Hobnobbing with Smart, Nice People While Making a Difference

By Cathy Yarbrough

The wildfires last October had one benefit: the catastrophe introduced the nonprofit Volunteer San Diego (VSD) to the energy, enthusiasm and talents of SDSVP.

SDSVP was eager to help fellow San Diego residents whose homes – and clothing, furniture and other possessions -- were destroyed by the wildfires. So VSD linked Partners with a local faith-based organization that was mounting a clothing drive

“Our three organizations brought the best of our abilities and networks together to meet a pressing community need,” said Sue Carter, executive director of VSD.

After the wildfires were under control, Carter turned to SDSVP to help her board and fellow staff leaders to evaluate VSD’s overall strategy and to create a new strategic plan that would communicate the organization’s positive impact on the community and increase its revenue through fundraising and fees for services.

(Under the aegis of SDSVP, Partners often volunteer their time and expertise to San Diego nonprofit community organizations that are not investees.)

Leading SDSVP’s effort to assist VSD with its strategic plan was Sherri Neasham, a Partner for two years. Neasham called upon the expertise of fellow Partners in SDSVP’s resource teams on strategic planning, finance, fundraising and other capacity building areas, to assist VSD.

“Sherri is an incredible ally,” said Carter. “She struck a great balance: offering her business knowledge and critical thinking while always respecting my knowledge of nonprofits and VSD. She knew which role was needed at which time – when to push and when to cheerlead.”

The Partners’ input persuaded VSD to define “what it does and to prove it annually with measurable outcomes,” Neasham said. As a result, the two and one-half year old community organization repositioned the way it describes its value and impact. “Whereas VSD before said they increased and facilitated volunteering, they now can say ‘Each year, we provide over $2 million in human capital to 500 community organizations in order to significantly impact the needs in San Diego County.’ ”

“Restating what they do in such a meaningful and measurable way will substantially increase the funding they receive,” Neasham added. “More importantly, VSD measures and focuses on the value of volunteer contributions; they’ll begin seeking more highly skilled volunteers, and will fund many other San Diego nonprofits with greater manpower at a higher level of expertise as a result. This will have a significant impact throughout our county.”

Carter said that SDSVP “provided outside perspective and expertise that wasn’t readily available within VSD. VSD is fortunate to have significant alignment within our board and staff for our overall goals and direction, but that alignment can work against us as we roll out programs to a large and diverse community.”

“SDSVP asked great questions that helped us refine and strengthen our position and the reasons why we did what we did,” she added. “They brought expertise in the form of one-to-one coaching, group facilitation, and tactical tools and resources that we could apply to our efforts. As VSD explores opportunities for mobilizing the professional skills and interests of prospective volunteers, we are looking forward to engaging with SDSVP as practitioners and thought leaders.”

For Partners without the time to work long term with one of SDSVP’s investees, organizations such as VSD are an opportunity to “have fun, learn a lot and make a difference in a very flexible time frame of two to 10 hours over a several month period,” said Neasham. “When you’re working with such groups as VSD, you can easily control your own schedule,” she noted.

Neasham added, “It’s a great opportunity to creatively use your experience or talents in new ways. You get to hobnob with some very smart and very nice people, and best of all, you can be truly helpful and make a difference.”