Six years before she received the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa received the Templeton Prize. She was the Templeton Prize's first recipient (the year was 1973), and the late Sir John Templeton always encouraged his Foundation staff to create philanthropic prizes to honor excellence and recognize extraordinary vision and accomplishment.

We know that prizes can make a difference, and we have seen that prizes can educate people about new solutions and innovations – and sometimes even change how they think about a particular issue. But recently there has been a veritable explosion of new prize programs, and questions have arisen about the efficacy of this growing philanthropic sector.

To learn more about the subject, the John Templeton Foundation recently commissioned a study from McKinsey & Company's Social Sector Office. Titled "And the winner is...": Capturing the promise of philanthropic prizes, the study is the most comprehensive analysis to date of "best practices" in prize-giving. Printed copies can be obtained, free of charge, by writing to the Templeton Foundation at communications@templeton.org, and the report is also available online here.

For more information about "And the winner is . . ." and the Templeton Foundation's involvement in the report, see the April 29, 2009 issue of the Templeton Report.

Arthur J. Schwartz, Ed.D.
Executive Vice President
Prizes