Every day it seems that new competitions are emerging for social entrepreneurs and social innovators to win money for coming up with great ideas to solve social problems.

Aviva’s Community Fund is offering up to $500,000 to Canadians with ideas to create positive change and improve the lives of people in our communities.

Dell’s Social Innovation Competition is offering $50,000 for university students from around the world to pitch innovative ideas that address social issues in the areas of human rights, education, and microfinance, among others, and to transform these  ideas into actionable plans.

The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business is running a Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition for university students worldwide to come up with ideas to alleviate poverty in the developing world for prizes up to $17,000.

Aid for AIDS is running a competition for young social entrepreneurs to come up with the most successful fundraising model, in terms of money, outreach and awareness, to support people living with HIV and AIDS.  The prize for this competition is $25,000 and a chance to intern with the Aid for AIDS organization.

The good news is not only that companies and organizations are putting large sums of money on the table to address critical human needs around the world, but that this indicates that social entrepreneurship and social innovation are finally entering into the mainstream.  Additionally, many of these competitions are directed at young people…

This is an exciting prospect.