Dear Social Venture Partners and Friends,

I got back late October from the SVP network conference in Dallas.  I always enjoy catching up with old friends among the partners and meeting new ones, but this gathering seemed especially important: in the middle of a recession, the network continues to grow (welcome Sacramento!) and partners seemed, if anything, to have strengthened their commitment to philanthropy.

The conference gave us great tools:

• Andy Goodman’s plenary and workshop, Storytelling: The First Big Thing was a hit.  He taught us the impact of a great story and how we can use it to convey the value of our work. (If you missed his workshop, learn more here or sign-up for the online web seminar he is hosting for SVP partners and staff in early 2010!)
• Melinda Tuan is THE expert on evaluating methods of measuring social value creation: she analyzed the pros and cons and gave solid advice about how SVPs should tackle this.
•  What’s the Big Idea profiled initiatives from the network that are ripe for replication (CASH , SNAP, Step Up San Diego)
• More than 2/3 of SVP Chairs talked tactics (SVP operations) and shared big dreams (where to from here?) at the Chairs’ Forum.

I came home excited and energized by the new ideas, trends and opportunities that came to light over the course of the meeting.  I had an incredibly strong sense of the power of the network – of what 2000 plus people can achieve when they put their hearts and minds into it.

The network is growing up: SVP is the largest donor network in the world and the most effective (check out the reports highlighted on SVPI’s website).   Where do we go from here? How do we take this whole thing to the next level?  We are thinking big, and want you to be part of this: over the next year there’ll be multiple opportunities to tell us your ideas and help us work this through.  As Paul Shoemaker said at the conference, in 10 more years we could be celebrating not 25 SVPs with 2000 engaged partners, but 50 SVPs with 5000 engaged partners.  What an accomplishment that would be!

Warm regards,

Ruth

Ruth Jones, Executive Director
Social Venture Partners International

In this issue:

2009 SVP Conference Highlights

SVP Calgary Couple Receive Leadership Award at SVP Conference

New Network Representatives

Sacramento joins the SVP network

Above and Beyond SVP

Storytelling Workshop with Andy Goodman

What We're Reading

2009 SVP Conference Highlights

"Great conference with fabulous, energized partners."

San Diego SVP partners and staff at the opening reception.
From left to right: Mark Fackler, Louarn Sorkin, Mandy Sherlock, Peggy Kidd, and Alan Sorkin.

 "I must come back, these people are inspiring."

- 2009 SVP Conference Attendee

"This is exactly what we need to do more of: thinking bigger, thinking beyond."

- 2009 SVP Conference Attendee

Partners from across the SVP network get to know each other and exchange contacts during Blackberry BINGO.
From left to right: John Glanville (Santa Barbara), Maurine Karabatsos (Arizona), and Susan Sullivan (Seattle).

"A superb effort, particularly strong in creating opportunities for networking and connections between partners from different SVPs."

- 2009 SVP Conference Attendee

* Partners: Read and add to the Conference Wiki here.

SVP Calgary Couple Receive Leadership Award at SVP Conference

The Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award is presented 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 their community.

The 2009 award was given to Andy and Krystyna Williamson of SVP Calgary at the 2009 SVP Conference.

Andy and Krystyna are a power couple of Social Venture Partners. She chairs Calgary; he represents Canada. Both in theory and in practice, they are dedicated to engaged philanthropy and to the SVP Model. She keeps him on his toes with theoretical curve balls that he’ll defend. Their involvement with investees, attendance at conferences and events, and dedication to SVP Calgary make them a dynamic duo. More importantly, they are passing the value of philanthropy to their colleagues, peers, and children.

The Williamsons have been active with SVP Calgary for the past seven years.  Andy currently serves on the Board of SVPI and Krystyna has just completed her term as Chair of the SVP Calgary Board. Both Williamsons are active recruiters for Calgary, have participated in the Investment Committee, and with Investees. Krystyna has spearheaded our SVP Alumni Group and is the lead facilitator of the Capacity Assessment Tool for Calgary. They have both been huge supporters of SVP Kids – involving their children in the program and helping to run the programming itself. In the past year, they have been instrumental in the transitions that Calgary has faced – and have been leaders at re-imaging the role that SVP can hold in the Calgary community.

Andy became a partner of SVP Calgary in 2002 and served on the ’03-’04 Grant Committee, an experience which helped to ignite a passion for the SVP model and the organization. He is an enthusiastic member of the Recruiting Committee and enjoys sharing the SVP story with prospective partners. A strong supporter of the International network, he has attended the Annual Conference every year since joining SVP. Andy has over 20 years experience in the oil and gas industry as a Geophysicist, including international postings in Bogotá, Colombia, Buenos Aires, Argentina and recently in Ecuador. He is currently Geophysical Advisor for a junior oil and gas company based in Calgary. Outside of his work with SVP, Andy is also an active volunteer in several technical societies in the field of geophysics. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Geophysics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Krystyna is has just completed her term as Chair of the SVP Calgary Board. Krystyna’s experience with SVP is broad – spanning from Investment Committees to Lead Partnership; from SVP Kids to SVP Alumni, and everything in between. Very active in the local community, Krystyna has worked with the Calgary Catholic Education Foundation, the United Way, Queens’ University, and within her Parish. Krystyna received her Bachelor of Science with Honors in Life Sciences (Microbiology) 1986 from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario Canada and has continued her training in Adult Education and Non-Profit Management.

About the Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award

The award is named in honor of Paul Shoemaker, the founding ED of SVP Seattle, and the founding President of SVPI – a man who embodies this commitment to Social Venture Partners, the network, and his community.  The recipient of the award is committed to Social Venture Partners’ shared principles:

1. Engaged Venture Philanthropy
2. Entrepreneurial Spirit
3. Philanthropic Education
4. Community & Collaborative Action
5. Mutual Respect
6. Accountability & Results
   

Past recipients of the Paul Shoemaker Leadership Award include:

• 2004 - Paul Shoemaker, Partner and Executive Director, SVP Seattle
• 2005 - Erin Hemmings Kahn, Former Associate Director, SVP Seattle
• 2006 - Alan Sorkin, Founding Partner, San Diego SVP
• 2007 - Eli Lamb, Founding Partner, SVP Portland
• 2008 - Jerry Hirsch, Founding Partner, SVP Arizona

New Network Representatives

Claude Case (Santa Barbara), Lance Fors (Silicon Valley) and Kevin Shaw (Cleveland) were elected to the SVPI board recently.

Alan Sorkin (San Diego) is SVPI’s incoming President.  The following officers were confirmed on October 25:

• Dan Rigby (Arizona), Vice President
• Nancy Cannon-O’Connell (Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund), Secretary
• Ken Deemer (Los Angeles), Treasurer
• Dan Catlin (Boulder County), Assistant Treasurer

SVPI board directors and brief biographies are listed here.

Sacramento joins the SVP network

The newest member of our network is Social Venture Philanthropy Sacramento, the first venture philanthropy initiative in the state capital of California. The region’s population has grown rapidly in the last 20 years and while growth has brought wealth and prosperity, it has been accompanied by the social challenges of a growing city: inner city neglect, stagnant rural communities and a large population of working poor people.

SVP Sacramento was established after two years of in-depth research and local focus groups led by Jack Crawford, Jr., CEO and Founder of Velocity Venture Capital, a seed and early stage venture capital firm in the region.  Jack was joined by Kraig Clark, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, and John Finnegan, a successful CEO and active philanthropist.  The Sacramento Region Community Foundation is an enthusiastic supporter and the group has appointed as its Executive Director, Charley Ansbach, a successful veteran with more than 30 years of experience working with nonprofits. 

Above and Beyond SVP

Dallas partners don’t let the grass grow under their feet.  At last year’s SVP network conference in Cleveland, a group of partners listened to plenary speaker John Wood, former Microsoft executive now and now Executive Chairman of Room To Read, speak about the nonprofit he established to build libraries, schools and promote literacy, first in Nepal and now in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Laos, South Africa and Zambia.

By late summer, a check from Dallas partners was on its way to establish a school in Nepal in DSVP’s name.  Next step – partners are planning a possible visit to Nepal in Fall 2010 to visit the school and its students.

Two SVPs, three thousand miles apart, are celebrating the stunning success of outreach initiatives in their communities.  More than 400 people attended Los Angeles SVP’s Social Innovation Fast Pitch at the University of Southern California on November 11th, the culmination of a two month mentoring and coaching program for some of LA’s most innovative nonprofits.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, Rhode Island SVP is the force behind Social Enterprise Rhode Island, which aims to capitalize on the significant amount of emerging social enterprise activity there, increase awareness and share best practices designed to enhance the economic viability of the social services sector.  SERI culminated in the SERI Summit on November 12th, when more than 60 presenters and 300 audience members came together.  Partners hope the initiative will foster an engaged social innovation community and make social enterprise development a key piece of the state’s economic development strategy.

Storytelling Workshop with Andy Goodman

 Andy Goodman’s plenary and workshop, “Storytelling: the First Big Thing,” were a huge hit at the SVP conference last month. Those who participated were unanimous in their assessment:

• “Five stars. Two thumbs up.”
• “Andy Goodman was excellent. Elements of his presentation stayed with me the entire conference as I think about how I can improve my presentation/storytelling skills.”
• “Fabulous!! I now have a much better story for my favorite nonprofit organization.”
• “It was wonderful! Would love to learn even more.”

Now you can learn even more – and so can any SVP partner or staff member, or SVP Investee staff or board member. SVPI has negotiated a discounted rate of $400 per person (20% savings) for a four-week webinar with Andy: “Storytelling: Tapping the Power of Narrative.” Classes will be held via phone and the web on Tuesdays, January 12, 19, 26 and February 2nd from 11 AM – 12 noon PST (12 noon MST & Arizona; 1 PM Central; 2 PM Eastern). During the course you’ll learn:

• What is the Structure of a Well-Told Tale? The structural elements upon which memorable and moving stories are built.
• What are the Qualities of a Well-Told Tale? Good structure is to storytelling what a solid frame is to a house. Both are essential, but by themselves they do not create a place that people want to enter. Examples from this class and prior workshops illustrate the narrative elements that combine with structure to create a full-fledged story.
  
• What Kinds of Stories Can I Tell? Most organizations will instinctively collect success stories, but those are only one kind of story that you can collect and use.
  
• How Do I Put Storytelling to Work? Once you know why storytelling is so powerful and what makes a good story, you are ready to consider how this skill can start working for you and your organization.
  

Want to join us? We need to hear from you! We need a minimum of 15 people to host the workshop, so let me know at rona@svpi.org as soon as possible if you want to participate. And spread the word! This is open to all SVP Partners and staff, as well as staff and board members from SVP investees.

The stories of SVP are myriad – let’s learn how to share them for the greatest impact!

What We're Reading

"Working Wikily 2.0" by the Monitor Institute

"Voices That Matter: Paul Shoemaker, on Becoming a Social Entrepreneur" by Susan Schreter, Business On Main

"What's Wrong With Charitable Giving - and How to Fix It" by Pablo Eisenberg, Wall Street Journal