Deadline: July 31, 2025
Applications are open for the Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize 2026. The Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize at the University of Pennsylvania is an annual global prize that celebrates leadership and innovation in the social sector with an emphasis on impact and transferability of practices.
The Lipman Family Prize recognizes and supports these organizations — providing a service to the broader social sector by connecting organizations across service areas to the broader Penn community. The University of Pennsylvania is home to a dynamic, diverse community of faculty, staff, administration, students and alumni committed to drawing on their knowledge and expertise to partner across disciplines and geographies to improve the world.
Award Components
Each year, the Lipman Family Prize selects three winners. The grand prize winning organization receives a $250,000 unrestricted cash award, and the two additional winning organizations each receive a $150,000 unrestricted cash award.
In addition, all three winners receive the same non-monetary benefits including:
- An ongoing partnership with the University, including opportunities for resources and relationships to help scale the work or improve organizational sustainability.
- Promotion of their work and accomplishments to a large audience, and network development within the Lipman Prize community of winners, and the broader Penn network.
- Access to tuition-free executive education programs at the Wharton Executive Education and the Center for Social Impact Strategy, valued at approximately $15,000.
- The exclusive Lipman Nonprofit Leadership Scholarship, given in partnership with the University’s School of Public Policy and Practice, valued at approximately $10,000.
Eligibility
The Lipman Family Prize is designed for organizations operating in the Nonprofit/NGO/Civil Society sector that address globally relevant issues. In order to progress through the application process, these eligibility criteria must be met:
- Hold nonprofit status in the United States or an equivalent legal status in their home country.
- Operate as a nonprofit organization for three years or more.
- Monitor and evaluate their work, with impact results available for at least three years
- Maintain a three-year average of annual organizational expenses between $500,000 and $5M USD.
- Not operate primarily to redistribute funds to other organizations or individuals.
- Not engage in direct lobbying to influence legislation or elections (e.g. 501(c)4 organizations), delivering programs with religious content, or discriminating on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or disability.
Evaluation Criteria
- Leadership: Lipman Family Prize winners are organizations that achieve good through sustainable approaches. Their models are exemplary and provide solutions for tackling universal problems that can be adapted around the world.
- Impact: Lipman Family Prize winners have exhibited proof of concept for their model and/or specific project. They are poised to scale and see the Lipman Prize as the catalyst for growth.
- Innovation: Lipman Family Prize winners offer innovation and/or an innovative approach to solving a pressing world problem. They are addressing a social challenge in a way that is differentiated in some way from how others have addressed the same problem.
- Transferability: Lipman Family Prize winners offer insights, models, or practices that others in the social impact sector can learn from and adapt. Their work has relevance beyond their immediate context, contributing to broader learning and progress across the field.
Application
The application process consists of four main phases: 1) reviewing application submissions, 2) conducting due diligence, 3) identifying semi-finalists and 4) selecting winners and beginning Penn network development. All applicants are reviewed under the supervision of staff and faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. Initial applications are accepted during an Open Application Round from July 1 – 31.
All applicants are notified in September whether or not they will proceed in that year’s selection process. Three top awardees are announced in April. The grand prize winner and two additional winning organizations are invited to attend the annual award ceremony and related events held at the University of Pennsylvania.
For more information, visit Lipman Family Prize.
