Social Venture Partners (SVP) is accepting applications to invest in (BIPOC) led nonprofits that serve the social, developmental, and/or educational needs of under-resourced youth ages 12-24 in the Twin Cities. They strive to impact those youth who are furthest from achieving racial, economic and social justice.
Donor Name: Social Venture Partners Minnesota
State: Minnesota
County: Anoka (MN), Carver (MN), Dakota (MN), Hennepin (MN), Ramsey (MN), Scott (MN) and Washington (MN) Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/12/2022
Size of the Grant: Up to $20,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
SVP invests in promising nonprofits for collaborative capacity building work. They work shoulder-to-shoulder with grantees to identify projects and outcomes that advance impact and sustainability. SVP’s investment in your organization combines both a financial grant and pro bono consulting services.
Following a thorough review of submitted LOIs, advancing applicants will participate in a workshop with SVP Partners. As they continue to shift and share power in the philanthropic sector, they believe that a more equitable approach is to utilize this workshop format to replace the requirement for a written RFP and site visit.
Participation in the workshop is mandatory for applicants who want to be considered for a grant relationship. They strongly encourage participation with a team from your organization (i.e., Executive Director, 1-2 key Staff, Board Member, etc.) to maximize the goals of the workshop. Each applicant team will work with several SVP Partners to meet the outcomes below.
The goals of the workshop are:
- Begin to build relationships with mutual respect and trust with each other’s teams for the potential collaborative work ahead
- Work shoulder-to-shoulder on an organizational assessment and analyze results together
- Identify at least one high-priority project/need where SVP Partners’ skills can be leveraged to the benefit of the Investees
- Discuss steps to craft a pitch about your organization and the high-priority project/need that was identified
Funding Information
Following the workshop, SVP will select up to five (5) organizations (Investees) for partnerships in these two formats:
- SVP Multi-Year Partnership Grant: Up to three (3) nonprofit organizations will receive a two-year general operating grant of up to $20,000 per year plus a designated Impact Team of SVP Partners. At least one grant will be dedicated to an Indigenous-led and Indigenous-focused youth-serving organization.
- SVP Impact Accelerator Cohort: Up to three (3) nonprofit organizations will be selected to participate in an Impact Accelerator Cohort that will run from March to November 2023. There will be five (5) sessions that the Executive Director will be required to attend, and they may choose to include other staff or board members. These sessions will include coaching, peer-learning and educational opportunities covering non-profit management topics as well as topics selected by the cohort. Organizations selected for this cohort experience will also receive a one-time, unrestricted grant of $3,500.
Eligible Criteria
SVP will consider investing in 501(c)(3) nonprofits that meet the following minimum criteria:
- Primarily serve under-resourced youth (ages 12-24) in the seven-county metropolitan Twin Cities area.
- Demonstrate they are an innovative organization with a vision for growth.
- Has established programs, strategies or initiatives to address equity gaps that are impacting youth
- Has clearly defined goals to increase the impact of the organization and a work-plan to make these goals a reality
- Creates clear and measurable social benefit through the value proposition they pursue
- Demonstrates that achieving social justice requires imagination, innovation, courage and perseverance.
- Must embrace taking risks and grow from lessons learned.
- Multi- Year Grant Partnership applicants must have a full-time Executive Director, an established Board of Directors, a budget of over $300,000 and at least 3.0 FTE staff members.
- Impact Accelerator Cohort applicants do not necessarily have to meet all the budgetary or staffing requirements noted in the above bullet point.
- Must have BIPOC leadership. SVP is currently placing a priority on organizations that define themselves as BIPOC-led if at least 3 of the following are true:
- 50 percent or more of senior staff self-identify as BIPOC
- 50 percent or more of board members self-identify as BIPOC
- Organization has BIPOC leadership (Executive/Senior level) and is implementing DEI initiatives and/or navigating organizational transition for greater equity
- Organization’s mission explicitly focuses on racial equity and BIPOC communities
- Project and/or initiative is being led by a majority of BIPOC group members
- Be at an inflection point with some operating history and proven impact. SVP will also fund autonomous programs of established large nonprofits with new and innovative approaches to elevating opportunities for youth.
- Place a higher value on capacity building collaboration over financial support. Selected organizations must be committed to actively engaging in a consultative partnership with SVP and be willing to provide the human capital necessary to complete agreed upon work.
For more information, visit SVP.
