Salesforce.org’s 2014 Force for Change Grants Program

The Salesforce.org is on a mission to leverage salesforce.com’s products, equity and time to improve communities around the world. We call this integrated philanthropic approach the 1-1-1 model because we’ve committed 1% of salesforce.com’s world-class technology, 1% of our founding equity and 1% of our employees’ time to help maximize the impact of higher education and nonprofit organizations that are changing the world.

In support of this vision, we’re excited to announce the 2014 Force for Change grants program. This program strives to accelerate innovation in the nonprofit and higher education sectors and to drive forward ideas within the Salesforce user community. Grants are focused on areas where there is insufficient market activity to support a market-based solution, where there are emerging technologies (e.g. mobile, social) in need of efficient distribution, and where opportunities exist for positive impact around the world.

The 2014 Force for Change grants program will provide up to $1,500,000 USD in grants, with individual awards up to $250,000 USD. The program is open to current Salesforce.org customers from around the world that are:

1. Registered charities, social enterprises and North American higher education organizations, and
2. Focused on creating Salesforce applications that will introduce innovative technologies to accelerate success and positively impact these sectors.

If you’re one of those amazing registered charities, social enterprises or higher education organizations creating great things on the Salesforce.com platform, we want to hear from you!

Between June 23 and July 14 we will host an open call for grant submissions. To submit your expression of interest, please complete a five-slide template available at the Power of US Hub (details below). Within the template, we ask you to describe:

• The problem you’re trying to solve
• How your organization is positioned to solve this problem
• Your proposed solution
• Your plan for realizing and sustaining the solution
• The impact (if awarded a Force for Change grant)

All submissions for Force for Change grants must be submitted through the Power of US Hub. To do this, and to access the template:

• Go to http://powerofus.salesforcefoundation.org and enter your existing username and password.
• Click on the Chatter tab, select the Groups link, and search for the group called Force for Change Grants
• Download the template at http://info.salesforce.org/f4c14_template, and, when ready, post your submission as a PDF to the Force for Change Grants group.
• Tag your post with the hashtag #force4change14
• If needed, download the Force for Change grants program call for submissions

By the end of July, Salesforce.org staff will select a limited number of candidates and request full proposals, including formal business plans, social impact indicators, market analysis, and financial projections. From there, a subset of finalists will be selected and invited to present their proposed projects in September. A review committee composed of Foundation staff, salesforce.com employees and external advisors will evaluate the proposed projects, and grant recipients will be determined and notified prior to Dreamforce 2014.

We hope to hear how your organization is using Salesforce to help change the world!