Volunteers’ value surpasses $1 million milestone

SVPSA Catchafire

This month, local nonprofits reported they surpassed $1 million in value from skilled virtual volunteers provided by a local funding cohort started during the pandemic by Social Venture Partners San Antonio (SVPSA). Nonprofits started using the virtual volunteer website, Catchafire, in the fall of 2020, early in the pandemic to help fill critical skills gaps when most offices were shut down and organizations were forced to change how they raised money, delivered services, used technology and communicated with board and donors.

Fellowship provided a sense of community

SVPSA Fellowship community

In the early days of the pandemic, Pride Center San Antonio scrambled to deliver on its mission to provide services and support to the LGBT+ and ally community in San Antonio.

Nonprofits we love: Masters Leadership Program

Masters Leadership Program

San Antonio’s Masters Leadership Program (MLP) and Social Venture Partners (SVP) share a common goal: to improve our community by supporting local nonprofits. MLP, which celebrates its 20th anniversary next year, does this by preparing and connecting proven leaders to serve on the boards and committees of nonprofit agencies and civic commissions. To date, it has prepared more than 860 individuals … Read More

Nonprofits we love: Texas Kidney Foundation

Texas Kidney Foundation

When Texas Kidney Foundation President & CEO Tiffany Jones-Smith enrolled in the 2021-22 SVPSA Fellowship program, she had few expectations. “I thought, I’ll just take some classes and they will tell me some things about nonprofits. But every single month they presented information that was applicable to our organization,” Jones-Smith said. “Even the class on Strengths Finders was helpful. And we already … Read More

Nonprofits we love: Culturingua

Culturigua holds a walk with Mayor Nirenberg

“Culturingua helps increase intercultural understanding, promote economic empowerment, and helps people better understand others from different cultural backgrounds—both their neighbors and people from the other side of the world,” Culturingua co-founder Nadia Mavrakis says about

Program Profile: The Impact Guild

Sarah Woolsey established The Impact Guild five years ago because she saw a need in San Antonio for a network of support for entrepreneurs who want to be a force for community impact. She was exposed to social entrepreneurship in Austin and wanted to bring that to San Antonio.

Program Profile: Pink Berets

Pink Berets Stephanie Gattis

Stephanie Gattas founded the Pink Berets in 2016 to give women veterans something she couldn’t find for herself, an organization that was entirely focused on the needs of women veterans healing from PTSD and other trauma. The VA offers medical treatment and she found plenty of resources available to assist with things like paying bills and transportation, but she needed something that took a more holistic approach and that addressed women’s mental health directly.

Program Highlight: Project Brave

We’ve seen an alarming increase in domestic violence nationwide, another devastating impact of the pandemic. Locally, San Antonio police received almost 23,000 more calls for help with domestic violence cases in 2020 than the previous year. Community leaders are looking everywhere for solutions, investing millions in crisis response teams, case management and police support. Project Brave, a local nonprofit, is … Read More

October Fellowship Focuses on Management

The lunch program featured a Q&A with Hope Andrade and Kevin Moriarty, who shared anecdotes from their decades of experience with nonprofits and insight into effective management.