Meet the founders behind our charities
Our program has been designed by founders, for founders. You'll test your fit for different charity ideas, find the right co-founder and prepare your organisation for launch.
Image: Incubation Program 2019 participants
Before the program
5 WEEKS BEFORE
Read our handbook covering the fundamentals of charity founding. Join weekly book club discussions with your cohort of potential co-founders. Get up to speed with optional upskilling modules in interpreting research, spreadsheets, communication and task management.
Weeks 1–3
ONLINE
Explore charity ideas, meet potential co-founders and begin developing your launch plans.
Seed funding
Present your charity to our network of independent seed funders.
Weeks 4–5
IN PERSON (LONDON)
Work full-time from our London office alongside mentors, researchers and fellow founders.
Weeks 6–8
FLEXIBLE (ONLINE OR IN PERSON)
Refine your plans with your co-founder and prepare your seed funding proposal.
Before the program
Arrive ready to build
The period before the program begins is designed to help you hit the ground running. The minimal required engagement is light and can be done on top of your existing commitments: In the five weeks leading up to the program, you’ll join weekly discussions where you’ll meet your cohort and program managers and mentally prepare for the exciting journey you’re about to embark on.
YOUR PROGRAM FACILITATORS:
Samuel Harvey
Co-founded Notify Health
Steve Thompson
Co-founded Training for Good
Aaron Boddy
Co-founded Shrimp Welfare Project
There’s also a wide range of optional reading and upskilling content for those who have the time and appetite.
Weeks 1–3 (online)
Explore ideas and potential co-founders
The first three weeks are about exploration. Through practical projects that mirror the work of launching a charity, you’ll investigate several evidence-backed charity ideas while working alongside potential co-founders. The goal isn’t to commit quickly. It’s to uncover which problems excite you, which ideas hold up to scrutiny and who you work best with.
Throughout this phase, you’ll develop the core training to start a new charity, including a theory of change, cost-effectiveness analysis, monitoring and evaluation plan, geographic strategy, first-year strategy, budget and fundraising plan and founders’ agreement.
You'll also receive weekly 1:1 mentoring, coaching by other seasoned founders and direct access to AIM’s research team to help you think through charity ideas.
Weeks 4-5 (London)
Go deeper with your strongest option
In this phase you'll narrow your focus to the charity ideas and co-founders that suit you best. By the end, you'll have tested these top candidates in depth, giving you confidence in which potential co-founders and charity ideas you'd be excited to found with.
To support this, you'll travel to our London office, the hub of the Ambitious Impact community. With everyone in the same place, we're able to increase the intensity of the learning, with more live sessions and workshops. You'll also deepen your relationships with your cohort, and with the AIM community (staff, charity founders and charity staff) who will be a valuable part of your support network on your founding journey.
Pairing
AIM recommends an idea and a co-founder to move forward with based on your preferences, but ultimately the decision is yours. The pairing can happen sooner or later on an individual by individual basis
Weeks 6–8
Prepare your charity for launch
Once you've matched with a co-founder and selected your charity idea, you'll focus on preparing for launch. You'll refine your plans, strengthen your strategy and develop a seed funding proposal with ongoing support from the Ambitious Impact team. You have the option of continuing to work from our London office during this phase, or returning to remote work.
Seed funding
Secure the funding to launch
At the end of the program, you'll submit your charity proposal to our seed network — a community of independent funders who provide the first grants to charities launching from the Incubation Program.
Over the following week, funders review each proposal, ask questions and decide which charities to support. This critical sounding board both helps you refine your plans and how you pitch them. Around 95% of AIM-incubated projects receive seed funding, with recent seed grants ranging from $150,000 to $190,000.
After the program
Ongoing support as you grow
Launching your charity is just the beginning. We continue supporting founders as they build organisations for long-term impact.
SUPPORT INCLUDES:
Ongoing mentorship from experienced charity leaders
Introductions to specialists and experts relevant to your charity
Operations and HR support
US fiscal sponsorship (optional)
Fundraising support
Access to work from our London office
The single most underrated form of support is the community of alumni you’ll join. Whatever challenge you face, chances are one of the founders/charities in our community has been through it before. Our community members consistently go above and beyond to help one another – sharing practical advice, introductions and encouragement – because ultimately we’re all working toward the same goal: to improve the world as much as possible.
All costs are covered
Financial circumstances shouldn't prevent exceptional founders from building a charity. Participants receive a stipend to cover their living costs throughout the program, allowing them to focus fully on building their charity. We also cover tuition, travel and accommodation for the in-person weeks in London. More details are available here.
Plan B if you don’t end up founding
If you decide that founding isn’t for you, or you don’t find an exciting co-founder/idea pair, we provide a three-month transition stipend and career mentorship to help you find your next opportunity. Our alumni are highly sought after, and we have a near-100% track record of connecting non-founders with impactful roles.
Ready to become a founder?
Check when our next program is running and how to apply:
Still have questions? Browse our comprehensive list of frequently asked questions or subscribe to be notified when we’re running our next live Q&A webinar.