Erase Indifference Challenge
Competition Manual
A global competition to find and support innovative projects fighting indifference to discrimination.
1. Introduction
2. About the Erase Indifference Challenge
3. Erase Indifference Challenge Timetable
4. Stages of the Erase Indifference Challenge
5. What kind of projects are we looking for?
6. Who can participate in the Erase Indifference Challenge?
7. How can I submit my application for the Erase Indifference Challenge?
8. Stages of projects’ implementation
9. Processing of personal data
10. Final provisions
11. Glossary
12. Contact information
1. Introduction
Erase Indifference Challenge, as its name indicates, focuses first and foremost on combating indifference to discrimination. This may not be obvious from the very beginning as we are more used to approaching such issues from the perspective of fighting discrimination in a more direct manner. Our competition, however, essentially aims at addressing the issue of indifference to various manifestations of discriminatory behaviors and messages. We believe that indifference poses a serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of many in our societies and is what can ultimately lead to dire consequences as we have seen over the course of history.
The core of the competition lies within what is sometimes referred to as the 11th commandment – “You should never be a bystander”, formulated by Roman R. Kent, former president of the International Auschwitz Committee. We have created this initiative to find, support and promote activities and tools that implement this commandment worldwide.
With that in mind, we have created this manual to present the Erase Indifference Challenge, with its structure and regulations, in the most comprehensive way possible. You should be able to find all the necessary information about it in here.
It is a guide that will make easier your participation in this competition. We are promoting actions that target fighting indifference, since this is crucial for us while indifference contributes to many forms of discrimination such as racism, antisemitism and religious discrimination, misogyny as well as hate and violence against migrants, refugees, and LGBTQ+ people.
Therefore, while reading this document, we want you to remember that we, the team of the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation, will do our best to support you throughout the process of application and potential project implementation.
The Auschwitz Pledge Foundation was established to fight indifference to manifestations of discrimination. We are a team of people devoted to and experienced in standing up against discrimination and, beyond that, preserving and safeguarding the memory of the Holocaust.
If you are uncertain about anything concerning the participation in the competition – don’t hesitate to contact us. It is our mission to help develop the best projects possible, so that we can change this world into a better place for everybody.
2. About the Erase Indifference Challenge
We’re organizing this competition for technological and social solutions (projects) to make our world friendlier and less indifferent to hatred and aggression that wreak havoc in our societies, social media, and the internet.
We direct our initiative to NGOs, startups, companies, public institutions, religious associations or informal groups (that have the support of an umbrella organization to take over the formal aspects of implementing a project) from all over the world.
We decided to open the competition to projects that combat indifference towards discrimination, especially racism, antisemitism and religious discrimination, misogyny as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and LGBTQIA+ people.
We offer up to €30,000 grants to the 3 winning projects that have the greatest potential to have a real impact in the world and affect at least one of the previously mentioned forms of indifference. The winners will also receive tangible support customized to their project and their needs.
3. Erase Indifference Challenge Timetable
10/01/2024
Open Call for applications
11/02/2024
Deadline to submit the application
until 8/03/2024
Auschwitz Pledge Foundation’s team review of the proposals
8-18/03/2024
Review of the applications by the Members of the Challenge Committee
20/03/2024
I Meeting of the Challenge Committee
22/03/2024
Announcement of the 10 finalists of the Erase Indifference Challenge
8-19/04/2024
Online workshops for the finalists
15/05/2024
II Meeting of the Challenge Committee with the members of the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation Board
Beginning of June 2024
Announcement of the winning projects during the Gala for the Erase Indifference Challenge, Warsaw, Poland
June 2024 – December 2025
Implementation of the winning projects
by 31/01/2026
Reporting of the implemented projects
4. Stages of the Erase Indifference Challenge
The Competition consists of two stages:
First Stage
Call for applications
During this time, all potential applicants can submit their ideas for projects aimed at combating indifference. More information about this step can be found in Chapter 7.
Auschwitz Pledge Foundation’s team Review
Applications submitted to the first stage of the competition undergo a preliminary assessment conducted by Auschwitz Pledge Foundation’s team. Assessors evaluate the applications for credibility and cohesiveness, incorporating both
formal assessment; the formal conditions that the applications has to pass are the following:
it has to be submitted in English,
it has to be submitted by a team of at least 3 members, who participate in the competition and project implementation, if the project is awarded,
the project idea has to include the use of ICT in it,
the project has to be in line with the mission of the competition,
the application has to be submitted by an entity entitled to participate in the competition.
2. preliminary content-related evaluation which focuses on:
cohesiveness of the application form (diagnosis of the issue, target group, activities, schedule and goals),
adequacy of the provided budget with the activities planned in the project,
innovativeness/originality of the project, and
added social value (assessment of the potential impact of the project).
This evaluation process represents the first of two critical phases in determining the projects that advance to the second stage. Only after this comprehensive review will APF’s team identify and forward the top 30 projects to the Challenge Committee for their assessment.
Content-related review and evaluation conducted by the EI Challenge Committee
Applications that have passed the APF’s team assessment go through the content-related review and evaluation done by the Challenge Committee, which chooses 10 projects that take part in the second stage of the competition.
Thematic Matching: The 30 best projects are categorized thematically and assigned to members of the competition committee based on their expertise.
Evaluation Process: Each project proposal is thoroughly reviewed by two members of the competition committee.
Evaluation Criteria: Challenge Committee Members are provided with an assessment card and specific criteria to guide their evaluation. (More on this in Chapter 5)
Submission Deadline: Evaluators are required to submit their evaluations before the scheduled I Meeting.
I Meeting of the Challenge Committee
Jacek Kastelaniec leads the meeting of the Challenge Committee, during which he presents a summary of the evaluations submitted by all committee members. This summary serves as the foundation for further discussions.
Second Stage
Workshops for Finalists
10 Finalists, as determined by the initial evaluations, participate in a workshop designed to enhance their project proposals. The workshop sessions focus on many different areas, such as:
Evaluation,
Human Rights and Combating Discrimination,
Technology,
Project Management,
Communication.
Re-Evaluation (More on this in Chapter 5)
Following the workshops, the project proposals and Activity Plans of the finalists are re-evaluated by the committee members. They also have access to evaluations provided by workshop experts. In order to select the best and most suitable projects for the competition, the Committee and the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation’s Board take into account:
credibility and consistency of the planned activities with the diagnosis of the problem, planned results, budget and the project schedule;
credibility of the planned impact of the project;
scale of the project (scope of the project and planned continuation after the project implementation);
effectiveness of the planned promotion of activities in the project;
accurate selection of ICTs (new technologies) to the planned activities, diagnosed problems and the planned impact of the project.
II Meeting of the Challenge Committee
The Challenge Committee members gather again to discuss the evaluations, which serve as the starting point for discussions regarding the selection of winners for the EI Challenge. The members of the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation Board approve the final designation of the winners.
Winners Announcement
The winners of the EI Challenge are officially announced during a Gala event in June. This event is dedicated to honor the hard work of the participants and is also an opportunity for them to present themselves to a wider audience, such as potential partners, donors, media and other activists.
5. What kind of projects are we looking for?
In essence, we are looking for projects that offer achievable ways to combat indifference towards discrimination, especially racism, antisemitism and other religious discrimination, misogyny as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and LGBTQIA+ people. Therefore, you can submit a project that aims to decrease indifference towards discrimination in a given region or internationally. You have to believe your solution is universal as it’s the most important aspect that decides whether your project idea can be approved for our support.
We also expect every project to include the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) as a tool for reaching the target group of your idea. This means that we ask you to incorporate a use of technology as either a main tool of the project or a means of scaling the reach of your undertaking. You don’t have to have expertise in ICT (although it is most welcome). We can help you with the implementation of it, but you need to take it into account when planning your project.
Furthermore, we are especially interested in projects, that:
target youth and young adults, who can be described as indifferent towards discriminations, especially racism, antisemitism and other religious discrimination, misogyny as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and LGBTQIA+ people.
have a well-thought out plan for scaling of the project – either by a wide reach of the project activities themselves (as it could be in case of mobile applications) or by a model activity that could be scaled and implemented in other regions/countries (e. g. educational workshops).
are innovative. Currently undertaken actions attempting to combat indifference seem to be insufficient. Innovativeness in this context may mean using an already existing model or tool which have not yet been used in the field of combating indifference for a given target group, e.g. a project that has been used to raise awareness of racism changed into raising awareness about antisemitism in a given region/country/internationally.
have a potential of being self-financed in the future (after the implementation of the project).
We are expecting the projects to last up to 18 months. If the project team plans to extend their activity beyond that period this is most welcome, however, in that period the Erase Indifference Challenge team will not be providing any further financial support or other forms of assistance and supervision.
The intended projects are not to:
involve direct political activities, a charity, religious or strictly commercial undertakings,
focus mainly on scientific research or publications.
Here you will find a detailed list of criteria with a more in-depth description related to the assessment
carried out by the Challenge Committee:
As we mentioned in Chapter 4, if you successfully submit your project, it goes through a two-part review process: preliminary evaluation of the application carried out by the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation team, and the content-related assessment done by the Challenge Committee, which is based on the following criteria:
reliability of the diagnosis of the problem – due to the fact that our program is international, we want you to clearly and credibly indicate the problem of indifference towards discrimination in your local context. In case of projects planning activities on a greater scale, we focus on the broader context as indicated by you. It is important for us that you justify your social diagnosis through, e.g. conclusions from interviews and/or observations, expert opinions, publicly available statistics;
credibility of the group of recipients – under this criterion, we assess to what extent the expected group of recipients is adequate to the diagnosis of the problem and planned solutions indicated by you;
innovativeness of the idea – we are looking for new ways to combat indifference and discrimination. Therefore, we also accept relative innovativeness, as some tools and solutions that already exist have not yet been used in this area;
the team’s potential to implement the project – in this criterion what is being taken into account are the experience and resources of all team members that may be useful during the project implementation ;
project feasibility – this criterion covers both the feasibility of the schedule and planned activities as well as the possibility of achieving the planned results (products and effects) of the project;
scalability of the project – this criterion is understood as the potential of developing a model within the project which could be implemented by activists from other regions/countries, perhaps on a larger scale. This also takes into account the planned reach of the project in its original form;
use of new technologies – we want the role of ICT tools in the project to be adequate to the planned activities. We also pay attention to the potential of the planned use of ICT tools – to the extent their use is likely to increase the impact of the project.
6. Who can participate in the Erase Indifference Challenge?
The Erase Indifference Challenge is a worldwide competition. It is important for us that our competition is open to as many people as possible.
You can apply for the grant if you are:
a start-up
an NGO
a public institution
a company
a religious association
an informal group with an “umbrella organization”
If you have formed an informal group and would like to participate you can do so but with the support of an “umbrella organization”. We require a legal entity, so that we are able to sign a project implementation contract with you. Therefore, you can find an NGO, or a company that supports the project formally and leaves the project implementation to you.
You can also apply to the competition in a partnership. Your partners, however, should also meet mentioned requirements.
The team has to consist of at least three members. We believe that to create a successful project a team is necessary. This means that if you apply as an organization, a company or in partnership, you still have to present at least three team members that would be planning to participate in the project implementation (and cooperation with us). One team may only submit one application.
As this is an international challenge, we ask that all participants be able to speak and write in English at least on a communicative level.
There are certain groups of entities that we cannot admit into our competition. We cannot accept your application if you are:
financed by or in any way related to political entities,
implementing (or if you already did before) activities/projects that stand in opposition to the mission of the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation.
It is very important to us that our grantees have sufficient knowledge and skills to develop their projects. This means that we are looking for people with experience in conducting social activities aimed at combating hate/phobias or promoting tolerance and openness to others. If you don’t have such experience but you do have the tools or other resources based on ICT at your disposal, then you are more than welcome to apply!
7. How can I submit my application for the Erase Indifference Challenge?
On the 10th of January 2024, the Open Call for applications will commence and applicants from all over the world are invited to participate. We strive to make our competition as accessible and straightforward as possible, therefore we have prepared a simple application process.
You can find the application form on the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation website, in the section dedicated to the competition, which you can find here: www.eraseindifference.org.
A successful application generates a confirmation email sent to the indicated address.
Applications that are submitted after the deadline or that have not been submitted in English will not be accepted.
8. Stages of projects’ implementation
After the Erase Indifference Challenge Gala, the implementation of the three winning projects commences. It consists of three parts:
Preparation for the project
At the beginning of this stage, the agreement between the APF and the grantee is signed. After signing the agreement, the winners receive their grants in three installments. Each installment correlates with the Activity Plan and with periodic reports prepared by grantees.
2. Implementation of the project
During this time, grantees focus on the actual project implementation. It is our goal that participants create efficient, innovative solutions to the problem of indifference to discrimination. We also encourage you to focus on the planned products, effects and impact of your project and that is why we do not ask you for extensive financial reports. However, you will be asked to provide one or two factual periodic reports that allow us to check on your progress and provide you with next installments for further implementation of the project and one final report that summarizes the entire project, its products, effects and impact. The number of the periodic reports depends on the activities and timetable planned in your project.
3. Summary and reports
The final report of the project is to be submitted a month after the project implementation. If there are any issues with this deadline, you have to contact your formal assistant from our team. The report templates are available to you before the signing of the contract.
Each grantee is obliged to cooperate with the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation team. If you fail to communicate with us or implement your project according to your in-depth version of the application form, you may be asked to return the grant.
If a situation arises that forces you to change the timetable of your project, to introduce changes to your budget, or if there are any changes in the composition of your team, you are required to contact your designated formal assistant from the APF team.
9. Processing of personal data
By participating in the Erase Indifference Challenge, consent is given to the registration of names and necessary contact information.
The information you provide in connection with Erase Indifference Challenge is available to the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation as responsible for the competition and the Challenge Committee of the Erase Indifference Challenge organized by the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation.
Contact information is only used in regards to the competition and is deleted when the contract comes to an end.
All personal data provided is handled in accordance with the GDPR. Read more about our privacy policy here.
10. Final provisions
Breaking any rules provided in this document results in automatic disqualification of the participants.
We reserve ourselves the right to change the schedule or rules of the competition or even to cancel it, if such need arises.
If any changes to the competition rules are implemented, there will be a written notification on our website: www.eraseindifference.org
Copyright and Intellectual Property. By submitting an entry, participants agree to permit the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation to mention their names and nationalities in connection with the competition and the overall Erase Indifference Challenge.
Copyright of the submitted entry shall remain with the participants. However, each participant grants the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation and its partners the right to use the submitted materials in its communication crediting the copyright owners.
11. Glossary
Challenge – the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation’s competition that is aimed at finding and supporting initiatives and solutions that combat indifference to acts of aggression (verbal or physical) against people experiencing discrimination in their lives. The competition is a worldwide endeavor.
Indifference – the attitude of people consisting in a lack of reaction to and/or concern for manifestations of discriminatory behaviors.
Discrimination – any treatment of individuals of whole groups of people which is unjust and/or grounded in prejudice, aversion, illwill or hatred.
Auschwitz Pledge Foundation (APF) – an organization that was established to fight indifference to manifestations of discrimination, especially racism, antisemitism and religious discrimination, misogyny, as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. APF is the founder and operator of this competition. You can read more about the Foundation and our mission here.
Auschwitz Pledge Foundation Board – the Management Board of the Foundation plays an important supervisory role in the competition. The task of this body is to control the consistency, reliability, and transparency of the entire process.
Challenge Committee – a body composed of external experts on social enterprises and matters concerning discrimination, especially racism, antisemitism and religious discrimination, misogyny as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and LGBTQIA+ people, and additionally experts on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and startups. The Committee consists of people from various countries. They evaluate the applications submitted during the open call for projects for the competition. The Commission’s evaluation criteria are available in Chapter 5.
Application – a document that you will find on our website: www.eraseindifference.org. Its form correlates directly with the Assessment Criteria by which it is later previewed by the Challenge Committee.
Grant – the financial support of up to € 30,000 that a grantee receives to implement the project submitted and developed during the competition.
Participant – an NGO, a startup, a company, a public institution, a religious association or an informal group (with the support of an umbrella organization to take over the formal aspects of implementing a project) that submit their project idea in the competition during the open call. The participant has to be represented by a team of at least 3 people who actively take part in the competition as well as in the project implementation.
Finalists – 10 project groups who have advanced to the second stage of the competition.
Winners/Grantees – 3 finalists, who will be awarded a grant and the support of the Auschwitz Pledge Foundation to implement their project.
Project – an undertaking aiming to combat indifference to discrimination, especially racism, antisemitism and religious discrimination, misogyny as well as discrimination against migrants and refugees, and LGBTQIA+ people. It has to make use of information and communications technology (ICT).
Project’s target group – “bystanders” or people indifferent to acts of aggression or discrimination against others; individuals who observe harmful behaviour or situations without intervening.
ICT – Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is a broader term for Information Technology (IT) which refers to all communication technologies, including the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, computers, software, middleware, video-conferencing, social networking, and other media applications and services enabling users to access, retrieve, store, transmit, and manipulate information in a digital form.
Innovation – In this program we are looking for new ideas aimed against indifference. This means that the innovativeness can be relative, e.g. solutions or ICT tools that have been used for different purposes (like mapping of social media users, workshops aimed at empowerment of their participants) can be innovative in the field of combating indifference.
Project products – a product of a project is anything “material” that has been created during the project implementation; it can be a tool, a program, a platform, an application, a script or a model of a project.
Project effects – a change that occurred as a result of the project implementation. It may concern, for example, the increase in awareness relating to a given topic of project recipients or participants – their competence growth. These can be both intentional and unintentional. The assumed effects of a project should be defined in the in-depth version of the application form created during the second stage of the competition.
Project impact – a change of attitudes and/or behaviors in the recipients of or the participants in the project. An example of a project impact could be that the recipients of the project react to discriminatory comments or acts of aggression in their daily life. The winners of the competition are asked to provide a planned impact of their project and evaluation experts help them monitor it during the implementation phase.
12. Contact information
The best way to reach us is through this email address: challenge@eraseindifference.org
You can find out more about us or the competition on our website: www.eraseindifference.org.