Stage 3: Amplify Impact

Long-term Support for Proven Insights

Track A: Scaling Insights

Track A investments provide flexible funding to put specific insights to use across multiple contexts at scale. To be eligible, teams must demonstrate that the proposed solution has evidence of effectiveness, improves upon alternative approaches, and presents strong paths from science to impact. We welcome different approaches. For example, a Track A investment might offer:

• support for an impact lab to extend a solution to even more partners or contexts
• funding for an established nationwide organization to adopt insights initially developed with Stanford faculty
• capacity to launch an independent venture focused on scaling a solution.

SIL resources are intended to be catalytic: in all cases we expect to see a clear plan detailing how the proposed solution will reach large numbers of people and be sustainable beyond the life of our investment.

Investments in R&D must remain a priority as teams work through the key questions that are necessary for impact on human lives to be sustained at scale. This could include:

• continued testing to improve an intervention
• adapting a scientific insight to new contexts or in new interventions
• unpacking how to sustain operational excellence at scale
• testing different scaling pathways
• conducting research to better inform how to ensure outcomes at scale.

Track B: R&D Agenda

Track B investments provide long-term, flexible support to impact labs running multiple R&D cycles across multiple different insights around a common impact-focused research agenda. Again, we welcome a wide variety of approaches.

This funding could, for example, provide core support to an impact lab to run a set of connected R&D cycles that both test specific solutions in multiple settings which have the potential, in aggregate, to help make transformative progress against a big social problem.

To be eligible, teams must demonstrate the following:

• a strong track record of solutions-focused R&D cycles that have been successfully put to use for society
• a compelling pipeline of new R&D cycles with partnerships in place to put research to use
• a strategy to develop future R&D cycles.

Labs should also make clear how a multi-year investment in R&D in the problem area can generate a set of cumulative findings with the potential for transformative impact. 

Scaling insights are crucial to successful R&D cycles that benefit society. While impact labs funded under this track may not be directly scaling insights, they must demonstrate credible pathways to scale, including partnerships with organizations that can take solutions to scale and sustain the impact of those solutions over time. 

Our 2023-24 Stage 3: Amplify Impact Request for Proposals includes detailed information about our investment process and criteria. Requests for proposals (RFPs) for all three stages of funding are launched each year in September or October.