How it works

GFN is a simple idea: bring creative energy, ideas and skills to those already innovating on social issues but doing so with very limited resources. The transaction is a gift.

It’s civic participation which is open, creative, generous, fun, social, local, and generative.

Good for Nothing asks “what can I do for you?” How can I help you?

Good for Nothing happens on and offline through gigs and challenges, short fast gatherings, think hack do creative collaboration event things, where diverse groups of people support social innovators and changemakers in the places and communities we live.

All ideas and learnings are shared openly through creative commons.

How we like to get stuff done

  1. Doing, not talking

    It's not that hard to talk clever and think big; there's an oversupply of that in our world. Yet there are so many problems that need a bit of do. Roll up your sleeves and fail gloriously. Good for Nothing is permission to have a go, get involved, participate and try stuff.

  2. Collaborate and experiment

    Where real diversity and openness is welcomed, where we let go of power and control, where we self-organise and allow ideas and energy to emerge more naturally and where we prototype and learn together.

  3. Support the true innovators

    We give creative energy, ideas and skills to the innovators trying to make positive change happen. The most exciting social innovation is happening at the grass-roots, pioneers working with very limited resources. We support them to accelerate epic change and impact.

Get stuck in



Challenges that matter

GFN challenges people to use their creativity against social issues, bringing creative energy around change makers, social innovators and activists in the form of challenges; some of which will be tackled at gigs, some with groups of your friends or colleagues, some over a cuppa online.

Creative energy helps new ideas to be born, new possibilities to emerge, new stories, connections and new ways of looking at the world which have the potential to change the way we think and feel.

These challenges have spawned a whole host of ideas, concepts, prototypes and by products. Some of these have reached hundreds of thousands of people, including apps for citizen science and getting kids into nature, a groundbreaking environmental documentary feature film, social change campaigning assets, business models for social enterprises, digital fundraising concepts, new spaces for communities and much much more.



Hang on, How do you fund all of this?

Here’s a short guide to our funding.