SVP Vancouver: Philanthropy Re-imagined 

Since 2001, SVP has done things differently. We’ve always done more than throw money at a problem. Instead, we walk alongside our nonprofit Investee and Alumni organizations, yes, offering multi-year financial support, but also providing so much more than a grant: responsive capacity-building support, access to volunteer expertise, community, and thought partnership to help nonprofits in the start-up phase stabilize and grow. 

Nonprofits are a vital social safety net, providing critical services that can make a significant difference in a child’s well-being and trajectory. The nonprofit sector is tasked with addressing some of the most pressing and critical needs impacting children and youth, and in the wake of the pandemic, those needs are ever growing: demand for services continues to rise, costs for providing those services continue to increase, yet nonprofits’ overall revenues are decreasing or staying the same. This means nonprofits are being expected to do even more with less.

Faced with an increasing demand for their services, nonprofits’ resources are limited, especially for agile, responsive, and nimble grassroots organizations.

In the lead up to our 25th anniversary, SVP has set a bold and exciting strategy for the next three years, which will build on what we do best and support our future direction and growth. Our ultimate goal: Be an exceptional and catalytic funder that enables high-impact nonprofits to flourish and grow. All in the service of helping more kids and youth in B.C. thrive.

The main objectives of our strategy are to achieve the following:

• Invest in critically under-funded/high-impact areas that demonstrate long-term positive change, such as the Early Years, but also across all age bands. We will work with organizations that have a clear vision for improving the well-being of kids in B.C. that experience systemic exclusion and marginalization, and face barriers to thriving.

• Move more capital to fuel ground-breaking initiatives and ideas. We will build on our venture philanthropy model with a life-cycle approach to grant-making. Drawing on what we learned from the Early Years Innovation Fund Trial, in addition to continuing our infrastructure and capacity-building grants for start-up organizations, we will grow our grantmaking program to support organizations to do what they otherwise couldn’t by specifically funding:
  • Innovation
  • Strategic partnerships
  • Catalytic growth and scale 

• Further embody equity in our work. SVP’s vision is to help children and youth in B.C. thrive. Without actively working to change the systems that hold societal inequities and inequalities in place, we aren’t fully enacting or working toward our vision. We will further embody equity in our work by ensuring SVP’s internal programs, policies, and practices are centered around catalyzing equitable social change.

• Expand and evolve our capacity-building programming and resources. We will be agile and innovative ourselves, exploring new ways to best meet the goals and needs of our nonprofit organizations. We know our capacity-building support and our accompaniment makes a meaningful difference. So we want to do even more. 

We recently calculated the value of the non-financial support we offer. Every dollar a donor gives to SVP turns into more than 2x the value for Investees in their first year. This calculation doesn’t capture the less tangible, yet still invaluable, support we provide. Nor does it calculate the overall transformation, trajectory, and growth that nonprofits experience as a result of our engagement. Can SVP take credit for the entirety of the transformation we see? Of course not. Is SVP a catalyst or leverage point for this change? Absolutely. 

We also asked our alumni organizations (nonprofits that have finished a multi-year capacity-building relationship with us) what they would choose, if they could go back in time: 

1. The grant they received, our current capacity building resources and continued support OR 
2. Double the cash. 

The answers provided were anonymous—and of the eight alumni organizations that answered, seven organizations opted for today’s offerings and continued capacity-building support! 

To accomplish this these objectives, we know we need to: 

• Raise more money for growth and to move more capital to nonprofits supporting children and youth.
• Tell the story of SVP and share how our work with our nonprofit partners has a catalytic, positive, and transformative impact on the work they do supporting vulnerable children and youth in B.C.

To learn more about our Philanthropy Re-Imagined strategy or learn how you can get involved be sure to get in touch with us!