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SVP Momentum - October 2011 - Conference Highlights!
Two weeks ago, SVP convened in Minneapolis. Over two days, we challenged current thinking in the philanthropic sector. We gathered some of the best minds in the nonprofit space in an effort to find world class solutions to some of the most vexing social problems of our time. We enjoyed an unparalleled opportunity where energy, optimism, ideas and action converged, where the collective power of the largest network of engaged donors in the world was unleashed. At no other time has there been so much momentum across the SVP network.
Dear SVP Friend,
Two weeks ago, SVP convened in Minneapolis. Over two days, we challenged current thinking in the philanthropic sector. We gathered some of the best minds in the nonprofit space in an effort to find world class solutions to some of the most vexing social problems of our time. We enjoyed an unparalleled opportunity where energy, optimism, ideas and action converged, where the collective power of the largest network of engaged donors in the world was unleashed. At no other time has there been so much momentum across the SVP network.
What role will you play?
Warmly,
Ruth Jones,
CEO, Social Venture Partners International
Online Gallery of Photos by Gary Voth.
Read The Line and Star Tribune media coverage of the event.
The Opportunities Facing Us
“What happens if you take the potential of every individual, connect them directly to the people working on the issues they are passionate about, and challenge them to make a difference?” asks Lance Fors, SVPI’s new Board President, in his opening remarks at the conference. "At SVP, we’ve seen what happens and the results are transformational.”
Stretch yourself with these webinars:
Partner Profile Data to Focus & Accelerate Recruiting: Nov. 9th at 10 AM Pacific. Register here.
Sustainable Revenue for SVP with Paul Shoemaker: Nov. 15th at 11 AM Pacific. Register here.
SVP Collective Action Learning Community with Lance Fors: Nov 17th at 10 AM Pacific. Register here.
Contents:
Changing the Way the World is Changed
In his keynote address, Dan Pallotta, author of Uncharitable – How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine their Potential, challenged us to do more. “I think there a big difference between what’s going on with thought leaders and what’s happening in the general public. If you ask the attorney general or a state representative or the man on the street what they think about social enterprise and the venture philanthropy movement, they’ll wonder what on earth you are talking about.”
Pallotta says, “Nonprofits have to invest in overhead. This idea that the best charities are the ones with the lowest overhead is ridiculous.” If we don’t allow nonprofits to invest in themselves then we are standing in the way of real social progress.
“We assume that experimentation is necessarily wasteful. If charities cannot make mistakes, they can never learn. If they can make only small mistakes, they can never learn anything great. They are sentenced to an eternity of small contexts.”
Please check back on our website for video footage of Pallotta’s speech.
SVP staff Mandy Sherlock, Mark Holloway, Stacy Caldwell, Paul Shoemaker and Karen Whiteman with Dan Pallotta, proud to be “overhead.”
Keynote Jeff Edmondson: What's it Gonna Take? A New Vision
What if the cross sector leaders in every community abandoned their individual agendas and banded together in a truly collaborative fashion to improve student achievement? What if we applied that effort to other social sectors? Jeff Edmondson, President of the Strive Network is leading the charge in the US for children to be the focal point of education from cradle to career. Strive’s Collective Impact framework has been wildly successful in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati and 85 cities in the US and Canada are exploring the framework for their communities.
Despite the recession and budget cuts, 40 of the 53 success indicators that Strive tracks have shown positive trends, including high school graduation rates, fourth-grade reading and math scores, and the number of preschool children prepared for kindergarten.
“It’s not a model, because it’s not perfect. Every community is different and Collective Impact must be designed to represent a community’s specific needs,” Edmondson says. He reminds us, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
On what SVP brings to the Collective Impact table, Edmondson says, “Courage to lead. Courage to commit. Courage to challenge.” He challenges the SVP network to consider 1) serving as a backbone organization, 2) providing capacity on collaborative action, 3) convene funders, 4) champion new philanthropy outcomes and collaboration.
Mark Holloway, Susan Sullivan and Bill Henningsgaard share experiences on their work in Portland and Seattle in Edmondson’s breakout session on the lessons learned and potential next steps for SVPs and partners in Collective Impact initiatives.
Partner Profile Data to Focus and Accelerate Recruiting
Bratati Ghosh, co-founder, Kinsight Analytics shared fascinating and valuable research data that unearthed relevant and actionable insights for SVP partner recruitment strategies. In the Kinsight Analytics’ SVP segmentation report you can learn about the motivations, values and interests of those people who are high-level prospects, and how you can use this information to boost recruiting and retention at your SVP. Go deeper with Ms. Ghosh and SVPI and learn about the Thoughtful Contributors, Community Leaders and Passionate Aspirers that can make your SVP stronger for your next level of impact. Participate in a webinar on Wednesday, November 9th at 10 AM Pacific, 11 AM Mountain/Arizona, 12 Noon Central, 1 PM Eastern to learn specifics on this new tool. Register here.
Sustainable Revenue Model for SVP
SVP is poised to take our work to the next level and this is the right moment for every SVP to create a comprehensive fundraising plan that builds a strong base of financial support, while also maintaining SVP’s unique partnership culture.
Fund development expert, Brian Saber, co-founder of Asking Matters and Paul Shoemaker, Executive Connector, SVP Seattle and board member of SVPI presented a new funding model built for SVP Seattle and a fund development plan designed to broaden and increase individual donor support, an area of great promise and sustainability for SVP.
Learn from Paul about the process and how Seattle is executing on their plan in a webinar on Tuesday, November 15th at 11 AM Pacific, 12 Noon Mountain/Arizona, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern. Register here.
Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award Announced
Krystyna Williamson, Alan Sorkin, Paul Shoemaker and Andy Williamson share the spotlight with stellar achievers Rick Acosta of SVP Denver and Hideyuki Inoue of SVP Tokyo who are the 2011 Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award recipients.
The Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award is presented annually to the Social Venture Partner who has demonstrated consistent commitment to strengthening the SVP network and to the SVP model of engaged philanthropy, and through this, to his or her community.
It is named in honor of Paul Shoemaker, the founding Executive Director of SVP Seattle, and the founding President of SVPI – a man who embodies this commitment to Social Venture Partners, the network, and his community.
Learn more about the award and the contributions of Rick and Hide towards strengthening the SVP network.
Preeminent Early Learning Researcher Approaches SVP for Potential Partnership
Just as the conference concluded, SVP partners with a keen interest in moving early childhood development forward, spent a half day in discussion with Dr. Craig Ramey, one of the world’s preeminent Early Childhood researchers. Ramey is the principal investigator of the The Carolina Abecedarian Project, the 30-year randomized controlled study of the potential benefits of early childhood education children of low income families. Dr. Ramey knows early learning. His current focus addresses “going-to-scale” and rapid application of scientific findings." SVP is uniquely positioned to partner with Dr. Ramey for the next phase
of his research, which is about creating connections between policy, practice and research across early childhood development, care and education. To date, the SVP network has engaged with more than 40 early childhood service providers in a dozen locations, and partners across the network are highly involved in early childhood initiatives at the state and local levels. Partnering with Dr. Ramey presents a compelling, leveraged opportunity to achieve sustained impact on the early childhood education sector and related student outcomes. Could Social Venture Partners play a role? To find out more, contact Programs Director Rona Pryor at rona@svpi.org.
