Nonprofit Technology Initiative January 2021 Funding Rounds
Stream #1: Ecosystems and capacity building
In this time of change, we believe that digital infrastructure can drive exponential growth and impact, helping to solve some of our largest social challenges. We support capacity building, solutions that span across organizations, and collaborations around technology. Our work encompasses five areas:
Stream #2: Nonprofit technology fellowship
We seek to amplify the voices of thought leaders who are building the future of technology, innovation, and social impact. Okta is dedicated to a future in which all nonprofits are as powerful as their missions. Our Nonprofit Technology Fellows will help further our thinking in one of the following areas:
Frequently asked questions
Applicants must be nonprofit organizations in their country of operation. Okta currently operates across North America, Japan, Singapore and select parts of Europe and other parts of the Globe (UK; Germany; France; Netherlands; Belgium; Sweden; Switzerland; Spain, Italy, UAE, South Africa and Israel). All applications must be submitted in English.
Our team will review all of the applications received and will short list a select group for further discussions. All applicants will be informed of the status of their applications eight weeks following the close of applications. Shortlisted applicants will enter the second stage of the process, where they will work closely with the Okta team. All applications are reviewed by internal Okta team members and external community experts.
The first round of applications are open from January 4 to January 22, 2021 for Nonprofit Technology Initiative: Ecosystems & Capacity Building and the Nonprofit Technology Fellowship.
We invest in dynamic leaders and deep impact. Our evaluation spans across the breadth and depth of their impact and innovation, strong leadership teams and mission fit with Okta.
- Nonprofit Technology Initiative: Ecosystems & Capacity Building. 5-10 organizations will be selected per round.
- Nonprofit Technology Fellowship. 6-8 Inaugural Fellows will be selected.
Nonprofit Technology Initiative: Ecosystems & Capacity Building
- We do not fund a nonprofit’s own technology roadmap.
- We fund only nonprofits (for profits, government agencies are not eligible for funding).
Nonprofit Technology Fellowship
- We fund nonprofit organizations who are willing to make contributions to nonprofit digital transformation field building by investing in key builders.
- Fellows will meet during 3-6 professional growth sessions over the course of six months.
- Fellows will be required to complete a progress report three months into the fellowship.
- Organizations may submit only one Fellowship application.
We are holding two open Q&A sessions on:
- January 13, 2021 at 8am PST/11am EST/4pm GMT
- January 14, 2021 at 3pm PST/6pm EST and January 15, 2021 at 10am AEDT
Sign up here.
Grants will be administered through the Okta for Good Fund, a donor-advised fund of Tides Foundation. Granting decisions are made independent of Okta’s commercial activities.
We know the importance of capacity building for nonprofits, and there is a great deal of opportunity for the philanthropic sector to do more in this space. Our approach for the Ecosystems & Capacity Building grant stream is focused on collaboration capacity that brings systemic transformation around technology use in the nonprofit sector. You can think of it as a “one organization to many organizations” model. As such, funding an individual organization’s technology roadmap is out of scope.
You should think of this as your organization’s plan for building and enhancing internal technology systems that help you run your organizations (i.e. fundraising CRM, financial reporting systems, office and collaboration tools, etc.). These capabilities are important but fall out of scope for this opportunity.
Yes, organizations can apply to both funding streams.
Yes, if you feel that more than one of your projects or initiatives aligns with our stated priorities and should be considered, please feel free to submit more than once.