The Pepsi Refresh Project provides grant money for community-minded projects.
The Pepsi Refresh Project is a grant program set up as an online competition. Individuals who have ideas in one of six categories that can benefit the world around them are invited to submit those ideas online. If an idea gains enough votes, the Pepsi Refresh grant program provides money for the project.
Process
The process for the Pepsi Refresh Project is straightforward. Applicants need to be at least 13 years old. The applicant posts his idea on the Pepsi Refresh Project website and should be able to put the idea into effect within one year. Each month, 1,000 ideas are chosen. The following month, the 1,000 ideas are voted on by the online community. At the end of the month, the 32 recipients that have the highest votes are given the grants. The applications can be for individuals or they can be for groups, and an individual can vote for his own project.
Categories
The Pepsi Refresh Project looks for submissions in areas that are designed to help improve everything from communities to improving the environment. They are divided into six categories: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education.
Advisory Board
Each month, the applicants are examined by an advisory board that chooses which applications are best suited to the needs of the project. Members on the advisory board are high-level individuals chosen for their past records of being committed to making a difference to the world around them. Some of the board members, such as Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, are well-known. Others, such as Eric Steuer, the creative director for Creative Commons, do not have widespread name recognition. All are committed to helping others to make a difference.
Community
To garner votes, grassroots campaigns have sprung up to get people aware of the projects. For example, when the Craven Arts Council decided that they needed to expand their gallery location, they went to the community to have them vote on the Pepsi Refresh Project website. Part of the purpose of the Pepsi Refresh Project is to get the communities around the world to know what is taking place around them. Proxy voting is not allowed in the competition. This means that computer programs cannot just vote repeatedly for the competitors. It needs to be done by an actual person, which is why grassroots campaigns are so important.
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