The Grantmaking Report: Foundation and Corporate Giving in the San Diego Region

The Grantmaking Report: Foundation and Corporate Giving in the San Diego Region is a collaboration between San Diego Grantmakers and the University of San Diego’s Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research. With greater strategic philanthropic investments, the community’s nonprofit organizations will be better able to serve the people of San Diego. All of us have benefited in significant ways from the work of nonprofits, and therefore have felt the impact of the philanthropic organizations that support them. While this report covers numerical data about philanthropy in the region, the numbers are just a reflection of the lives of San Diegans: those giving, serving and receiving the support of San Diego’s 9,000 plus nonprofits.

Click here to view the full report

The Coming Paradigm Shift in Philanthropy: It's Not About the Money

From onPhilanthropy.com

Historically and largely still, philanthropy is about the transfer of money from the individual with it to the individuals without it. The currency behind the relationship is that of a gift: a voluntary transfer of value from giver to recipient without compensation. However, we are in the midst of a paradigmatic shift in philanthropy. The shift is not about money. It is about the entire structure of thinking and approach to problem-solving. The new paradigm implies new skills, new relationships, new pathways of accountability, new standards of performance, and new criteria for decision making. These imply a very, very different kind of culture than in traditional gift-making approaches.

Click here to read the full article

SDSVP Fall Party

SDSVP hosted a fantastic party at the beautiful home of Leigh and David and Johnson. Partners and guests enjoyed great conversation, a delicious Asian-fusion fare, and updates from SDSVP.

Highlights include:

• SDSVP’s Annual Report 2008 is hot off the press thanks to Incitrio’s pro bono work.
• SDSVP leverages 8 to 1! We donated over $1.6 million in cash and in-kind services to the community including 13,000 Partner volunteer hours.
• Lead Partners, Bob Papera and Sherri Neasham provided updates on our Investees.

Everyone had a fabulous time!

Click here to view party pictures

Second Chance Annual Report Available Online

Congratulations to Second Chance, a former SDSVP Investee, on its 15th anniversary!

Second Chance provides job-readiness training and placement, mental health counseling and follow-up services to anyone 16 or over who is trying to overcome poverty, substance abuse or incarceration.

Click here to view Annual Report

Elder Law Answers Seniors' Questions - SDSVP’s Newest Investee

From The San Diego Union-Tribune
September 8, 2008

In makeshift offices at hospitals, community centers and apartment buildings across the county, lawyers are working to bring peace of mind to the area's senior population.

They draw up wills, advanced health care directives and power of attorney documents – all free – but they also give legal advice and, in the most extreme cases, bring lawsuits against nursing homes, companies and people suspected of fraud or elder abuse.

Click here to learn more about our new Investee, Elder Law & Advocacy.

Communications Working Group Update - September 2008

Communications Working Group (CWG)

• The PR/Marketing Resource Team is combining with CWG to better leverage our efforts and experience partners. The newly combined CWG will focus on both Investees and internal SDSVP communications.
• CWG is looking forward to working with the newly formed Partner Development Working Group and Fund Development Resource Team.
• SDSVP needs to hold itself to a higher standard than we hold our Investees. CWG will be analyzing our web site to determine how we get there.
• CWG is focusing our volunteer journalists on efforts to uncover the impact of SDSVP and our Partners in the community.

CEO of The Children’s Initiative Speaks to SDSVP at First Friday

By Cathy Yarbrough

• More and more babies are born with low or very low birth weight in San Diego county (SD).
• A total of 27% of kindergarten to 5th grade students attended school in SD less than 95% of the time during 2006-07.
• Child abuse and neglect in SD remains higher than the state average, but the good news is the rate of substantiated reports has been slowly declining.
• Other good news for SD: in early childcare and education, our area is above the state and national averages, and the rate of domestic violence reports is declining. However, SD remains above the state average.
• For youth DUI related injuries and deaths, SD has the highest rate in California.

Sandy McBrayer, CEO of The Children’s Initiative, highlighted these and other findings from the 2007 San Diego County Report Card on Children and Families, at a recent SDSVP 1st Friday lunch meeting.

“Every good business uses data,” she said. “What is the data telling us about children?”

It tells us that while community and family indicators are generally improving in SD, there has been a “lack of substantial progress in reducing poverty and mortality,” as stated in the report. “These two broad indicators may point to underlying problems in the health and safety net of our community.”

The report also noted, “While the percent of San Diego County children living in poverty is lower than the state and the nation averages, we are not making substantial progress in reducing the proportion of our children who live in poverty."

Assessing the overall health and well being of SD’s children, youth and families is a new responsibility for the nonprofit Children’s Initiative (CI). SD’s Health and Human Services previously generated these reports.

For its first Report Card, which covered 2007, CI measured the health and well being of children and families through 25 indicators, ranging from prenatal care and breastfeeding initiation to juvenile arrests and childhood mortality.

The Report Card also identified national best practices for prevention and intervention as well as recommendations for action specific to SD.

For example, to increase the number of children who regularly attend school, supportive interventions should be instituted at the student’s fifth absence, and a countywide universal tracking system should be developed, according to the Report Card. It also calls for more family/community engagement through attendance programs and student connections to school through service learning and career academies.

To reduce the number of infants with low birth rate, the Report Card recommends prenatal care programs that expand not only parents’ participation in support groups and “parenting” classes but also programs that provide intensive in-home support and intervention.

To read the entire Report Card: http://www.thechildrensinitiative.org/

Investment Working Group Update – September 2008

Investment Working Group (IWG)

• The IWG Discovery Team spent the summer researching our 2009 investment focus area in order to provide SDSVP with an understanding of the pertinent issues facing children and youth in San Diego.
• At the IWG kick-off meeting, Sherri Neasham reported on the Discovery Team findings and Michael Carr from SAY San Diego and Susan Wolking from the Girard Foundation gave us insight into the area of youth and children in San Diego.
• Over 30 organizations attended the Grant Briefing Session to learn about SDSVP’s grant application requirements. Bruce Reznik from Coastkeeper and Marjorie Fox from Human Development Foundation discussed their experiences with SDSVP from the Investee point-of-view.
• Deadline for organizations to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) is Oct 13. LOI Review Teams have been formed. To join a team, contact Joyce Ross at joycedross@aol.com.

San Diego Social Venture Partners Leverages 8 to 1!

SDSVP is the best social investment in town and our recent impact study proves it. Last year, we donated over $1.6 million in cash and in-kind services to the community including 13,000 Partner volunteer hours. Our Investees rated us a 100% in satisfaction. As a learning organization, SDSVP seeks to continually assess its progress and improve its performance. In April 2008, we administered tools to gather data on our effectiveness in building capacity among our Investees. Click here to read the full report

Helping the Children & Youth of San Diego

Interested in the needs of children and youth in San Diego County? Click here to see a quick-read power point summary of the research performed by the Investment Working Group’s Discovery Team over the summer. The team interviewed over 25 practitioners and experts -- and also came up with key facts to help guide us to invest in the area where the greatest impact can be achieved. Join us for our next Investment Working Group meeting on Tuesday, October 28th at 6:00 PM.

Money Without Strings: The Debate Over Operating Support

From The Chronicle of Philanthropy – Live Discussion
September 2, 2008

Eighty percent of the money that foundations distribute to charitable causes is earmarked for charity programs and other purposes, so it cannot be used for basic operating costs like utilities, rent, supplies, and clerical help. Many grant makers say they earmark most of their grants out of concern that otherwise the nonprofit groups will become too dependent. And they say it is too hard to measure the specific results of an unrestricted grant.But in recent years, a handful of grant makers have become more willing to provide money for operating costs. Advocates of operating support say nonprofit groups can be more innovative and manage their operations better if they don't have to worry about following a grant maker's instructions for how every dollar should be used.

View a transcript of the chat with Paul Shoemaker, Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Seattle

Cool Things our Partners are Doing…

As of August, Partner Louarn Sorkin has crocheted 85 winter scarves and 12 hats that will be distributed to seniors, the homeless and transitioning foster youth for the holidays in early December through three different non-profit agencies, The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary, Community Resource Center (CRC) and Just In Time for Foster Youth.

Louarn has set a goal of 300 crocheted and knit hats and scarves for this holiday season and is joined in this ambitious project by five SDSVP Partners, Donna Papera, Julie Pardee, Robin Parker, Bernie Stein and Diane Wintriss. Collectively the group has a total of over 110 items.

If you have an interest in this crocheting and knitting project, contact Mandy at mandy@sdsvp.org.

Sierra Club Canyons Campaign

Eric Busboom, Lead Partner

“SDSVP was instrumental in developing the tools for sustainable growth of the Canyons Campaign and an essential partner in making the vision of San Diego Canyonlands, the new nonprofit, a reality. San Diego’s environment will benefit for decades to come.”
Eric Bowlby, Program Director, Canyons Campaign

After a three-year partnership with SDSVP, Sierra Club’s San Diego Canyons Campaign is ready to graduate from a growing program to a new nonprofit dedicated to San Diego County’s wonderful canyons. This highly successful campaign, nurtured by Sierra Club for over 8 years, has organized over 40 Friends Groups for canyons and utilized them as “nature classrooms” for thousands of San Diego’s youths.

Initially, the SDSVP team supplied assistance in the following areas: strategic planning, technology, marketing, public relations, and management training. Later, believing that a “spin-off” of the campaign would provide a focused governing board, more funding opportunities, and a chance for accelerated growth, SDSVP Lead Partner Eric Busboom hired a consultant to help develop a migration path and a new strategic plan. San Diego Canyonlands Inc. and its new hard-working board of directors will begin to implement this plan in the fall of 2008.

During the three-year investment period, the Canyons Campaign grew from 1 to 3 full-time staff; created 15 Canyon Friends Groups; generated 10,500 volunteer hours; enrolled 1,200 new Friends Group Members; engaged over 3,000 volunteers; and involved 1,800 youths in its educational and stewardship programs.

While SDSVP will continue to provide consulting and other resources as the new organization grows, the establishment of a new nonprofit focused on San Diego’s Canyons is a giant milestone to celebrate.

Sherri Neasham

Sherri Neasham believes in applying her entrepreneur skills to philanthropy where they are needed most, and she likes the way SDSVP enables Partners to use their time and talent to make a difference. In life before SDSVP, Sherri founded Leadfusion, Inc. which provides online marketing functionality to the financial services industry. She took the company from inception through years of dramatic growth to the company's current position of market dominance with a client base of over 70% of the largest U.S. financial institutions. She’s also an avid cyclist, beach volleyball player and loves to scuba dive and kayak. Sherri’s applied that same drive and energy to her current passion of philanthropy.

Since becoming a Partner in October 2006, Sherri has taken a very active role in the Portfolio Working Group, heading the Investment Working Group’s Discovery Team, working with Volunteer San Diego through the Strategic Planning Resource Team, and serving as Lead Partner for Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). Sherri has seen the power of outcome-based strategic planning with Volunteer San Diego and CSH. SDSVP involvement—simply asking the right questions—helped both these organizations change the way they think about themselves and what they measure, paving the way for tremendous progress. Sherri is enthusiastic about a potential ripple effect from both organizations reaching the national level: “It’s huge.”

Taking Second Chance to the Next Level

By Diane Rosenberg

“Social Venture Partners provided invaluable expertise in helping us determine how to take the agency to the next level.”
Scott Silverman, Executive Director

In its 15th year, Second Chance served over 4,500 clients wanting to break the cycle of unemployment, poverty, or incarceration. The agency’s nationally recognized STRIVE (Support and Training Result In Valuable Employees) job readiness program achieved unparalleled results, with over 70% of graduates attaining employment and 70% retaining their jobs after two years. Furthermore, each dollar invested in Second Chance programs returned five dollars back to the community—a 500% return on investment—via taxes paid by its clients and avoidance of incarceration costs through reduced recidivism.

Working with San Diego Social Venture Partners and the agency’s board of directors, Second Chance conducted a preliminary feasibility and outcomes study to determine how to serve more clients. During the next year, Second Chance will add a second classroom with the potential to double the clients served by its STRIVE job readiness program. The agency will also increase its transitional housing capacity by 50% to house clients while they seek employment and build savings to transition to permanent housing. Second Chance will provide two new additional programs: Financial Literacy and Addiction Relapse Prevention. Second Chance has also secured funding to conduct an in-depth outcomes study with leading experts to continue to improve the effectiveness of its programs. Having SDSVP Partners serve on the Board of Directors strengthened the link of capacity-building with strategic decisions and key initiatives.

San Diego Coastkeeper

Gina Rogers, Lead Partner

“As we complete our three-year investment from San Diego Social Venture Partners, it is remarkable what we have been able to achieve together. From our change in name from BayKeeper to Coastkeeper and enhanced branding and membership efforts to our move to new offices, Coastkeeper is a far more effective and sustainable organization than we were just three years ago.”
Bruce Reznik, Executive Director

San Diego Coastkeeper’s mission is to protect the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds, and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. Coastkeeper balances community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.

San Diego Coastkeeper continued its tremendous growth over the past year, starting with a move into larger offices and laboratory space accommodating staff that has swelled to eleven strong. Coastkeeper also put a new boat—Clean Sweep—into operation, supporting their cleanup and water monitoring efforts and helping them keep a watchful eye on our bays and coastal waters. Coming on the heels of the name change from BayKeeper to Coastkeeper in October 2005, SDSVP has been instrumental in helping redesign the “DNA” of the organization through their support of marketing and membership efforts, board development, and strategic planning. In addition, SDSVP provided technical assistance during the office move.

Nearly 10,000 San Diegans volunteered to clean our beaches and make sure debris does not enter the ocean, while another 300 community members are now monitoring the health of waterways throughout San Diego County. More than 40,000 children receive Coastkeeper’s Project SWELL water quality and pollution prevention curriculum annually. The past year saw Coastkeeper reaching a settlement with the City of San Diego which requires the City to reduce chronic sewage spills by 83% and invest nearly $1 billion in collection infrastructure over the next five years. As a result of the increased capacity support from SDSVP, Coastkeeper continues to be the region’s strongest voice for clean water.

SDSVP Resource Teams

Last year, San Diego Social Venture Partners established Resource Teams to provide more essential services and resources to its Investees and other San Diego nonprofit organizations. Staffed with SDSVP Partners, these teams address six critical areas: Strategic Planning, Board Development, Finance, Public Relations/Marketing, Information Technology, and Fund Development. Here are some examples from Strategic Planning, Board Development and Information Technology.

The Strategic Planning Resource Team combines leading-edge nonprofit planning practices with business outcomes, making Investees more competitive within their sectors and the wider nonprofit community and better-positioned to succeed.

Volunteer San Diego (VSD) has met real community needs with SDSVP’s help. VSD partnered with SDSVP on a collection drive for fire victims, received business plan coaching for the Social Enterprise Academy, and worked with the Strategic Planning Resource Team.

“Thanks to SDSVP, Volunteer San Diego is realizing more revenue from social enterprise programs and has a dynamic strategic plan that will help us increase the impact and value of volunteers throughout the county in coming years. I am particularly grateful for SDSVP Partner Sherri Neasham’s support and enlightened questioning and thinking. Never heavy-handed, she has allowed the plan to emerge from community, SDSVP, board, and staff participation, resulting in initiatives that everyone owns and finds inspiring. Sherri is one of VSD’s best ambassadors and a great example of the power of volunteers and SDSVP.”
Sue Carter, Executive Director, Volunteer San Diego

The Board Development Resource Team has supported many of our Investees, including several agencies outside SDSVP’s portfolio. This Team has helped organizations clarify roles and responsibilities, hire new staff, refocus missions, review bylaws, and re-energize their Boards.

“The Board Resource Team offered expertise to Just in Time for Foster Youth. Not only did the organization learn about developing an ideal board, it also participated in a comprehensive brainstorming session that imparted valuable business practices and highlighted the need to invest in infrastructure in order to grow. Just In Time learned the importance of hiring skilled staff to work on day-to-day operations, allowing board members to act strategically on the big picture, and recruiting talented, passionate, committed board members.”
Louarn Sorkin, SDSVP Partner/Just in Time Board Member

The Information Technology Resource Team has installed entire networks, built databases, created RFPs for consultants and managed the IT implementation process.

“Community Resource Center’s involvement with the Resource Teams has had a major impact in several ways on the organization’s infrastructure. The improved Information Technology support reduced annual expenses by two-thirds and enhanced operational capabilities of all staff. In addition, the Teams dramatically improved public relations through an enhanced website and marketing tools and utilized the Board Development Resource Team to enhance their Board and corporate structure.”
Laurin Pause, Executive Director, Community Resource Center

Resource Team Chairs

Board Development & Governance
Joyce Ross

Finance & Accounting
Lenore Hawkins

Fund Development
Barbara Bry

Information Technology
Eric Busboom

Marketing/Public Relations
Peter Cohen

Strategic Planning
Duane Trombly

Neil Senturia and Barbara Bry

Both Neil and Barbara are attracted to the venture philanthropy approach: especially SDSVP’s hands-on philosophy and focus on accountability. They also enjoy meeting like-minded people through SDSVP.

As the Fund Development Resource Team Chair, Barbara, along with several Partners, was effective in helping nonprofits such as Angels Foster Family Network. The Resource Team assisted the organization with writing grants and developing a fund-raising plan. Barbara is also involved with the Communications Working Group and wrote articles about SDSVP that were featured in the San Diego Business Journal and the San Diego Daily Transcript.

Neil and Barbara are serial entrepreneurs. Their latest venture, an Internet radio program on signonradio.com called I’m There for You Baby: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Galaxy, combines entertainment with education to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. Check the archives for their interview with SDSVP’s own Alan Sorkin.

One of the highlights of their SDSVP membership is attending the annual meeting. Learning how SDSVP touches lives in our community makes Neil and Barb feel good about participating in such an effective organization.

Letter from SDSVP Board Chair, Mark Fackler

Dear SDSVP Friends,

San Diego Social Venture Partners is a unique organization dedicated to serving two separate and distinct constituencies: our Partners and our Investees. Our mission, “San Diego Social Venture Partners cultivates effective philanthropists who drive community solutions with investments of their time, expertise, and resources,” provides us direction. Serving these two constituents provides a beautiful synergy.

In this past year, our Partners have donated a stunning 13,000+ hours of service to the San Diego community. This not only provides our Investees and many other San Diego-based nonprofit organizations with talented horsepower, but it also provides our Partners with many experiential learning opportunities.

Many SDSVP Partners worked more than 1,000 hours doing research and raising money for the Environmental Accelerator Fund. These dedicated Partners raised $800,000 in cash and pledges to fund the creation of a new organization. The Equinox Center is a non-partisan, independent, nonprofit research center focused on economically sound environmental sustainability for the San Diego region. What a unique synergistic opportunity for educating SDSVP Partners while serving the needs of the San Diego community.

Last year, our Partners chose to support nonprofit organizations that help the elderly during the next three-year grant cycle. Beginning last summer, SDSVP Partners researched the issues facing elders in San Diego. After many months of preparatory work, SDSVP began our grant-making process that culminated in choosing Elder Law & Advocacy and ElderHelp of San Diego as our two new Investees.

As we add Elder Law and ElderHelp to our portfolio, San Diego Canyonlands and San Diego Coastkeepers are completing their three-year grant cycle. We are proud of their accomplishments and growth over the past years. We look forward to their continued growth and a close relationship.

I sincerely thank all the Partners, corporate sponsors, and community supporters who have donated their time, expertise, and resources to serve San Diego through SDSVP. San Diego is a stronger community because of your work, and I am proud to be a Partner with you.

Best Regards,

Mark Fackler

Chair, SDSVP Board of Advisors, 2007-2008

La Cuna

Dale Stein, Lead Partner

“As we enter our third year of partnership with San Diego Social Venture Partners, I feel incredibly blessed by the myriad of support we have received from SDSVP members in terms of executive mentoring, infrastructure support, emergency assistance to our families, legal advocacy, board development, strategic planning, fund-raising, community awareness-raising, marketing assistance, event planning, and much more. On behalf of our little ones: Thank you!!”
Rachel Humphreys, Founder and Executive Director

La Cuna, Spanish for “cradle,” was licensed in May of 2005 as San Diego’s first foster family agency dedicated specifically to both the birth-to-five year old population and the Latino community. The mission of La Cuna is to ensure that Latino foster infants and toddlers grow up safe, happy, and healthy, and to develop best practices that improve the lives of Latino children in foster care both locally and nationwide.

With the help of SDSVP, La Cuna developed a plan to drive their efforts and outcomes; utilized information technology resources to improve efficiency; and brought leadership and a working board together to support the mission within a larger system. SDSVP’s support allowed La Cuna’s social-service-oriented staff to focus attention in their areas of expertise effectively.

La Cuna is finding answers to some of foster care’s toughest issues. Every dollar spent on La Cuna children saves millions of dollars down the road, as they help through prevention and early intervention efforts.

The Environmental Accelerator Fund and Equinox Center

In 2007 SDSVP launched an innovative initiative to further increase our impact. We wanted to apply our strengths in capacity-building and collaboration to help a sector of the community in a more sustainable and leveraged way, and to increase the funds available for leading-edge philanthropy.

We established the Environment Accelerator Fund to collaborate with outside funding sources, to increase giving with matching grants, and to ensure the most strategic use of this larger pool of funds. With a focus on the environment, Partners completed a 900-person-hour research and analysis project—the largest in SDSVP history. They identified the need to work on San Diego’s future development to ensure that economic and population growth happens in a way that is better for the environment. Their research showed that balancing the economics and ecology of the region is a central, highly leveraged issue—affecting urban development, habitat preservation, transportation, quality of life, economic sustainability, climate change, and many other issues.

To bring the best available solutions to San Diego, the Environment Accelerator team decided to replicate the successful approach of a Seattle nonprofit, Sightline Institute. With their input we established a new organization dedicated to economically sound environmental sustainability in our region, Equinox Center.

Equinox Center is designed as a non-partisan, independent, nonprofit organization working at the intersection of scientific understanding, community values, government policy, and economic strength. It will provide San Diego's community leaders with usable information, practical vision, and innovative thinking—fostering factual dialogue to help shape our region’s future.

Numerous groups throughout the San Diego region have come forward and voiced support for Equinox Center, building the foundations of a strong network with the environmental community, business, academia, and government. Equinox Center is also receiving tremendous support from pro bono services offered by Mintz Levin attorneys-at-law, Bente Hansen executive recruiters, and marketing firms Oster & Associates and Incitrio. SDSVP partners continue to support the project with their own time and talents. As of June 2008 the project had raised $800,000 and formed an initial Board of Directors, and was recruiting a full-time Executive Director and additional board members.

ElderHelp of San Diego

Alan Sorkin, Lead Partner

“We are so excited to be working with Social Venture Partners! They have a unique understanding of how social enterprise can elevate our agency to one which is sustainable and viable within the increasingly competitive world of nonprofits. With their expertise, we will execute a new strategy to provide something to seniors and their families that does not currently exist.” – Leane Marchese, Executive Director

Together for over 65 years, the Epsteins had outlived their only child and now faced their final years knowing they might have to leave their home. Mr. Epstein was struggling to take care of his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease. He could no longer drive—yet he desperately wanted to remain at home with his childhood sweetheart.

A neighbor connected the Epsteins with ElderHelp. ElderHelp matched the Epsteins with a Care Manager and an energetic and caring volunteer named Peggy, who quickly became their friend. Peggy drove them to and from medical appointments and shopped for their groceries twice a month. Peggy’s care and companionship enabled the Epsteins to remain at home.

For 35 years, ElderHelp has supported independence for thousands of seniors like the Epsteins with free personalized information and services. With the over-65 population more than doubling in the next two decades, ElderHelp must expand its funding to include fee-based programs to continue serving low-income seniors. By partnering with SDSVP, ElderHelp can achieve its social enterprise goals through the ElderHelp Concierge Club, which gives seniors and their families access to information and services at affordable membership prices.

Elder Law & Advocacy

Richard Bockoff, Lead Partner

“Elder Law & Advocacy looks forward to working with SDSVP to expand its capacity to meet the growing number of seniors who need help. Having the expertise and enthusiasm of the SDSVP Lead Partner and Resource Team members will enhance the partnership, and bodes well for the success of the goals outlined in our first year Annual Plan.”
Carolyn Reilly, Executive Director and Supervising Attorney

No senior should have to face the problems caused by a financial elder abuser or unscrupulous mortgage broker, a denial of Medicare benefits, a complicated lawsuit, or end-of-life medical decisions without expert advice provided by highly experienced elder law attorneys and Medicare counselors. The core mission of Elder Law & Advocacy is to protect seniors by providing legal advice, advocacy, and education.

The organization is unique in that it is the only legal services and Medicare counseling agency in the Southern California region devoting all its resources to helping both rural and urban seniors through a community-based delivery system. Elder Law’s attorneys, staff, and volunteers travel all over the region to assist seniors, going to senior living complexes, nutrition sites, senior centers, mobile home parks, nursing homes, hospitals, and the residences of ill, homebound individuals. Elder Law & Advocacy helps over 7,000 older individuals each year. Income is not considered; eligibility is determined by age and other factors.

Seniors are the fastest-growing segment of the population. In partnership with SDSVP, Elder Law & Advocacy will be able to meet this growing need by focusing its resources and attention on board and fund development, marketing, and public relations, under a solid, long-range strategic plan.

David and Leigh Johnson

David and Leigh joined SDSVP in the summer of 2006 and jumped right in. David was elected to the SDSVP Board, served as Co-Chair of the Investment Working Group and created our first Discovery Team to research the issues facing the elderly in San Diego. Leigh brought her dynamic energy to the Social Chair position by adding a new flair to our ever growing parties and as well being instrumental in enhancing our Education Committee.

Leigh’s years of experience at Microsoft helped her to create a very successful executive coaching practice, and David, after working with McKenzie and Bain, has his own private investment firm. Their family consists of their five-year-old daughter, Mallory; David’s thirteen-year-old son, Nathaniel; and their dog, Dulce de Leche.

Philanthropy has always been a family tradition for the Johnsons, first being introduced to SDSVP through Leigh’s parents, Partners, Mike and Joyce Kole. One of their favorite books is entitled Three Cups of Tea, about how one person can make all the difference in the world. David and Leigh find participating in SDSVP a great way to make that difference in San Diego and they want to pass that family tradition to Mallory.

Corporation for Supportive Housing

Sherri Neasham, Lead Partner

“Supportive housing enables the homeless with disabling conditions to live independently and is the most effective strategy to end long-term homelessness. With the help of San Diego Social Venture Partners, CSH has been able to clearly identify critical success factors to ensure the creation of new housing for the homeless in our region and not let precious resources go unspent.”

Simonne Ruff, Director

With over $100 million available to the San Diego region to develop housing for homeless people with disabling health conditions, the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s challenge in 2007-08 was to ensure that this money would not be returned to the State for yet another year. Working with San Diego Social Venture Partners, it became clear that the most important strategy to use (and not lose) this money would be to create a mandate requiring developers to build supportive housing.

The Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) took up this challenge to end homelessness in downtown San Diego. CCDC has mandated that supportive housing be included in projects in the downtown area, creating 95 new units in the coming years.

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is celebrating last year’s achievements as they pursue their newly defined mission to be a catalyst in the development of quality permanent supportive housing. CSH’s vision is to promote the creation of 2,000 units of supportive housing over the next 10 years to end long-term homelessness in San Diego. Over the next three years, CSH will enable 250 homeless individuals with disabling health conditions to leave the streets and remain housed for one year.

Community Resource Center

Morgan Day and Bob Papera, Lead Partners

“The impact of SDSVP on day-to-day operations at Community Resource Center is evident across the organization. From board development to improving infrastructure, SDSVP support has increased our productivity and enhanced our ability to provide services to our clients.”

Laurin Pause, Executive Director

Community Resource Center (CRC) unveiled its Food Stamp Outreach program, funded by SDSVP, in the fall of 2007. Since that time, over 1,150 Food Stamp Outreach materials have been distributed to families, over 200 applications have been issued to qualified individuals or families, and over 60 households have received application assistance. The North County welfare office has already documented an increase in the number of families receiving food stamp assistance.

With SDSVP support, CRC has not only realigned its food services to a more outcome-based model, but has also embarked on a major organizational transformation—including board education and expansion, improved information technology systems, and development of capable senior leadership within the agency. These enhancements have positively impacted the growth of CRC’s Holiday Baskets program, the largest holiday distribution of its kind in the county. In 2007, Holiday Baskets served a record 1,200 low-income households.

In addition, SDSVP’s contacts within the business community have provided CRC the opportunity to enhance its public image and marketing ability through the creation of a new website. The collateral benefits have included increased public awareness of and financial support for their fund-raising events and programs. CRC has clearly gained from this increased exposure.

SDSVP's Bingham Stone Award 2008

The Bingham Stone Award is named in recognition of the founders of San Diego Social Venture Partners, Darcy Bingham and Carrie Stone. Each year, a Partner is given the Bingham Stone Award to honor outstanding leadership skills, commitment and “no BS” attitude. Each recipient exemplifies our goal of developing engaged philanthropists who are accelerating social change in the community.

Working for Bill Gates in Seattle in 1997, Aaron Contorer could not help but notice Gates’ benevolence as a philanthropist. After cashing in some Microsoft stock options, Aaron saw some successful colleagues follow Gates’ lead by doing good in their communities. Aaron felt a moral responsibility to share his good fortune with his community. He was introduced to the SVP group in Seattle but chose instead to pursue philanthropic causes as an individual and by starting a family foundation.

When Aaron moved to San Diego in 2004 to start a company, he recognized that his real passion was for giving something back to society while continuing to grow as an individual, surrounded by great people. That’s exactly what SDSVP offered him.

Aaron and several other Partners created SDSVP’s Environment Accelerator Fund (EAF). The team met with leaders in the nonprofit, business, academic, military, and philanthropic communities and identified a need to address issues concerning San Diego’s future growth and development resulting in the creation of Equinox Center. Aaron is now chair of Equinox and believes that working with SDSVP partners to create Equinox Center has been one of the most gratifying experiences of his career.

Aaron was awarded the 2008 BS Award due to his significant contributions to SDSVP’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee also serving on the Investment Working Group and Communication Working Group while launching the EAF. The commitment to create a start-up, personally commit major funds, reach out across various stakeholders groups to conduct research, enroll up to 20 SDSVP partners, and remain committed to building SDSVP is an amazing accomplishment! Thanks, Aaron, for all you do for SDSVP and the community!

Past Bingham Stone Award Recipients:
2007 Diane Rosenberg
2006 Richard Bockoff
2005 Dale Stein
2004 Alan Sorkin

Angels Foster Family Network

Amy Larson, Lead Partner

“The partnership between Angels and SDSVP has been a great one since day one. The talent and support of many of their members has been an impetus, resulting in more funding, successful marketing, and a record-breaking number of babies being rescued.”

Cathy Richman, Founder and Executive Director

Founder Cathy Richman developed the Angels foster program’s unique methodology in 1998 because she saw a need for a new way to address a chronic problem—how to protect the most fragile of children within a system that can do further damage by constantly moving infants and toddlers from foster home to foster home.

Angels is a licensed, private nonprofit foster family agency with a unique emphasis on the stable placement of abused foster infants with healthy, nurturing families who promote emotional bonding, helping the children grow into happy, productive, secure adults. Since January 2000, Angels has placed 250 babies with some of the finest, most loving and committed foster families available, and the organization expects to place an additional 60 babies in 2008.

SDSVP has provided a capacity-building grant and committed Partners who have helped establish a marketing brand for Angels, helped create a five-year strategic plan, assisted with board development, and financed an outside funding consultant who helped hire their first Director of Development. The social return on investment will be measured by the number of children now living healthy, happy lives and families that have been made whole after what seemed like such a tragic start.