August 26, 2024
Nonprofits are on the front lines, tackling some of the most difficult challenges in society and operating in every sector, from food access to education to humanitarian response to climate-induced disasters. They are rethinking how to approach and solve these challenges using technology to scale their services for some of the most underrepresented and overlooked communities.
Twilio.org’s Digital Innovation grant initiative is committed to bolstering the technical capacity of nonprofits by providing funding to support technical needs. The funding model is effective because it’s fast, often completed within four to five weeks from application to funding decision. By comparison, some federal, state, and foundation grants can take several months to over a year. The funds are meant to be flexible to support costs ranging from personnel to technology infrastructure, programmatic functions, and more.
The initiative aims to help fill a gap in the funding spectrum. By taking a less risk-averse approach, Twilio funds innovators across the nonprofit sector, often funding projects experimenting with new and unproven service delivery models.
Since Twilio.org began disseminating the grants in August 2022, it has allocated $5 million to 47 grantees operating in 25+ countries. The Digital Innovation grantees have reached 6 million individuals, with projections to reach over 60 million in the coming year.