion and charted a new course for philanthropy

Lever for Change began as an idea. The MacArthur Foundation saw a need for philanthropy to do more to support big bets. In other words, the large-scale, long-term solutions the world needs to solve its biggest problems. 

They knew it would take a big-dollar award and a fresh grantmaking strategy. So they launched a $100 million open call process. 

Once the call launched, donors flocked to MacArthur to learn more about how they, too, could support big bets. What was originally designed to be a one-time project proved so successful that a small team from MacArthur broke off to become Lever for Change and continue the work. 

But they had a big task ahead of them. They were trying to create something completely new. And the plane was already in the air. “We had to figure out how to build it while we were flying it,” says Jenna Schornack, vice president of awards and social impact at Lever for Change.

Audacious goals for the program and the process 

Lever for Change wanted to continue the work of delivering big-time support for big bets. But beyond that, they wanted to transform their whole grantmaking approach. They wanted to build a process that would be valuable for every applicant, even those who didn’t receive funding. 

The reception they received surprised the team. “Our initial hypothesis was that organizations or philanthropists who were just getting started in their philanthropy, or maybe didn't have a foundation set up, would be our primary partners,” Jenna says. “But what we found was institutions like the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lego Foundation were interested in using this model to do something different in their grantmaking approach.”

Challenge 1: Build a blueprint

Lever for Change was ready to break the rules of philanthropy to build something new. It was exciting, but also meant they didn’t have a blueprint to follow. The small team would have to design, test, and evolve the processes themselves. 

Challenge 2: Discover unsung nonprofits 

One of Lever of Change’s goals was to build a process that would create an avenue for organizations that don’t often get donors’ attention. They saw the open call design as a way to reach the people and nonprofits who are often left out of philanthropy altogether. 

Challenge 3: Spur strategic thinking 

Since the traditional model of grantmaking often forces nonprofits into a cycle of endless fundraising, there’s rarely time and resources to do big picture strategic thinking. Lever for Change wanted to create space for their applicants to get strategic in a big way. 

Finding an unshakable ally 

As the Lever for Change team looked at the scope of what they were trying to achieve, they understood they wouldn’t be able to do it alone. They needed a partner with the flexibility and ingenuity to help them build something completely new and solve complex problems along the way. Plus, they needed grant management software that could support this level of innovation. 

“We were really looking for a team that would be open to building the tools that we needed, and we had a lot of concepts that we were developing,” Jenna says. 

After partnering with Submittable for an open call challenge, Jenna and her team knew they’d found the partner they needed to take them to the next level. 

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1. A review process that adds value for everyone 

As the Lever for Change team mapped out their vision, they realized they wanted to shake up the traditional grant review process. They wanted to build a process to allow applicants to review each other. 

“We do a participatory review where all of the applicants review and give feedback to each other, which we think is a really helpful part for us, but also for the teams and their understanding of how other people are putting together proposals,” Jenna explains. “We hear that the feedback that they get is really helpful for their work.” 

The Submittable team helped Lever for Change craft a review workflow that fit their vision. The participatory review process is sandwiched between an automated administrative review and an external evaluation panel that also provides scores and feedback. All of it happens in Submittable. 

The participatory review added some wrinkles that most grantmakers don’t deal with. The Submittable and Lever for Change teams worked together to ensure a fluid process for everyone. And each round, they refined it. 

“We've done a lot with our participatory review process and just how applications are assigned to make it smooth for everyone in terms of opting out for a conflict of interest or reassigning reviews, or if someone has to drop out. All of those have gotten much smoother in the process,” Jenna says.

The work has paid off. Pablo Montaya, general director of Sinergias, a recent awardee, explains how the process itself benefited their organization. “The application experience was very interesting and positive,” he says. “It was also important because it generated reflections and internal discussions.” 

2. Complex problem solving on the fly 

The Lever for Change team understood that they had put themselves in a position to figure out a lot along the way. And the stakes were high. If the program faltered, it would impact a lot of small organizations and might dissuade funders from doing this sort of big bet funding. 

Working with the Submittable team meant they had a true partner to take a big portion of the load. Any time Jenna’s team hit an impasse, they knew they could reach out to Submittable. 

“We hardly ever get a ‘No, we can't do this’ from the Submittable team,” Jenna says. “It's always ‘Let's figure out how we can make this work, and here are two or three options, and why they might be good or not so good options.’ And that's just a really nice way to partner with someone.”

Together, the teams worked to improve every aspect of the process, such as adding autopopulating fields to save applicants time. “Submittable is one of those partners that helps us build systems and processes and tinker as we go to problem solve in real time while also keeping our process on track,” Jenna says.

The new blueprint is working. “We're getting a lot of great proposals from people who typically might not have access to certain types of philanthropy or invite-only processes,” Jenna says. 

3. Good people to walk through the fire with you

The Lever for Change team knew the work they wanted to do required boldness and follow-through. It’s intense to build something new in public. They needed a partner who would show up and push alongside them, even when the goals and timelines felt impossible. 

Enter Tony Ebstein, project manager at Submittable. “I think everyone wants to name their first kid Tony because we love Tony so much. He has been such a stabilizing, calm, thoughtful partner in really stressful times,” Jenna says. 

Jenna and her team understood that even though they had a lot to figure out as they built new processes, they couldn’t push deadlines or leave applicants hanging. They valued their relationships with nonprofits and wanted to treat them with care. “One of our values is to be transparent about timelines. So we're not going to pause a challenge for six months and go back and redesign,” Jenna says. “We wanted to stick to the timeline that we agreed upon so people know when they're going to hear back from us.”

Their dedication to transparency put pressure on the team. “I think we create really ambitious, optimistic timelines and then realize when we're in the middle of it that we have two days to turn around what most large teams probably turn around in several months,” Jenna says. “Sometimes that induces a panic across our team. But having a trusted, willing, and able partner to walk through that with us has been really wonderful.”

Create the change you want to see 

Lever for Change serves as a reminder to all funders that it’s possible to be the change that philanthropy needs. Jenna hopes to see more funders “be bold and be brave” and “keep impact and equity at the center of their work.”

“We have so many great technology tools now to really help make that happen,” she says.  

Lever for Change has already made an enormous impact. There is the sheer dollar amount. Over $2.6 billion distributed through 16 open call challenges, such as the Yield Giving Open Call from MacKenzie Scott. 

But beyond the funding, Lever for Change is fundamentally shifting the funder-grantee relationship. They’ve seen some of the organizations that have gone through their application process begin to advocate for changes from other funders. 

“I think some of the organizations that come through our process are now going back to their funders and saying, ‘Hey, we got feedback from this process’ or ‘They gave us a planning grant, or they gave us this unrestricted funding at this level,’ and it gives them some confidence to make the behavior change in their funder relationships.”

Looking ahead, Lever for Change aims to hit the $10 billion mark in funds distributed by 2030. Though they’ve done so much work to figure out a new blueprint, they’re not done evolving. “We have to do more than what we've done before,” Jenna says. And they know they can aim big because Tony and team will be there every step of the way.