Virtually
anyone who has a social project can participate in and win the awards: Russian
citizens over 14 years old, NPOs, and representatives of business and the
media. This includes: volunteers, charitable foundations, government agencies,
individual entrepreneurs, state corporations, the media, bloggers, and others.
Projects can be submitted in nine nominations that cover all spheres of life. The website of the awards is accepting
applications until 12 June, and there are no limits on the number of
applications that can be submitted.
After
the applications are accepted, the awards contestants will go through a
regional stage, where they will defend their projects in each region. This will
be followed by a semi-final, where an expert commission will evaluate videos in
which the contestants give a short presentation of their projects. In the final
round, as per tradition, a popular vote will be held on the applicants’
projects on the DOBRO.RF platform and panel of judges will offer its own
assessment. The first-place prize will be awarded to 16 participants, while another 32
recipients will receive prizes for finishing in second and third place in the
nominations.
The winners will be announced at the #WeAreTogether International Civic
Participation Forum, which will be held in December and will be timed to coincide
with International Volunteer Day. Russian President Vladimir Putin will take
part in the awards ceremony.
Grants:
As
in the past, the awards have a starting grant fund of RUB 90 million.
But this time, the top places will include grants not only for volunteers and NPOs,
but also for social entrepreneurs and social content initiators. In addition,
compared with last year, the amount of the maximum grant for winners has been
increased by RUB 1 million, and now they will receive up to RUB 3.5 million
to develop their project. Grants for prize winners under the age of 18 have
also been increased to up to RUB 1 million. These funds can be used to
purchase equipment, advertise, organize transportation, and increase production
volumes – everything needed to provide the project with as many resources as
needed.
Promotion:
Another
significant award for all recipients is the promotion of their projects:
such promotion will expand the audience and range of partners and investors.
Media support will be provided by the awards’ partners: National Priorities,
Gazprom-Media Holding, National Media Group, and Russian Media Group, which
will share information about the projects on their resources. National
Priorities is one of the key organizations that promotes national projects in
Russia. It will prepare articles about the winners’ projects and tell stories
about them on television. It will also include the winners’ initiatives in a collection
for the replication of best practices and distribute it to resource centres
and other NPOs, institutions, and agencies in all regions.
DOBRO.RF, a major platform for good deeds in Russia that
brings together 3.3 million volunteers and hosts all volunteer competitions in
the country, will promote the projects in the volunteer community. In addition,
the winners’ initiatives will be given coverage on the ASI Smarteka
platform, a service that helps find best practices to solve socioeconomic
problems, which various industry leaders use to exchange experience.
The winners’ projects will
also be promoted at major Russian forums, including the #WeAreTogether
International Civic Participation Forum, where the authors will have an
opportunity to talk about their initiatives to a broad audience.
Travel:
The awards also offer free
travel around Russia as part of the ‘More than Travel’ programme that is
sponsored by another partner of the awards – the presidential platform ‘Russia
– The Country of Opportunities’. Winners will be able to travel throughout
Russia for free for several days, while the runners-up will be able to travel
around their own federal districts. This will give them an opportunity to not
only take a holiday and see new places, but also learn first-hand about social
practices in other regions and find new partners and investors.
In addition, the awards
finalists will be able to receive additional points as part of the
platform’s competitions, such as the project ‘Hackathons and Artificial
Intelligence Lectures’, the ‘I’m a Professional’ National Student Olympiad, the
‘Manage!’ National Youth Management Cup, the Junior National Technology
Olympiad, the ‘My Country – My Russia’ National Project Competition, the ‘Best
Social Project of the Year’ project, the ‘Masters of Hospitality’ Professional
Competition, and the ‘TopBLOG’ project.
The platform ‘Russia – The
Country of Opportunities’ has 26 competitions and projects that aim to
develop talent. Some 10 million Russians and residents of 150 countries have
participated in them, and the platform’s partners include more than 1,500
companies, universities as well as government and public organizations.
State award:
All the award winners will be
eligible to claim one of the most prestigious state awards – the badge of
merit ‘For Benevolence’. This badge is awarded for a substantial contribution
to voluntary, charitable, social, or research activities, the development of
culture, education, and healthcare, and strengthening the institution of the
family.
Participation in the SPIEF:
The award winners will have
the opportunity to participate for free in the country’s largest economic
forum, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where they will
also be able to learn about numerous original working practices and attract new
partners and investors. At the forums, the winners will have a chance to hold
an exhibition of projects as part of the thematic zone of the Fund
RC-Investments, which helps to attract funding for various initiatives.
This opportunity will be
presented by the partner of the awards, the Roscongress Foundation, a
socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer
of national and international public, sports, and cultural events that bring
together participants from 208 countries. Its partners include 166 associations
of industrialists and entrepreneurs, financial, trade, and business
associations from 76 countries, and 154 Russian public organizations and
government bodies.
Educational programme:
The
award organizers have prepared a special educational programme for the winners.
As part of the programme, leading experts on NPOs and business will teach
participants over the course of a year how to properly form a community and
find partners as well as social design, the theory of change, and much more.
For businesses and NPOs:
National
Priorities will provide the winners from business and non-profit sectors with
an opportunity to be granted the prestigious status of ‘National Priorities
Partner’, which is awarded by a decision of the Russian government. Such
entities will be able to develop projects together with this organization and
receive information support from it. They will also have a privileged position
in promoting national projects and the organization’s activities.
For NPOs and volunteers:
Award
winners from among NPOs and volunteers will be able to replicate their projects
in other regions through the Dobro.Centres network, a franchise that
helps develop social initiatives throughout the country. It disseminates best
practices and facilitates access to support measures and useful programmes.
There will be 1,100 Dobro.Centres working in Russia.
For more about the full
list of prizes and to take part in the competition, please visit the website: Премия.мывместе.рф.
Regardless
of whether the projects win the nominations, they can also claim victory in the
special nominations of the awards: ‘Volunteer of the Year’, ‘Person of the
Year’, and ‘Partnership of the Year’. These are prestigious statuses
that project initiators will receive for their contribution. ‘Volunteer of the
Year’ is awarded for a personal contribution to the development of the
volunteer movement in Russia. ‘Partnership of the Year’ is awarded for
achieving mutually beneficial results with partners in implementing socially
significant projects. ‘Person of the Year’ is awarded for a special contribution
to the development of civil society and a culture of mutual assistance and
charity in Russia.
The
awards are organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the DOBRO.RF
platform.