What We Do
We create impact in the community by giving the Five T's: time, treasure, talent, ties and testimony. We accomplish more by combining all of these for greater change in our community. Our work together is built around three pillars of work that drive our strategy:
Cultivating Philanthropy
Helping individuals become more effective givers by offering opportunities to learn about our community's issues, connect with like-minded donors, and create hands-on experiences with nonprofits. The aim is to inspire donors with how nonprofits are making a difference and to equip them to contribute not just money, but also time, skills, and knowledge, amplifying their impact on causes they care about.
Strengthening Nonprofits
Providing more than just funding. It involves working with nonprofits to build their capacity and improve their overall effectiveness. SVP partners contribute their skills, expertise, and time to help nonprofits grow stronger in areas like strategic planning, fundraising, communications, and leadership development. The goal is to empower these organizations to have a greater impact and achieve long-term sustainability.
Building Collaborative Solutions
Bringing together leaders and organizations to work on social issues as a team. Instead of tackling problems alone, SVP partners with nonprofits, businesses, and community leaders to share ideas, resources, and expertise. The goal is to create stronger, more effective solutions by combining the strengths of many partners, leading to a bigger and more lasting impact.
Giving together, measuring impact, and creating change define our approach. By leveraging time and resources, we engage philanthropists across generations to achieve a greater return on investment. We support innovative, often-overlooked nonprofits and connect them with leading philanthropic thinkers, driving transformative, lasting change in our communities through collaboration.
STRENGTHENING NONPROFITS
Nonprofit Fellowship
SVPSA's Fellowship is designed for our partners to engage with nonprofits in a meaningful way. For one day every month for seven months a year, we provide workshops and networking with around two dozen nonprofit executive leaders. Partners provide training and mentoring for business management skills nonprofits tell us they are seeking. Areas of discussion include fundraising, board management, financial strategy, revenue diversity, marketing, data analytics, pitch coaching, HR, technology and more.
Subscriptions to Catchafire.org
SVPSA invests part of our dollars in subscriptions that provide pro-bono consulting and business support to nonprofits from a network of over 100,000 skilled volunteers on the www.Catchafire.org website. Not only this, we have recruited eight more local funders to also include nonprofits they support. This collaboration means our local Catchafire portal supports 120 or more nonprofits every year. Their subscriptions allow them to get no-cost support on marketing, design, technology, budget planning, fundraising and more.
MissionPitch
Most nonprofits struggle with their initial introduction to funders. This is why SVPSA is collaborating with Geekdom to provide an annual learning experience for five nonprofits each year to learn how to fine tune their business plan and pitch. The program includes mentoring and coaching from our city's leaders in data and analytics, pitch coaching, marketing and community relations. The program culminates in a pitch showcase for the nonprofits each October.
Volunteer Expertise
Our model of giving back includes sharing expertise. Our volunteering isn't just as board members - it means providing one on one help to nonprofits in the area our partners have worked. It might be financial management, human resources, as executive leaders, marketing and PR specialists, grant writers, attorneys, professors, and so on.
Partners with Social Venture Partners regularly offer their expertise to nonprofits we have met through the Fellowhship and Catchafire. If you need help in an area that you just can't staff or want to talk with one of our partners about a new strategy or challenge. Please contact us at the links below.
Our Approach
We offer resources and help nonprofit get things done. SVPSA builds organizational capacity by providing unrestricted funds, skilled volunteers, pro-bono consulting, and leadership development opportunities.
We recognize that nonprofit practitioners are the program experts, and we aim to complement that expertise by working in partnership with those organizations. Therefore, the first step is listening to what they need.
Nonprofits we support can use assessment tools that best suit them as the first step in mapping out a plan. These assessments help the investee identify and prioritize the capacity building areas where they want to focus their efforts. Then SVPSA provides a Lead Partner to work with that nonprofit to develop a strategy and plan for growing their capacity based on their capabilities, at their pace. We are able to provide skilled professional help in many areas, including:
Mission, Vision, Strategy and Planning
Board Leadership and Governance
Leadership Development
Financial Management
Information Technology
Marketing and Communications
Program Outcomes and Evaluation
Human Resources
Legal Affairs
Fund Development
Government Relations