Quick Overview
The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK) accepts applications from social enterprises year-round, with no fixed deadline to work against. DRK's model centers on genuinely getting to know an organization's mission and impact potential before assessing fit against its funding thesis, and the application itself is deliberately designed to be simple and low-burden, expected to take just 30 to 60 minutes to complete online.
Key Details
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, year-round, with no application window to wait for. The online form itself takes roughly 30 to 60 minutes, with an option to save progress and return later if you check the appropriate box at the top of the form.
What DRK Is Looking For
The application centers on four core areas, and DRK asks applicants to upload a written executive summary, pitch deck, or business plan addressing each one, reusing existing materials wherever they already cover the ground is explicitly encouraged rather than creating something new from scratch.
Problem and Solution: A concise description of your organization's mission and objectives, the specific social problem you address, and the solution you provide.
Impact: How your organization solves or contributes to solving the social problem in a way that genuinely improves on existing efforts, how your solution supports an underserved population (including real benefits that population has seen from your pilot or early work), what makes your approach unique compared to others tackling the same problem, and your tangible results to date, along with how you'll measure outcomes and success going forward.
Scale: How you plan to grow the organization over time, and critically, what the main sources of earned income will be that sustain your work long-term, DRK is clearly looking for organizations building toward financial sustainability, not perpetual grant dependency.
Leader: A standard resume or CV for the entrepreneur and/or key leadership team members, CEO, COO, Executive Director, or similar roles. DRK states plainly that applications with text bios instead of standard resumes/CVs for leadership will not be considered.
Application Process
1. Prepare a written executive summary, pitch deck, or business plan addressing the Problem and Solution, Impact, and Scale sections above, reuse existing materials if they already cover these topics well
2. If you don't have existing materials, create a simple two-to-three-page document responding to each prompt, bullet points are explicitly acceptable
3. Attach standard resumes/CVs for the entrepreneur and key leadership team members, not text bios
4. Include any additional materials like financials or impact reports if you have them, these are welcome but entirely optional
5. Submit through the official online application link, DRK is explicit that applications must go through this link, not email
Major Considerations
The rolling, no-deadline structure removes the usual time pressure seen with most grants on this platform, but that also means there's no external urgency pushing you to apply, it's worth treating this as something to prepare thoughtfully rather than indefinitely postponing.
Organizations that have previously applied and been declined can reapply, but only up to twice, and not sooner than one year after the decline notification, if this applies to you, you'll need to indicate it's a re-application directly in the organization name field.
The requirement for formal resumes/CVs rather than narrative bios for leadership is a small but important detail easy to overlook, given DRK states outright that bio-style submissions will disqualify the application on this point alone.
Should You Apply?
A strong fit for African social entrepreneurs with an early-stage organization already showing some pilot results or early traction, a clear underserved population being served, and a genuine plan for earned income sustainability, not permanent grant dependency.
Best suited for those with existing pitch materials or business plans ready to adapt, given how much value DRK places on reusing real, substantive documentation over freshly written applications.
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