Applying for a fellowship

Foundations, Fellowship, Seed Money
While reading some foundation websites, I quoted some points that raised my interest;

Echoing Green

• Our fellows will need to raise additional funds at least equal to the size of their Echoing Green grant ($30,000/yr).
• You do not need to establish 501(c)(3) status before you apply.
  
• Every year, Echoing Green looks for the strongest applications that present compelling and original ideas for addressing and resolving the root causes of tough social challenges. We look for well rounded applicants who display a solid understanding of the issues they plan to address and demonstrate leadership potential.

If you are interested in exploring your own inner entrepreneur, try matching yourself against the traits and attitudes most commonly observed in those that are successful:

• An unending dissatisfaction with the status quo. You are not happy with things as they are. You think that you can do something better than it is now being done and that you can build an organization around that notion.

• An unwavering belief in the innate capacity of all people to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development.

• A driving passion to implement your idea, be it in the form of a new invention, a different approach, a more rigorous application of known technologies or a combination of all three.

• A healthy self-confidence. You are willing to be lonely, to make tough decisions and have the buck stop with you.

• The discipline to plan and execute the plan. You know where you are going and how you will get there because you have distilled your strategic objectives into action plans with detailed budgets, responsibilities and deadlines. And you monitor and manage your results.

• A healthy impatience. You do not wait for things to happen. You are a social change agent who makes things happen.

• Concern for detail. You are meticulous (careful) by nature or astute enough to find a partner who is. While entrepreneurs may be generalists in some respects, in the areas that are critical to success, they are meticulous.

• Sound knowledge of your constituency base, the issues and similar organizations that are focused on these same issues. You do your homework and have researched data sources in order to validate your assumptions. You know who else is working in your field, what they do and their strengths and weaknesses.

• Sound knowledge of the financial dynamics of your organization and a true understanding of the importance of cash flow. You understand the financial triggers that signal success or failure.

• A healthy understanding of risk. Entrepreneurs are generally thought of as tremendous risk takers. The truth, however, is that entrepreneurs focus very deliberately on reducing risk. As an entrepreneur, you recognize the risks associated with your endeavor and you have taken every possible step to minimize their impact or their potential impact. You have fallback plans and, even when everything is going as planned, you operate a lean and mean organization.

• You hire smart. You aren’t intimidated by partners who are better than you. You understand that talent and adrenaline should run deep through your organization; the talent isn’t concentrated at the top.

• Passionate work ethic. You understand that starting and building an organization is more than a full time job. Almost everything is stacked against entrepreneurs and you even the odds with, among other things, sustained, superior effort.

• Work should be fun. It is tough work, but you cultivate an environment where your team can enjoy the natural highs that come from achieving milestones along the way to realizing your vision.

• Fire in your belly. True entrepreneurs have such a strong achievement orientation that winning the battle becomes a compulsive need.