Investing in Nonprofit Effectiveness

By San Diego Grantmakers

Investing in Nonprofit Effectiveness
Community Resource Center (CRC) empowers North County families in need with safety, stability, and a path to self-sufficiency. Yet CRC itself needed greater stability in the face of the economic downturn and dwindling funding. San Diego Social Venture Partners (SDSVP) ensured that CRC could survive and thrive by helping the group reframe its mission to focus on core strengths. Concurrent with completing its new strategic plan, CRC won $1.6 million in stimulus funds to help homeless and impoverished San Diegans.

SDSVP links the power of business with the passion of giving in order to help San Diego nonprofits be more effective. The organization was created in 2001, modeled after a Seattle group that applies venture capitalist ideas to philanthropy: investing in innovative nonprofits and supplying expertise to nurture those investments. The approach evolved into an international network of Social Venture Partners.

Matching Volunteer Skills to Organizational Needs
SDSVP is made up of over 140 people committed to being engaged givers. Partners pledge $5,000 per year for three years and leverage these funds by sharing their skills with “investee” nonprofits selected as part of SDSVP’s annual funding focus, which has included improving the environment, reducing hunger and homelessness, and supporting military families. SDSVP researches and identifies organizations that have the potential to achieve significant results.

SDSVP matches the needs of investees to the skills of volunteer Partners, deploying “Resource Teams” to work in areas like leadership development, fiscal management, strategic planning, technology, and public relations. Rachel Humphreys, founder of SDSVP investee organization La Cuna, notes that the “hands-on coaching and infrastructure support...has been more valuable than the funding we received.”

Strategic Donors and Funder Collaborations
SDSVP not only strengthens nonprofits, but also helps members become more strategic donors. Partners Ray and Gina Ellis joined to go beyond giving by participating in substantive ways, while David Lynn appreciates peer mentoring and learning. Bill Carpenter comments, “It seems more powerful to help charitable organizations launch lasting projects rather than just doling out money.” SDSVP connects Partners with their passions, catalyzing increased giving and volunteering.

SDSVP also fortifies philanthropic connections by seeking out “other funders who will pick up where we leave off,” says Alan Sorkin, longtime SDSVP leader and now president of SVP International. SDSVP has leveraged over $17 million by collaborating with grantmakers like The Legler Benbough Foundation and Union Bank. SDSVP members themselves often make additional grants: when SDSVP helped launch Junior Achievement BizTown,TM Partners assisted with the facility search and then contributed $3 million.

What Does This Mean About Philanthropy?
Some donors fund programs without considering how nonprofits will maintain them. San Diego Social Venture Partners uses a business-like approach to help organizations become successful and self-sustaining, because, as Sorkin points out, “A dollar given to an ineffective organization is a dollar wasted.” By engaging individuals to donate both money and know-how, and collaborating with other funders, SDSVP is working on multiple fronts to create positive change.

Junior Achievement

Lead Partner: Wendy Gillespie

Get ready for hardhats! SDSVP joined hands with Junior Achievement to create a special place that will inspire the future generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders – Enterprise Village.

Junior Achievement is an international organization that has served Greater San Diego for 50 years. Enterprise Village is an innovative project that teaches our youth about money management, credit and investing for the future to prepare them for a more productive life.

Enterprise Village will be a 10,000 square foot replica of a small American city, complete with a city hall, bank, and 18 bustling enterprises. Enterprise Village will also have a non-profit center so students learn the value of giving back to their communities, just like SDSVP!

To make this dream come true for San Diego students, SDSVP contributed a capacity-building grant and significant energy from its Partners to ensure that this project is brought in on schedule with the funds to make it happen. From creating a thoughtful business plan to product-launch marketing advice, the Partners have been fully engaged in every aspect of the project.

The timing could not be better! More students drop out of college due to credit card debt than academic failure. Enterprise Village teaches financial literacy in a hands-on engaging format that kids love to learn. Thanks to the help of SDSVP, Enterprise Village is scheduled to open its doors to its first students in May 2007.

“SDSVP brought an energy and enthusiasm to this project that was contagious. The dedication of the Partners was an inspiration to our entire staff. The guidance that SDSVP provided at strategic junctures was irreplaceable. It was clear the Partners were doing what they do best: being entrepreneurs and launching new projects!”

Marion Paul,
Executive Vice President

Junior Achievement (JA)

California is one of 30 states in the nation that does not require or provide formal financial literacy training for students. Consequently, many students today are making poor financial decisions, being lured into excessive credit card debt, and are unable to manage their money. SDSVP funded a pilot JA personal finance program to address these issues. JA taught personal finance to over 500 students in low-income high school classes across San Diego County.

SDSVP and JA will focus on a new initiative for financial literacy and business called JA Enterprise Village, the first of its kind in California. It will immerse 5th and 6th grade students in the fundamental components of free enterprise, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, economics, ethics and citizenship. Over half of the estimated 12,000 participants will be low-income youth.
All students will represent the diverse ethnic and cultural populations of San Diego. SDSVP will provide strategic guidance and capacity building in the areas of business planning, site selection, fundraising, marketing and communications.

“What is unique about the SDSVP partnership is that it provides multiple-year funding, as well as creative and dedicated personnel, to launch new programs. Multiple-year funding helps create an entrepreneurial environment in non-profits because it provides an additional incentive to stay the course when a new idea becomes challenging.”

Marion Paul,
Executive Vice President, Junior Achievement