SDSVP Investees on Facebook

Keep abreast of what our Investees are doing to make San Diego a better place. Add Investee fan pages to your Facebook account. 1) Click on a link below, 2) login to Facebook and 3) click on the “Become a Fan” button.

• TKF
• ARTS
• ElderHelp
• Corporation for Supportive Housing
• Community Resource Center

...And don't forget to become a fan of San Diego Social Venture Partners, too!

Investee Updates

ARTS student, Inocente’s first one-woman-art-show Inocente Whoo?!? was a huge success! They had over 250 guests and raised over $10,000 for her scholarship fund and to support ARTS!

Congrats to ElderHelp for winning the Salute to Excellence for Innovation from Nonprofit Management Solutions for Concierge Club, their social enterprise program that SDSVP helped to create!

Getting Old Ain't for Sissies!

By Leane Marchese, Executive Director, ElderHelp of San Diego

I want to share with you a story of one of ElderHelp's seniors:

Mr. Paulson rode his bike for 20 years as a way to save money and keep fit in retirement. He lives on social security and a small pension and manages to keep independent and healthy.

Every couple of weeks or so he would come by the ElderHelp offices to make copies and to just say 'Hi!'. Last fall, each time he came in the office he shared that his bicycle was getting more and more rickety and he was worried he would not be able to ride it past the first of the year.

Immediately, the ElderHelp team began searching for a way to buy him a new bike. We gathered enough donations and parked a shiny new bike next to ElderHelp's Christmas tree awaiting Mr. Paulson's next visit. In he came bundled up with red cheeks glowing on a rather chilly (San Diego) December day.

We hailed all staff and volunteers into the lobby and presented Mr. Paulson with his new bike. Large crocodile tears welled up in his eyes and he shared that he had not received a holiday gift in over ten years! He was so surprised and excited and didn't know what to say!

Who would know that receiving a bicycle at the age of 85 would be as magical as when we were 8!

Just this past October, Mr. Paulson had to permanently give up riding his bike due to his impaired vision, but ElderHelp continues to be there for him and provide a valuable connection to services and people who care.

Together we can make such an amazing impact on the life of seniors in need!

Concierge Club for Seniors

By Cathy Yarbrough

A concierge service may seem an odd fit for a nonprofit community organization that helps low income senior citizens to live in their homes – and to avoid institutionalization – for as long as their health allows.

But, it’s such a good business decision that SDSVP this year selected the organization, ElderHelp, as one of its new three-year Investees. “With SDSVP’s expertise, we will execute a new strategy to provide something to seniors and their families that does not currently exist,” said Leane Marchese, Executive Director of ElderHelp.

For over 35 years, ElderHelp has not charged a fee when its 17-member staff and 200 volunteers transported senior citizens to their medical appointments, grocery-shopped for them or provided other services that enable people to live independently. Last year, ElderHelp helped about 5,000 San Diego senior citizens.

In coming years, ElderHelp will be called upon to help many more people, as the senior citizen population doubles over the next two decades from about 340,000 in 2008 to 740,000 by 2030, Marchese said at SDSVP’s First Friday on August 1. She pointed out that many older individuals are burdened by not only fixed incomes but also high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s and other chronic health problems.

To reach this increasing population of senior citizens, ElderHelp must expand its own financial resources. The concierge program will be one of the initiatives to generate a revenue stream that will enable ElderHelp to become sustainable and viable.

SDSVP will help its new Investee to develop and launch the ElderHelp Concierge Club, which will target seniors and their families who can afford to pay a membership fee for the services that low-income older individuals will continue to receive for free.

Marchese explained that every two paid Concierge Club memberships will provide the income that will enable ElderHelp to provide the same services, but at no cost, to one low-income senior citizen.

In addition to refining a business plan, SDSVP will assist ElderHelp with creating and implementing a web-based information tracking system that will integrate all components and functions for the organization.
Partners also will help ElderHelp to develop and execute a marketing plan to recruit and retain 150 volunteers, each of whom will commit to 6 hours per week for one year.
A system for evaluating ElderHelp’s outcomes against revenue and volunteer and membership retention measures will be devised, so that the organization’s impact on San Diego can be clearly communicated.

San Diego Business Journal Announces SDSVP’s New Investees

From the San Diego Business Journal, July 21, 2008

San Diego Social Venture Partners is granting Elder Law & Advocacy and ElderHelp each $250,000 over three years to fund services. Other organizations funded by Social Venture Partners include Angels Foster Family Network, La Cuna, Community Resource Center and Corporation for Supportive Housing.

To read the full article, click here

SDSVP Continues to Grow and Invest $500,000 Cash and In-kind Services to Two Senior Service Organizations

San Diego Social Venture Partners announced our two new Investees at our Annual Party in June. We are pleased to welcome ElderLaw & Advocacy (www.seniorlaw-sd.org) and ElderHelp (www.elderhelpofsandiego.org) to our portfolio. Each will receive approximately $250,000 in cash and in-kind services over the next three years.

Elder Law & Advocacy has been providing free legal services to elderly clients in San Diego and Imperial Counties. It sends attorneys into the community to provide free legal services at senior and community centers and nutrition sites. ElderHelp provides personal services and information that help seniors remain independent and live with dignity in their own homes and community.

SDSVP makes grant investments and provides professional skill and expertise to nonprofit organizations in San Diego County. Current Investees, i.e. organizations receiving funding from SDSVP, include Angels Foster Network, La Cuna, Community Resource Center, Corporation for Supportive Housing, ElderHelp of San Diego and Elder Law & Advocacy.

Founding Partner Alan Sorkin says, “San Diego Social Venture Partners is catalyzing the next generation of philanthropists and is quietly causing accelerated social change with leveraged giving contingent upon our nonprofits hitting agreed upon outcomes, making them work more effectively."


“A key differentiator for SDSVP as a grantmaker is that we are committed to strengthening and supporting the long-term capacity of a nonprofit organization to fulfill its mission,” explains Peggy Kidd, Executive Director for SDSVP. “We make multi-year financial and human resource commitments and we educate our partners about philanthropy and how to best address the needs in the community. In short, Social Venture Partners is not about funding short-term projects or programs – we know it takes more than that for an organization to thrive.”

SDSVP is one of 25 affiliates within the Social Venture Partners network of organizations in the United States, Canada and Tokyo with more than 1,900 partners (members) who contribute to their communities by making strategic and effective investments of time, money and professional expertise in local nonprofit organizations.

The SVP model of philanthropy was created in 1997 in Seattle, Washington. As interest in this new approach to philanthropy grew, Social Venture Partners organizations began developing throughout North America. By 2001, a loose network had formed, and Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) was created to support and advance this network. According to SVPI, the network is experiencing substantial yet organic growth via word-of-mouth marketing alone. Five new affiliates joined the network in the last 18 months and there has been a 14 percent increase in total partners (members) between 2007 and 2008.

About San Diego SVP
San Diego Social Venture Partners (SDSVP) develops philanthropy and volunteerism for the purpose of positive social change in San Diego County. Using the venture capital approach – contributing expertise, time and money – we are committed to creating partnerships that build successful and sustainable nonprofit organizations. To learn more about SDSVP please visit www.sdsvp.org.

About Social Venture Partners International
Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) is the membership association for Social Venture Partners – an international network comprised of more than 1,900 accomplished individuals who combine their professional skills and financial contributions with a passion for philanthropy. Partners belong to local SVP affiliates and SVPI supports each affiliate by providing technology, professional development, an annual conference and peer networking opportunities designed to share knowledge and promote best practices throughout the network. The Social Venture Partners network currently has 25 affiliates located throughout the United States, Canada and Tokyo. To learn about starting an SVP affiliate in your city or for more information on Social Venture Partners, please visit www.svpi.org.