The 2021 Financial Solutions Lab Exchange Challenge: Improving the Financial Health of Justice-involved Individuals, together with advisory partner Credit Builders Alliance, is looking for emerging or existing partnerships between nonprofits and fintechs interested in piloting or prototyping new solutions, product designs, or program enhancements that will allow them to better serve justice-involved individuals and their families.
The Exchange is founded on the belief that the complementary strengths of fintechs and nonprofit organizations can be combined to create powerful solutions that address the financial health challenges of struggling households.
For more information on the kinds of partnerships we fund, please read our recent report, Cross-Sector Solutions: A Guide to Nonprofit-Fintech Partnerships, which describes the work of several of our previous grantees, and consult our blog post on our 2020 grantee cohort.
Some examples of the types of projects grantees might propose include:
- Fintech Distribution: A nonprofit integrates a fintech tool into its existing program to increase engagement and impact.
- Nonprofit Referral: A fintech integrates or refers customers to relevant nonprofit services.
- Systems Enhancements: A nonprofit implements fintech systems or tools to enhance back-end systems or operational processes.
- Insights and Design: A fintech engages a nonprofit to receive design input into new products and features.
Read the full Application Criteria for more information.
What do grantees receive?
- $50,000 per partnership (minimum of $26,000 must go to the nonprofit partner).
- Technical assistance to help grantees execute projects.
- A forum to actively engage with, and learn from, the nonprofit and fintech peers in your cohort.
Partner organizations should only submit one application. The Exchange team can help you identify a partner (see below).
Grant eligibility
- Project must be focused on addressing the financial health challenges of justice-involved individuals and/or their families.
- Applications must have both partners identified and fully committed to work together during the grant period from October 2021 through June 2022.
- Organizations may submit applications with different partners (e.g. two applications, with two different partners).
- Nonprofit Community Development Financial Institutions are eligible for grants.
- Nonprofit organizations registered as 501(c)4 organizations will not be eligible.
If you have questions or need help finding a partner, please don’t hesitate to email us or sign up for office hours. We also invite you to register for our May 13th Fastpitch event.
