The Richard King Mellon Foundation in Pittsburgh has announced a $1 million "pitch competition" for for-profit companies — to be judged on the basis of potential social impact.

Part of the foundation's ten-year, $50 million Social Impact Investments (SII) strategic plan, the competition will make investments of $500,000, $300,000, and $200,000 in three companies whose mission aligns with the foundation's philanthropic goals; returns on the investments will be used to make additional SII investments. Winners will be determined not only by their potential not only to make money for investors but, most importantly, to improve economic development, economic mobility, or health and well-being for the residents of southwest Pennsylvania or to enhance the conservation of environmentally precious lands across the United States.

The foundation is partnering with three organizations that will provide expertise and technical assistance: the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, one of the largest venture philanthropy firms in the world; OneValley, a Silicon Valley-based global entrepreneurship platform that recently set up shop in Hazelwood Green, a tech and innovation center being developed with support from RKMF, the Heinz Endowments, and Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation; and Ascender, OneValley's Pittsburgh platform fiscal sponsor and a longtime RKMF grantee.

"Our philanthropic goals are ambitious, and we need great ideas from the private sector, along with our traditional nonprofit grantmaking, to achieve our goals at scale," said RKMF director Sam Reiman. "Fortunately, there are numerous mission-focused private-sector companies well positioned to advance their important work, and ours, through this initiative."

(Photo credit: GettyImages/Shunyu Fan