Nonprofit Organizations throughout North America View Relationship with Social Venture Partners Critical to Growth and Success

Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) announced its latest outcome results associated with overall satisfaction from nonprofit organizations funded by SVP in the United States and Canada.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Cara Lewis, Communications Manager
Social Venture Partners International
(919) 481-9151 / cara@svpi.org

SEATTLE (December 2, 2010) – Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) announced its latest outcomes results associated with overall satisfaction from nonprofit organizations funded by SVP in the United States and Canada. The 2010 Report on Capacity Building Outcomes measures the effectiveness of SVP organizations in helping local nonprofits build capacity. The report also tracks perceived value added by individual SVP partners.

A key finding from the 2010 report is that 97% of nonprofit organizations funded by SVP rated their overall relationship with SVP as “excellent” or “good.”

“Relationships between nonprofit staff and SVP partners are critical” explains Ruth Jones, CEO of Social Venture Partners International, “as direct engagement is a fundamental part of the SVP model.”

SVP Partners give of their time, professional experience and creativity to work in partnership with nonprofits and local leaders to help nonprofits improve their effectiveness and extend their reach. The report includes stories from nonprofits about the ‘most significant change’ that their organization experienced as a result ofworking with SVP. Excerpts from some of those stories follow:

SVP saw in our organization the potential to have a large impact on students, if only we could develop the organization capacity and expertise to expand and support our program. As a direct result of the consulting they have provided, we have doubled the number of students served and funding raised, and are on the verge of hiring at least two new full-time staff members. – Boston Debate League, www.bostondebate.org

SVP has made a world of difference in our organization and in our lives. The biggest impact SVP has made in STLF is through the advice, mentorship, coaching, and support of our young leadership team. Our service lead Marty Leestma, SVP MN Executive Director Brad Brown, and various other partners have been critical in the growth and success of STLF. – Students Today Leaders Forever, www.stlf.net

Mom’s House Wilmington was offered the opportunity to participate in a strategic planning session. As a nonprofit our talks have centered on expanding our program, but found we often stalled our expansion because of feeling overwhelmed with the plans and tools necessary to increase our clientele. Thankfully we were introduced to SVP DE and accepted as one of their center investments. After SVP DE learned of our dreams of expansion the wheel was set in motion. - Mom’s House Wilmington, www.momshouse.org/wilmington.html

This year, New Global Citizens entered its fifth fiscal year. As an organization that has grown rapidly since inception, it became clear in the fall of 2009 that we could not continue to rely on start-up strategies to sustain our growth. Instead, we needed to transition to a sustainable and structured model for planning and execution. With the support of Social Venture Partners, we were able to hire a Chief Operating Officer who brought an incredibly unique skill set to the vision of New Global Citizens. She was instrumental in developing several internal planning, monitoring, and tracking tools to guide both the staff and the Board of Directors towards accurate execution. - New Global Citizens, www.newglobalcitizens.org

The two capacity building areas in which nonprofit organizations reported receiving the most value from SVP partners were Mission, Vision, Strategy and Planning assistance and CEO/Executive Director/Senior management leadership development.

Since its formation in 1997, the Social Venture Partners network has contributed more than $37 million (USD) in grant investments to more than 400 nonprofit organizations. Last year, SVP partners gave more than 13,000 hours of volunteer time for strategic projects ranging from Program Evaluation to Legal Affairs to Information Technology.

About Social Venture Partners International

Social Venture Partners is an international network comprised of 2,000 accomplished, dedicated individuals who combine their professional skills and financial contributions with a passion for philanthropy. Affiliation with the SVP Network is made possible by Social Venture Partners International (SVPI), a non-profit membership association that supports SVP organizations in 26 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Tokyo. For more information on Social Venture Partners, please visit www.svpi.org.

About the SVPI 2010 Capacity Building Report

Social Venture Partners International produced this report of collective survey findings to further serve as a resource for SVP affiliates. The 18 SVPs who participated were: SVP Arizona, SVP Boston, SVP Boulder County, British Columbia SVP, SVP Calgary, SVP Cincinnati, Cleveland SVP, Dallas SVP, SVP Delaware, SVP Denver, SVP Greater Tucson, Los Angeles SVP, SVP Minnesota, SVP Portland, San Diego SVP, SVP Seattle, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)[1], and SVP Toronto. 72 nonprofit organizations participated in the survey. For more information, contact Rona Pryor at rona@svpi.org.

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[1]SV2 is a strategic partner of Social Venture Partners International.