'Social Entrepreneurs Challenge' Kicks Off, Rewards Innovators And Crowdfunding Virtuosos!

On Tuesday, The Huffington Post and the Skoll Foundation launched the Social Entrepreneurs Challenge , a fundraising initiative for organizations striving to solve society's most critical problems.

The challenge is hosted by crowdfunding platform CrowdRise and will award $250,000 through daily and weekly challenges, with $50,000 going to the most successful campaign. Participating nonprofits that raise the most funds receive donation money from Skoll. And an additional $750,000 is available in matching funds to be shared equally among all participants as organizations reach certain fundraising thresholds during the competition.

The participating social entrepreneurs are fighting human trafficking, empowering marginalized populations, improving education in developing countries and addressing other pressing social needs around the world.

The initiative is the third such competition run by The Huffington Post and The Skoll Foundation, following the JobRaising Challenge , which leveraged more than $1.2 million in donations for job-focused nonprofits, and the RaiseForWomen Challenge , which brought in more than $1 million in donations for women's causes.

As of Tuesday evening, $121,000 had already been raised by the social enterprises, putting the competition on track to raise over $6 million if the current pace continues. The challenge will run until November 22 at 11:59:59am ET.

For more information on the competition, click here .