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Our North Star: Our world’s current, collective effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals does not operate with the urgency, flexibility and innovation required to succeed. Established systems perpetuate the status quo, pay for activities rather than results, and underutilize high-impact technologies and strategies that have enormous potential to address inequities and improve outcomes. Climate change, pandemics and humanitarian crises accelerate our rapidly closing window of opportunity and we must act now.

Unlock Aid channels the power of committed individuals and innovative organizations from around the world to maximize the value of public resources, driving reforms of institutions with global reach to identify and scale solutions for the world’s most challenging problems.

We have two ways of affiliating with Unlock Aid, as a member or as an ally.

Members

Members are the lifeblood of Unlock Aid. Front-line innovators are essential to solving the greatest challenges of our time.

Our member organizations are in a unique position to speak about the urgent need to make global development agencies more results-oriented, innovative, and transparent. This is what we look for when making membership decisions:

  • We want to see innovators that are solving a problem or set of problems and not just chasing the latest RFP. Evidence of diversified revenue streams – including public and private sources of funds – is helpful but not essential to demonstrate you have an innovative solution because you’re able to show that a range of payers want to work with you.
  • We want organizations that represent the future of global development. All of our organizations have a solution that is aligned with achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals – i.e. health, hunger, climate, etc –  and are able to deliver better results than status quo approaches.
  • Our focus is about building the change we want to see in the world. We want all innovators involved in our coalition to have positive ripple effects for the sector and other community members. The ideal member organization has a mentality of “what can we do to support this effort vs. how can this coalition support my organization.”
  • Our member organizations believe that our public institutions have a critical role play to solve the SDGs. They see the value of the long-term benefits to us pushing for reform.
  • Finally, our member organizations align 100% with our North Star. 

All members are expected to put in “sweat equity” to make our vision a reality. There is also an annual dues payment that ranges from a few hundred dollars to $15,000+ depending on revenue. We offer significant discounts for organizations based in low- and middle-income countries. 

All prospective member organizations must complete the below form. Deadlines for receiving applications are as follows:

  • March 15
  • September 15

Once we receive your application, we will make a decision for entry within 2-3 weeks thereafter. Members need to receive approval from at least 51% of our current eligible voting member organizations to ensure alignment with our coalition goals and North Star. 

The following are some of the benefits of membership:

  • Access to all shared services and community of innovators (directory of firms, shared Slack channel, internal intelligence platform on primes, etc.)
  • Quarterly briefings from the Executive Director on advocacy strategy
  • Invitations to attend select in-person and/or virtual events, such as Lobby Day on the Hill
  • Opportunity to be featured in Unlock Aid content and/or earned media
  • Access to discounted services (e.g. compliance officers, business development resources, etc.)
  • Briefings from funders, sector insiders, and other experts

Dues: Members are asked to pay dues, based on ability to pay. For example, organizations based in low- and middle-income countries may be asked to contribute as little as $100 per year whereas organizations headquartered in the United States or Europe will be asked to contribute anywhere between $1,000 – $20,000 per year, depending on annual revenue.

Allies

We want any organization that agrees with our North Star to play a role, even if membership isn’t a good fit. All allies and members will be listed on our website along with other coalition members and supporters. They will also be invited to monthly community calls and opportunities to take action on our advocacy agenda.

Requirements for LMIC Status: An organization qualifies as LMIC-based if its registered headquarters and more than 50% of its executive team is physically located in low- or middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank. 

Interested in becoming a member of Unlock Aid? Please fill out our application for membership.