March 25, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Nine months after opening itself up to unsolicited applications for the first time, the Case Foundation, in Washington, has announced 20 finalists for its Make It Your Own awards, and it will now turn those groups over to a public vote to decide which four of them should win $25,000 each.
The Case Foundation is one of a growing number of charities, foundations, and even corporations that have turned grant-making over to outside people. In many contests, judges screen initial applicants and pick finalists, but the decision about which groups ultimately receive support rests with online voters.
When the Case Foundation began its awards process last June, it expected about 1,000 applications. It got 4,600, and decided to train 60 extra judges who could help winnow down the field to 100 semi-finalists. Each of the 100 finalists got a Web page on the Case Foundation’s site. The foundation coached each one on its application and supplied technical support to so the groups could set up blogs, videos, and online-donation tools.
While many in the charity world are excited about so-called “citizen-centered philanthropy,” there have been criticisms about voting, too. Some experts say the votes can turn into popularity contests — a measure not of who has the best ideas but who can marshal the largest base of supporters. Also, the order in which information is presented for voting can make a huge difference: Groups at the top of pages tend to get more votes because people don’t bother to scroll down and dig deeper.
To mitigate those effects, the Case Foundation requires voters to select four groups, not just one favorite, and it loads them onto the voting page in random order, so no group ends up at the top each time. Also, the foundation is giving a bonus of $2,500 to ten voters who correctly select the final four, money that they can then donate to any charity. The foundation hopes the chance for a bonus ensures that voters think about which groups are viable and deserve funds.
Finally, the foundation will hide the vote tallies throughout the voting period as a way to make sure no groups gain a psychological edge by appearing to be too far ahead for another vote to matter. Voting extends through April 22, and the four winners will be announced around May 1. Officials at the foundation said they are considering running another contest in the future, but not until at least 2009, after they have had the chance to study the current contest.
