Social Venture Partners Greater Tucson

By: Jackie Kajos

Our 2011 Grant Round Launch was great, we had an even bigger turnout than we originally expected! Twenty-five nonprofits in the community were represented, ranging from theater groups to arts programs, and literacy organizations to community centers. We’ve expanded our definition of literacy to encompass and address more aspects of what it means to lead a fulfilling and prosperous life, and we are looking forward to investigating the new possibilities that this expansion allows. Partners on the Investment answered questions and got to know a little bit more about the interested organizations.

We went over the Investment Process timeline and what to expect. To paraphrase Partner David Griffis, the goal of our Partners and our organization is to help built capacity so that they can “do” more program, but not necessarily fund the program itself. Letter of Inquires and Datasheets will be due on June 2^nd. The LOI and Datasheet is the place to convince us where your organization will be able to use our partners and our skills. Some important questions to consider include:

• How does your organization address community literacy?
• Is your organization ready for the next step?
• Is there enough infrastructure in place?
• Do you need both technical support in addition to funding?
• Does the culture of your organization mesh well with ours?
• Where can you use our partners skills?
• What areas of your organization need expertise?

Compel us and demonstrate to us your organization’s potential for innovation and growth, and most importantly show us how your organization and ours fits. We are anticipating the beginning of the review process, and our Partners are excited to see the great things your organization is doing for Pima County! Get in touch with us if you have any questions: email Julia at julia@svpgt.org!

By: Jackie Kajos

“I’m at the edge of a body of water in the morning, a calm lake, and I’m going to grab a stone and throw it out into that lake, in that body of water, and we all know what’s going to happen, right? It’s going to create a ripple.” –Paul Shoemaker, SVP Seattle, Executive Connector  

SVPGT is all about creating ripples. We’re a network of 26 organizations across the country, in Canada and in Japan, and we’re all throwing stones into the ocean of change. And together, those ripples combine to make waves. Our Partners gathered on May 4^th for the Annual Partner Meeting to reflect on the year, celebrate our accomplishments, honor our partners and their hard work, learn about our impact and connect with the network. Paul Shoemaker, SVP Seattle Executive Connector spoke to us about our history, innovation in the network, and reminded us that we are a part of a something much bigger than ourselves.

SVP is the only world-wide network of engaged and connected philanthropists, and together we are able to achieve so much more. Using Paul’s metaphor, if the world is the ocean and all the creatures swimming in the water are social problems, we can make a difference by helping each whale. But if we really want to make some positive changes, we can save the ocean and thereby help more whales and fish and make an even bigger impact. Thus, when our Partners combine forces we can multiply our impact in Tucson, and through our connection to the SVP network we amplify our reach even farther.

Our partners are extremely dedicated to the Greater Tucson community and we were delighted to take this time to honor their commitment. Partner Jane Wilson completed her Board service in 2011, and is the first Partner to complete a full term of service, in addition to serving on the Founding Board and a variety of committees. We are so grateful for Jane’s time and insight!

In addition, Partner David “Griff” Griffis was honored with the Chair’s Award, by Chair John Smith, for his exceptional service and commitment to SVPGT over the last year. Griff has devoted over 600 hours of service consulting literacy organizations in the community. He is also the Chair of the Investment Committee, on the SVPGT Board and has worked with our investees on board development and strategic planning. Griff went above and beyond and he has truly impacted the Tucson literacy space. We want to thank those Partners who attended the meeting, and we would especially like to thank Paul Shoemaker for speaking to our partnership. It was an invigorating evening and we hope you had fun and left energized and ready to make even more waves!

Go to our Facebook page for more photos! And make sure to watch Paul’s talk here!