Thursday, November 18, 2010

Portfolio Review - 2010 Announcements

Each year, the DSVP Portfolio Review Committee (PRC) monitors the partner engagement and investee progress within our portfolio of nonprofits that we support. Throughout the year, the committee keeps connected to the lead partners who are serving on behalf of DSVP to help track and accomplish the work of the partnership. As multi-year investments with an enagement strategy developed on the front-end, the PRC helps ensure that we are on-track over time to achieve the success we seek.

Each year, the committee makes recommendations to the board for refunding decisions and recommendations for emeritus status (when our investees sucessfully graduate). Below is the listing of active investments that will continue to be supported throughout 2011 and those who have successfully been nominated and elevated to emeritus status.

2011 Active Investments:
Newly Approved Emeirtus Investments:

Monday, November 15, 2010

Bob Wright honored with Paul Shoemaker Award

DSVP's founding partner, Bob Wright was honored with the prestigious "Paul Shoemaker Award" at the recent Social Venture Partner International Annual Meeting in Long Beach, CA. Bob was surprised with a pair of inscribed high-top sneakers.

The award is given each year 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. Bob is the seventh recipient of the award.

Bob was nominated by the DSVP staff and board for his dedication, vision and uncanny positivity he continues to bring to the partnership. When receiving the award, Bob humbly commented, "Who knew you could get an award for just having fun with your friends!".

Friday, November 12, 2010

Expert vs. Crowd, the SVP difference.

Reading the Philanthropy 2173 post today on "The Market of Philanthropy Advisers" resonated with a vision that I think many of us have for the Social Venture Partner movement. Over the years, our various partnerships take on new communications campaigns and messaging to present a model of "engaged philanthropy" and "venture philanthropy" that in a sense is all about what Lucy Bernholtz is talking about.

Acknowledging the slow but increasing maturation of the philanthropic sector, we learn that there is still very little academic or standardization of philanthropic advising in general. Whether formal or informal, the entry level cost of becoming an adviser to the worlds wealthiest is "almost negligible".

Lucy highlights the importance of networks and social media in this field.
"But in our world today, where data are increasingly commodified and analysis/synthesis/expertise increasingly dispersed - the innovations from the bottom will - and should - affect the thinking of the top. Networks can generate more ideas, vet more ideas, and provide a more robust feedback process than any single adviser. They can mix experts and crowds."

I see this play out every day in Dallas Social Venture Partners where the crowd is the partnership trying to make a difference, not necessarily paid consultants and evaluators. The partners themselves represent a formal network among each other and a myriad of networks they bring to the table. The metrics they lead with are based in the qualitative, relationship based activities and storytelling. It makes sense, our philanthropists are among the same community they are trying to effect. And while the quantitative certainly offers the street-cred for the partnership to claim impact and victory, it is the qualitative that continues to drive the communications and influence from on-the-ground.

For more than 12 years, Social Venture Partner International has collected and captured the quantitative data that rolls up from each of the 25 cities to help prove our model as effective and impactful to the philanthropic and nonprofit sector. But the change-making work, the community impact is happening on the ground with each partnership.

Over the last couple years, we have seen several of the SVP's achieve and pass the decade mark. With that longevity, comes a robust portfolio of diverse missions that SVP partners and leaders have nurtured, grown and served. With that service comes the tribal knowledge of what works and what is innovative.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Don't miss the Final Ten Year Events in 2010!

What an incredible year DSVP has enjoyed as we complete our first decade as an organization. Highlights have included a steady growth of new partners, the first bigBANG! event, a recently adopted strategic plan, and many new community connections and friends.

As the year comes to a close, we invite you to join us for two final celebration events. We hope to see you there, all friends and partners welcome!

Annual Luncheon - Reflections and Vision: DSVP at 10 Years
December 3, 11am-1pm, Tower Club
Details and RSVP Here.

Holiday Party - Let's get this party started!
December 9, 5:30pm-8:00pm, Reunion Tower
Details and RSVP Here.

DSVP adopts Strategic Plan

After a four month planning process involving more than 40 partners in three different work streams, the DSVP board of directors has adopted the recommended strategic plan. The plan is a perfect balance between strategic vision around community focused leverage and impact along with partnership focused tactical programs.

Highlights from the plan include some of the following:
  • Partner Power - Programmatic alignment of philanthropy education, partnership recruitment and investee engagement with a new "Partner Committee".
  • Expanded Opportunities-Support more opportunities for our partners to have the impact they seek with a "Special Opportunities Team".
  • More Fuel for the Fire - Leveraging additional resources into the investee portfolio through co-investment strategies and attracting additional human capital while DSVP is actively investing in nonprofits we support through a "Community Relations Team".
  • Nurture the Ecosystem - Further promotion of social innovation as a strategy to engage the community, build awareness of DSVP, and nurture the ecosystem of engaged philanthropists, sustainable nonprofits and socially conscious businesses.
Staff and Board are developing work plans, budgets, committee charters and staffing models for 2011 to support these activities. Thank you to all our partners who were involved in the process. DSVP will be a stronger better organization because of this effort and vision!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

2010 Investment Committee home stretch with four finalists!

DSVP Partner teams are working with four Investment Committee finalists – Jubilee Community Center, Real School Gardens, Trinity River Mission and Vickery Meadow Learning Center – on Engagement Strategies and Final Presentations. The Investee Selection meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 30th from 4-8pm (RSVP here) and is open to the entire DSVP Partnership! Read below to learn a little more about our finalists...

Jubilee Community Center serves 1,027 children and 173 adults daily through programming at OM Roberts Elementary School, Davids’ Place Head Start, an afterschool program, and at ESL, literacy, and computer classes. The mission of Jubilee is to be a catalyst for community renewal and enrichment to the South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhood, with special emphasis on comprehensive, community revitalization and the education of children and adults.
www.jubileecenter.org
Lead Partner: Rod Armstrong

Real School Gardens is a grassroots gardening program that serves children 41,000 children annually in low income, urban neighborhoods by partnering with elementary school communities to design, install, and use outdoor classrooms (gardens) to improve academic achievement and promote healthy development. The mission of Real School Gardens is to cultivate relationships with elementary schools to create learning gardens that raise hope, spark imaginations, and connect children to nature.
www.realschoolgardens.org
Lead Partner: Robin Minick

Trinity River Mission is a volunteer-based community learning center that serves 450 children per year. Trinity River Mission promotes literacy, encourages academic success and develops effective life skills among disadvantaged youth in West Dallas, in the belief that education connects us to life’s possibilities.
www.trinityrivermission.org
Lead Partner: Jim Pasant

Vickery Meadow Learning Center is dedicated to improving English literacy levels among non-English speaking adults and children by providing programs in communication and life skills. Vickery Meadow serves 725 adults and 200 children annually and does so in the belief that the ability to understand, read, write and speak English contributes to independence, productivity and the overall well-being of our students, their families and the greater community.
http://www.vmlc.org/
Lead Partner: Elaine Bernstein

Once again all DSVP Partners are welcome to attend this event. Please let us know if you will be able to attend. We look forward to seeing everyone and choosing who the next Investee will be!