SVP utilizes a venture capital model, which means we invest both time and expertise in a multi-year philanthropic partnership. It’s more than money, it’s passion.

Social Venture Partners (SVP) Cincinnati combines grant making, high-level volunteerism, nonprofit capacity building and philanthropic education. We call our unique model venture philanthropy. We look for promising organizations with strong management teams who strive for improved outcomes.

Pooling Funds to Support Investees and SVP Cincinnati

SVP partners make an annual contribution of $6,000. The funds are pooled and used to provide meaningful grants to Investees. In addition, partner contributions support SVP’s programs and operations. Grant funds are used for general operating support and capacity-building projects. These funds are then leveraged with our partners' contributions of time and expertise to gain great impact. SVP’s hands-on philanthropy leverages our financial contribution at a rate of 4:1 as measured by SVP Outcomes Surveys - meaning more bang for the buck.

Identifying Promising Nonprofits

Successful investees demonstrate the capacity and desire to leverage SVP's support in fulfilling their mission. The awards include both unrestricted cash grants and skilled volunteer expertise. These investments are multi-year relationships focused around achieving improved capacity for the organization in order to provide a more powerful impact for the community.

Helping Through Engaged Philanthropy

The approach is based on a venture capital model. It requires a high level of involvement from both parties — the philanthropist and the nonprofit. Together we assess the organization to determine where help is most needed and surround the investee with the people and expertise to make them stronger. At the end of each investment, both our partners and our investees have been transformed.

Continuing to Develop the SVP Cincinnati Community

This type of investment is made more valuable with a strong and educated network of philanthropists. Many of us are new to philanthropy, and for those of us who are only familiar with writing checks, learning to make thoughtful investments in the community takes more work, but it’s more exciting and truly a deeper investment.

SVP creates numerous provocative education events and engagement opportunities for partners and prospective partners. The goal – get to know each other better and form friendships.

The Final Number

SVP investments are leveraged at more than four times the dollar value in community impact, so our partners are getting the best bang for their buck. Surveys of SVP partners indicate that they are giving more strategically and writing fewer, larger checks. Most importantly, partners feel their volunteering really makes a difference. Read more about how effective we are in helping partners give more strategically in the media release about our latest philanthropy outcomes report.