Glossary of Common SDSVP Terms and Definitions

Affiliate: SVP organizations, with 25 or more Partner Units, who sign an agreement with SVP International, licensing the name and agreeing to core principles and other operating standards.

Capacity Building: The development of core skills, management practices, strategies and systems to enhance an organization’s effectiveness, sustainability and ability to fulfill its mission. Capacity building support often takes an extended commitment of time (three years or more).

Investee: Nonprofit organizations receiving SVP support of time, money, and expertise. Synonym: grantee.

Investment: Used interchangeably with grant. All SVP investments are philanthropic, with no financial return to SVP Affiliate or its Partners. “Investment” instead of “grant” implies strategic and active giving, with an expectation of social return.

Lead Partner: This individual is the primary liaison between Investee and SVP, helping to meet Investee needs and providing partner engagement opportunities.

Partners: Individuals who become members of an SVP Affiliate by contributing time, money, expertise and resources, carrying out much of the capacity building work with Investees. Each “Partner Unit” can be made up of one or two people.

Philanthropy: The effort or inclination to increase the well being of humankind, as by donations. Synonyms: giving and social investing.

Nonprofit organization (NPO): Organizations that have tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 status in the US are not-for-profit registered charities in Canada, or non-governmental organizations outside North America. Synonym: local charity.

Resource Team: Team of partners who have expertise in a given area. SDSVP has Resource Teams in the areas of Marketing, Fundraising, Information Technology, Board Development and Governance, Strategic Planning, and Finance.

SDSVP: San Diego Social Venture Partners, a donor advised or managed fund of the San Diego Foundation.

Social Venture Partners: This refers to the entire network of Affiliates and is often shortened to the acronym SVP. Affiliates add their geographic location to this and become, for example, Social Venture Partners Portland (SVP Portland). Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) refers to the formal organization that provides support to the entire SVP Affiliates network.

Venture Philanthropy or High Engagement Philanthropy: These terms, having similar meaning, involve long-term relationships between funders and grantees. Funder provides expertise and capital and focus on capacity and operational infrastructure, with measurable outcomes.

Working Group (WG) or Committee: A group of SVP Partners working on supporting SVP infrastructure; generally, Working Groups and Committees are formed, and elect chairs, for the fiscal year. These may include: Investment Working Group (IWG), Communications Working Group (CWG), Portfolio Working Group (PWG) and the Social Committee.