“Solving society’s most pressing problems isn’t easy, but we believe it can be done,” said Julia Stasch, the president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “Potential solutions may go unnoticed or under-resourced and are waiting to be brought to scale.”

The application process, the foundation said, is designed to provide feedback and visibility, so the proposals that do not win the MacArthur award might still attract backing or other forms of support.

It is open to nonprofit and for-profit organizations, but not to individuals or government entities. Registration must be completed online by Sept. 2, and applications detailing the problem, its solution and its budget, along with a video pitch, will be accepted through Oct. 3, it said.

Semifinalists will be announced in December, and finalists, who will be chosen in the summer of 2017, will present their solutions during a live event in the fall of 2017. Then the board will decide which organization will receive the $100 million grant.

Each proposal will be reviewed by a panel of judges from a variety of fields, and their evaluation process for the proposals will be shared publicly on the competition’s website. Participants will receive feedback from the judges.