"And the winner is ..." - Prize Paper from McKinsey & Company

The incentive2innovate conference I described in my previous post includes the following:

PAUL JANSEN - Partner, McKinsey & Company - McKinsey & Company will present the findings of its recent research report, "And the winner is ...": Capturing the Promise of Philanthropic Prizes. The report responds to the recent surge in interest in philanthropic prizes by examining their potential as instruments of philanthropy and by profiling current practices in their design and delivery, drawing lessons from the social, public and private sectors. The session will discuss the recent renaissance in prizes, identify a number of ways in which they can be distinctive instruments for producing social benefit, and review interesting practices in their effective design and delivery. Finally, the session will discuss the potential future of prizes, and how each industry can invest to support it.

Here's more about the McKinsey & Company’s report:

More and More Foundations Advance Their Causes by Offering Prizes, Report Says - Philanthropy -

Prizes for philanthropic-minded efforts are increasing not only in their number, but also in the size of the cash awards they convey, and are being applied by an ever-expanding list of sponsors to a broader range of issues than in the past.

But the report, issued by McKinsey & Company’s Social Sector Office, warns that this growth has also resulted in “many overlapping prizes and growing clutter,” and that quantity doesn’t always signal quality.

Here's the paper: "And the winner is ..." - Capturing the promise of philanthropic prizes (PDF). I haven't had a chance to read it - I just saw it today and it's 124 pages. Skimming it, I do see some coverage of space prizes and acknowledgement of interviews of space prize personalities like Doug Comstock, Ken Davidian, and Andrew Petro.