Ashoka launched the Citizen Base Initiative (CBI) to inspire and enable organizations to cultivate a diverse base of financial and non-financial resources to support their work. For any idea or practice to be adopted and transmitted throughout society, it must be sustained by local resources—money, people, goods, and services. As a result, organizations decrease their dependence on traditional foundation and government aid, while increasing their ability to be effective and autonomous changemakers.

Ashoka pioneered CBI Competitions in Thailand and Brazil in 1997. CBI has since spread throughout Latin America, Southern Africa, South Asia, Egypt, Canada, and Europe. These competitions aim to identify and build a critical mass of cutting-edge organizations with creative and efficient strategies to ensure the self-sufficiency of their social endeavors.

CBI Competition Winners build two-way relationships with their broad citizen base of support, yielding earned income, long-term business partnerships, and sustained relationships with the community.

Since its inception in 1997:

• CBI has received nearly 5000 proposals.
• CBI has invested in over 160 organizations in 14 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Peru, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay.