2026 programme timeline
The Kickstarting For Good incubator is an 18-week programme, combining virtual phases with two in-person sections in Berlin, Germany. During the virtual phases you will be expected to commit at least 20 hours per week to the incubator, including weekly check-ins with your mentors and fellow cohort members.
There are options to extend your time in Berlin with the K4G team, as well as the option to join us at the Conference on Animal Rights in Europe (CARE) in neighbouring Poland. Graduates will also attend our movement summit in Berlin as part of pitch day.
The programme for 2026 runs from 27 July through to 22 November.
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The 2026 programme timeline
A guide to the 2026 programme – note that some specific topics and timings may be subject to change.
Virtual 1
Starting with the 2026 cohort kick-off call in July,you will be expected to dedicate a minimum of 20 hours a week to the virtual stages of the programme. We begin with online tasks, reading, and exercises, driven by regular check-ins with your lead mentor and online group sessions. In this first phase you will learn the fundamentals of creating a successful high-impact initiative, while you begin to develop a relationship with your fellow change-makers.
Week 1: Onboarding to K4G, and revisiting the problem you’re aiming to solve
Week 2: A dive into market research and building your hypothesis, plus an introduction to building your nonprofit with AI
Week 3: The why and how of co-founders, continued market research, and preparing for validation and testing
Week 4: Cohort check-in, with a focus on thinking strategically about how you shape your organisation
Week 5: Strategic goal setting, Theory of Change, and OKRs
Week 6: Introduction to cost-effectiveness, and choosing the right intervention
In-person 1
The first intense in-person week in Berlin where you will attend daily sessions and workshops with experts from many different disciplines. Expect long and inspiring days where, alongside your cohort, you will be challenged to shape and mould your idea and prove the impact you aim to make.
Week 7: Across seven days, we’ll explore why nonprofits fail, how to find synergies with others in your cohort, personal development, and designing your mission and vision – along with fireside chats and plenty of fun activities. A detailed agenda with calendar invites will follow in the coming weeks.
Week 8: Optional – join us at the Conference on Animal Rights in Europe (CARE) on 17 – 20 September in Warsaw, Poland. Also the deadline to submit your Mission Readiness Review (MRR) pitch deck.
Mission Readiness Review (MRR)
You will produce a Mission Readiness Review (MRR) pitch deck as your main deliverable for the first phase of the incubator. Each initiative will be fully evaluated and the ones with the most potential will progress to the second stage of the programme, returning to Berlin to work towards graduation. Those that do not pass the MRR are invited to still continue with virtual stage 2.
Week 9: The K4G team, external experts, funders, and stakeholders review your MRR.
Week 10: 1-2-1 online meetings with the K4G team. We talk through your MRR and make decisions on which initiatives have shown enough progression to continue onto the second half of the incubator.
Virtual 2
The work ramps-up during our second virtual phase, where you will attend two online sessions a week to learn crucial new skills plus a weekly check-in with your lead mentor. During this time you will further develop your idea, building it into a fully-developed proposal and pitch for funding.
Week 11: Branding and positioning
Week 12: Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL), planning, and a deeper dive into cost-effectiveness
Week 13: Building a strategic roadmap, and understanding baselines and KPIs
Week 14: The logistics of setting up an organisation
Week 15: Creating your fundraising strategy
In-person 2
Those initiatives that pass the MRR are invited back to Berlin for our second in-person stage and pitch day.
Week 16: Come to Berlin a week early before our final in-person week and pitch day. Use the incubator space to focus on your initiative and spend extra time working with the K4G team.
Week 17: In our final week you will get one-on-one time with mentors and experts to finalise your idea and learn crucial new skills in fundraising and presenting. We will also coach you and help you rehearse your final presentation ready for pitch day.
K4G pitch day Pitch day is the culmination of all your hard work. Present your initiative to our panel of mentors, funders, experts and special industry guests alongside your fellow cohort at the Plant Food System Summit in Berlin. A range of seed grants from the $1m+ K4G seed fund will be awarded both on the day by our panel and in the following weeks by the K4G team, with a minimum grant of $10k each.
Plant Food System Summit (21 – 22 November 2026) You are invited to join us for the full two-day Plant Food System Summit in Berlin. The gathering brings together the key actors from around the world driving real-world change towards a plant-forward future.
Post-programme
Week 18: After the programme completes, you will be asked to submit your final Impact Funding Pitch Deck. This deck will be used to decide the final grants and some will be selectively sent to funders who we believe align with your goals.
You will also be encouraged to use your new-found fundraising skills to apply for your own funding from sources we help identify, with our 2025 cohort collectively raising approximately $1.8m in follow-on funding across all initiatives.
All who reach graduation become part of our exclusive K4G alumni. You will be required to report your organisation’s KPIs for two years following graduation and to have a quarterly check-in with the K4G team so that we monitor how else we can support you. You will also report back on additional funding raised and revenue secured as your organisation grows.
We hold alumni meet-ups at major events around the world, and many of our alumni go on to become mentors to the programme or return to give talks and workshops. Some have even permanently joined the K4G team!