The Return of the 12 Days of Capacitymas 

We’re back with a special SVP Vancouver version of the holiday classic! Three years in a row makes it a tradition!

We do this to celebrate the season, and also to acknowledge all the incredible work we’ve achieved in 2023 to help vulnerable children and youth in B.C. thrive, thanks to your support. You can start at one or work your way down from 12. The syllables are (almost) spot on. Ready? Here we go:

On the 12th day of Capacitymas, SVP gave to me …  

Founding Partners

… and first contributors to SVP, who’ve been involved with the foundation since 2001/2002 and continue to support our work and mission today! 

Events a-Gathering

… Learning together is core to who we are at SVP! We gathered more than 11 times this year to learn and connect as a community.

We hosted workshops, social dialogue events, mingles, and more, with topics like Fostering Belonging through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Trust-Based Philanthropy; the State of the Sector; and Trends and Patterns in Early Childhood Development. We were fortunate to learn from experts such as Eman Salem, Zahra Esmail, Alison Brewin, the Trauma Informed Practice Institute and expert speakers from our Alumni and Investees.

Current Investees, 12 Grants Deployed…

…if you notice the math not adding up, you’re right! We’ve now got 12 current Investees, 2 more than we had when we originally wrote this list! Thank you to all of our current Investees for the incredible work you do to support vulnerable children and youth in our community—the A:lmelhawtxw Early Education Centre – Stó:lō Service Agency Society, BabyGoRound, BC Society of Transition Houses, CityHive, Deaf Children’s Society of B.C., Down Syndrome Resource Foundation, LDS, New Westminster Family Place, Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, Richmond Family Place, The Treehouse, and the West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation.

9-ty Cups of Coffee

While 90 is a slight exaggeration, we probably came close! Helen and Janelle may be over-caffeinated and under-hydrated, but it was worth it to meet with so many long-time, new, and prospective SVP Partners. SVP Vancouver currently has a community of more than 30 Investee and Alumni organizations and more than 30 organizations in the pipeline seeking our support. With a strategic goal of growing our financial and non-financial granting portfolio to meet demand for our unique model, we look forward to even more coffee dates in the New Year! Got a friend who might want to meet with us? Get in touch!

Capacity-Building Types

We have nine capacity building areas, but did you know that we deliver support in eight different ways? Through the Time, Talent, and Ties of our SVP Partners and our SVP community, our Investee and Alumni have access to skilled volunteers (also known as our Experts on Call!), thought partnership, Partner connections, peer-to-peer connections, resources and referrals, a fundraising coach, a social impact and strategy coach, and educational opportunities. Here’s a closer look at how we go about helping organizations in our community to build their capacity.

7-ty Capacity-Building Projects

That’s right! Seven-ty! From November 2022 to November 2023, we provided our Investee and Alumni community pro bono services and supports with 70 capacity- building projects in areas like strategic planning, social impact evaluation, fundraising, IT, human resources, and more. Click on the links to see stories of our capacity building in action.

Flex Funds Funded

After a successful trial in 2022, we have launched our new grant stream at SVP: the Capacity Building Flex Fund. This fund, which provides grants of up to $5,000, is available to our community of Investee and Alumni organizations. We have awarded six Flex Fund grants this year to help our Investees and Alumni further develop their capacity, which will ultimately better support underserved children and youth in B.C.

Early Years Investees… plus one micro-grant!

“No one else would fund such an innovative and nascent idea but it was one with potential for a huge positive impact. This willingness on SVP’s part to fund us shows a commitment to fuelling groundbreaking initiatives – initiatives that have the potential to deliver hugely impactful results” – New Westminster Family Place

Read more about our Early Years Innovation Fund here.

New Investees

.. and then one more! A lot can change in a couple of weeks, and we can’t change the whole list so bear with us and our creative math! We were thrilled to welcome five new Investee organizations to SVP Vancouver this year: BC Society of Transition Houses, New Westminster Family Place, Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, Richmond Family Place, and the A:lmelhawtxw Early Education Centre – Stó:lō Service Agency Society with a micro grant.  We are also excited to welcome BabyGoRound back to the SVP Investee community.

• BC Society of Transition Houses
• New West Family Place (EY)
• Pacific Immigrant Resource Society
• Richmond Family Place
• A:lmelhawtxw Early Education Centre – Stó:lō Service Agency Society
• BabyGoRound

New Alums

This year, three of our Investee organizations graduated to Alumni status: Blind Beginnings, UMOJA, and Urban Horse Project. We look forward to continuing our work together in the coming years!

Coaches on Call

… Raising funds and measuring social impact are two regularly sought-after services in the nonprofit sector. But they are often cost-prohibitive to smaller organizations.

That’s why SVP continues to provide our Investees and Alumni with pro bono access to invaluable professional coaching and training from expert consultants in the field. We were thrilled to have worked with Social Impact Coach, Karen Gelb, and the New School of Fundraising, again this year.

And One New Re-Imagined Philanthropy Strategy

…Check out our re-imagined strategy!

AND NOW, FROM THE TOP!

On the 12th day of Capacitymas,
SVP gave to me …

12 Founding Partners
11+ Events a-Gathering
10 (+2) Current Investees, 12 Grants Deployed
9-ty Cups of Coffee
8 Capacity-Building Types
7-ty Capacity-Building Projects
6 Flex Funds Funded
5 Early Years Investees
4 (+1) New Investees
3 New Alums
2 Coaches on Call
and 1 new Re-Imagined Philanthropy strategy!