Do Prize Programs Improve Outcomes of Older Social Entrepreneurs' Projects? A Study of the Purpose Prize
In the context of the longevity revolution, and as an important approach for social workers, older adults are being empowered to become social entrepreneurs with the goal of solving some of society’s most pressing social problems. To date, however, there has been limited research examining the efficacy of different social innovation strategies, especially among older adult social entrepreneurs. This study aims to provide some early learning about how The Purpose Prize, the only prize program for social innovators over the age of 60, impacts the growth of social entrepreneurship projects led by older adults.
Methods:
In 2013, over 1,300 nominees for The Purpose Prize were invited to participate in an online survey. A total of 200 people responded, including 34 of 70 “winners” who received cash prizes, 59 of 301 “fellows” who received public recognition but no cash award, and 107 of 967 nominees who were not winners or fellows. Slightly more than half (55%) of the respondents were women, and the mean age of the respondents was 71 years.
Using regression models, we examined the relationships between the older adult social entrepreneurs’ connections with The Purpose Prize and the impact on project and organizational capacity at three points in time. Dependent variables included media attention, project outputs, budget, perceptions of sustainability, and changes in grant submissions. Independent variables included a focus on one issue versus many, whether there was a research or evaluation component, and affiliation with the Purpose Prize network. We also considered the potential moderating roles of being a Purpose Prize winner, compared with being a fellow or nominee.
Results:
Being a Purpose Prize winner is associated with larger increases in the number of media mentions and budgets from two years prior to application to the time of the survey in 2013. Winners who focused on a single issue and winners who included a research component in their projects (e.g. program evaluation) were more likely to report higher increases in media coverage than winners who addressed several issues or who did not include a research component. We found statistically significant increases in confidence about the projects’ sustainability and the number of grant submissions in both the winners and nominees, but not the fellows, from two years prior to application to 2013. Additionally, having an association with a network of older social entrepreneurs had a greater positive impact on fellows than winners.
Implications:
The older adult social entrepreneurs in this study are disproving the notion that social innovation is the sole province of the young. Programs like The Purpose Prize have the potential to change attitudes and expectations about aging, showing that engaging older adults to solve social problems is a win-win for older adults and society at large. While this exploratory study shows that participation in prize programs can contribute to the efficacy of older adult social innovators’ accomplishments, it also alludes to the societal benefits of engaging older adults in meaningful work, an area of increasing importance for social workers in the longevity revolution.