The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK) Grants for Social Entrepreneurs (Up to $300,000 Grant funding)

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Apply for The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK) Grants. Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders.

Their goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

At its core, DRK operates on the belief that early-stage organizations with strong leadership and proven concepts can achieve transformative impact when provided with the right combination of support. Through a structured model that blends capacity-building, financial investment, and community engagement, the foundation nurtures high-potential initiatives and helps them scale sustainably.

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK) Grants Benefits

Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with:

Capacity
- The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through a dedicated hands-on Board service role and specialist capacity-building resources across leadership and board development, organizational and fundraising capacity building, financial sustainability, and scaling strategy thinking.
- This involves one of DRK’s senior team members taking a board service role for a three year period and serving as a resource to help the grantee or investee navigate their pathway to scale, often involving weekly conversations on key issues. There is also engagement with the broader DRK portfolio support team on specific and targeted issues, such as building out fundraising capacity, establishing a talent strategy, or refining financial models. In total, the capacity support can add up to $500,000 USD worth of in-kind support.
Capital
- DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, usually in multiple tranches. The exact instrument and tranches are decided in conversation with the grantee or investee during the closing process.
Community
- DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating both in-person and digital connections to and within our community. This ranges from small 1:1 meetings to large 200+ person gatherings, including our three-day annual portfolio retreat.

Eligibility Criteria

Problem-first: Organizations addressing an urgent or critical social or environmental problem in an innovative fashion and in a way that directly benefits underserved populations.
Systems-thinking: Organizations with solutions work within existing systems, leveraging existing stakeholders, infrastructure, and incentives to grow their impact.
Scalable: Organizations with solutions can scale significantly, in that they can grow exponentially over time to directly impact a minimum of 10,000 lives within the next five years, and ambitions to grow well beyond that.
Geographically aligned: Organizations operating in our priority geographies of Africa, Europe, India, and the United States, although we will also consider opportunities in Latin America in select situations.
Independent entities: Organizations that are structured as independent nonprofit or impact first, mission-driven for-profit entities, including US 501(c)3 and its non-US equivalents, C corporations, B corporations, hybrid organizations, and fiscally sponsored organizations where there is a plan to spin out.
Financially sustainable: Organizations that have at least a growable stream of earned income revenues or plans to develop an earned income revenue stream in the immediate future.
Measurable evidence of impact: Organizations that are developing solutions based on data and clear evidence of what works, and through their pilot(s) have a demonstrated ability to clearly and effectively measure their impact on underserved populations.

Selection Process

DRK is committed to maintaining a transparent and equitable selection process. The goal is to create a mutually beneficial evaluation experience in which both the foundation and applicants can assess alignment and potential collaboration.

Not all applicants will progress through every stage; however, feedback is provided whenever possible to ensure clarity and learning.

Key Stages of Selection

Application Submission
- Applicants submit their information through the official platform
- Initial review assesses alignment with DRK’s criteria
- Typical duration: 8–10 weeks
Early Interviews
- Exploratory discussions with DRK team members
- Opportunity for mutual learning and alignment assessment
- Approximately 20% of applicants reach this stage
Formal Diligence
- In-depth evaluation lasting 2–4 months
- Includes stakeholder interviews, internal research, and document review
- Collaborative development of a forward-looking growth plan
- Fewer than 10% of candidates advance to this phase
Team Engagement
- Interaction with additional DRK staff and investment committee members
- Incorporates diverse perspectives into the decision-making process
Closing Process
- Finalization of agreements and documentation
- Assignment of a DRK board representative
- Development of a three-year strategic roadmap