Social Venture Partners connects people with passion and purpose

For the past 20 years, Social Venture Partners, or SVP, of Boulder County has connected people with passion and purpose. 

According to SVP Boulder County’s CEO Joshua Silberstein, the original organization started in Seattle in the late 1990s and has since expanded to 40 affiliates throughout the world. 

“It was started because someone with a windfall of money through their work wanted to figure out how to become an engaged philanthropist,” Silberstein said.

The model developed so that philanthropists could offer not only financial support, but time and experience to support and grow nonprofits in their communities. The partnership model came to Boulder in 2000, then under the guidance of the Boulder Community Foundation. After twelve years, SVP split off into an independent organization.

“Our motto is that strong nonprofits make for a strong community,” Silberstein said.

SVP has three primary programs; the Catapult program, Invested Leaders and Resource teams. 

Catapult is a three-year support that offers yearly grants, as well as hundreds of hours of pro-bono consulting from SVP and its variety of partners. The deep-dive consulting varies depending on the needs of the nonprofit, ranging from strategic planning for the growth of the organization to implementing new systems for fundraising and communication.

“Sometimes, like with recent Catapult participant KGNU, it’s sort of the boring work we help with,” Silberstein said. “We helped KGNU transition their donor management system to something more modern and up-to-date as part of its three-year program.”

Invested Leaders is a peer group of executive directors for nonprofits that meet once a month to discuss a variety of issues affecting its organizations. Led by one of SVP’s partners, the meetings provide ongoing support and development for executives to acquire and apply new skills withintheir organizations.

Resource teams offer short-term consulting, coaching and mentoring for nonprofits on a case-by-case basis. According to Silberstein, the resource teams are there for helping nonprofits navigate short term issues, whether it’s an organizational assessment during leadership transition or training a board of directors on fundraising techniques.

“Resource teams are there for more short-term engagements, anywhere from one month to six,” Silberstein said. “We can connect them with one of our partners to get them the direction they need.”

Longmont Community Justice Partnership, or LCJP, is entering their second year as participants in the Catapult program. LCJP gained access to strategic planning sessions, guidance on board management and consultations for improvements to marketing and fundraising, according to LCJP’s interim executive director Shalene Onyango. Additionally, SVP was integral in preparing Onyango for the transition within LCJP after former executive director Kathleen McGoey stepped down from the role.

“It’s a comfort during this transition, knowing that we have the support of an organization like SVP … Knowing that I’m not here alone as we navigate this transition is huge,” Onyango said. “I describe (SVP) as venture capitalists for the nonprofit world … They’re so great at identifying the assets that an organization already has and how they meet the needs of the community.”

Silberstein said SVP was impressed with the work that LCJP does for community and restorative practices.

“LCJP was a major beneficiary of SVP in 2020,” Onyango said. “When you get investment from them, you get funds. But the major benefits are the people, experience and the skills they bring that would normally be unaffordable for a smaller nonprofit like us.”

When considering applicants for the Catapult program, SVP looks for organizations having a positive impact on the community. The other component is determining where the nonprofit is in the life cycle as an organization, to see if SVP can provide an opportunity for the next step in growth.

Wild Bear Nature Center is the latest nonprofit to join SVP’s Catapult program. The Nederland-based environmental education group has helped with conservation and education in the area for 25 years, including an expansive trash clean-up at Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch. 

“They’re doing some amazing work at Wild Bear, and they’re at this cusp where they are raising money for a new nature center,” Silberstein said. “So we can help them make this transition and grow, to take them from just being a Nederland organization to a Boulder County organization.”

Jill Dreves, the executive director for Wild Bear, started the organization in 1995. Its current education center is in downtown Nederland, but it’s putting plans in motion for an $8 million nature and education center centered on the five acres the nonprofit owns at Mud Lake.

Dreves said Wild Bear had applied for the Catapult program several times in the past, she was excited and grateful to finally take part in it.

“It’s a critical time for Wild Bear, we’re in a really big growth mode as we plan out this nature center with the hope to move in by 2023,” Dreves said. “So we want to build a really strong horse to pull this cart and really deliver a robust program to serve the very diverse population of Boulder County. This is perfect timing for our relationship with SVP to begin.”

SVP works with organizations of all scales and sizes. The Boulder County YWCA is in its final year of the Catapult program, using the resources to expand its early child care program. Silberstein pointed to the YWCA’s work as an anti-racism organization and work for early childhood education and equity as a driving factor in the Catapult selection.

“The work the YWCA does to support low cost education and child care and helping people that have to choose between paying for rent and child care is important,” Silberstein said. “So we looked at the impact they could have and then looked at how we could build out their child care program so that they could serve more people in that area.”

“There’s so many different talents with SVP and they guide you,” said Shiquita Yarbrough, director of community engagement and equity at YWCA Boulder. “They hear your passions, they listen to you and hear your needs and make sure they provide the correct resources.”

Yarbrough has worked with SVP in her time with YWCA Boulder and prior to that in her position as office manager at the Community Foundation Boulder County.

“They create this plan according to your vision and where they see a need in Boulder County,” Yarbrough said. “The talent is amazing, there’s no pressure when they help, no telling you that you’re doing things wrong. No matter what problem we had, SVP had someone that could help us fix it.”

The relationships with SVP, its partners and its beneficiaries go in both directions. Silberstein said working with LCJP encouraged them to learn more about restorative practices and how to incorporate better conflict management in their own organization. Silberstein and his team value the work and opportunities to learn.

“Even though the YWCA is one of our investments, they were able to give us anti-racism training in the past years,” Silberstein said. “And we were able to connect them with other organizations that needed that training. We’d love to encourage the sector as a whole to gain that education and learn the impacts of systemic racism on our community.”

The future is bright for SVP, according to Silberstein. Working to address needs within the community, Silberstein said SVP is looking to support more diverse organizations as future Catapult beneficiaries, with a focus on programs that aid the underserved communities in Boulder County.