Prizes of the #WeAreTogether Awards Include Grants up to RUB 3.5 Million, Promotion, Travel, and Major Forums
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.
