Building Better Philanthropists

By informing and educating its Partners, SVP cultivates leaders in the Puget Sound region. From volunteering, education and networking, Partners grow their philanthropic understanding, leadership and connections. It is impact you can see.

We’ve Had Measurable Results

As a result of involvement with SVP, Partners are:

• Increasing the amount of their charitable giving across the board
• Giving more strategically by using formal processes and research in their grantmaking, writing fewer and larger checks, creating long-term and collaborative funding strategies and funding nonprofit infrastructure
• Significantly expanding their volunteer commitment to community causes and programs

Please see our 2005 Annual Report for illustrative charts or our 2005 Philanthropy Development Outcomes Survey Results for more detailed findings. 
 

Our Philanthropy Development Framework

SVP supports individuals to help fulfill their philanthropic and civic potential. Our curriculum covers seven essential topic areas.

The topic areas guide the design of our curriculum of workshops, seminars and experiential learning activities. They also form the basis for the philanthropic self-assessment tool, pictured above, available to Partners when they join SVP, to help establish individual goals for learning and growth.

Partners’ Philanthropic Leadership

One of SVP’s primary strengths is our ability to create processes and avenues for individuals to grow and learn as philanthropists. Since joining SVP, many of our Partners have increased their level of civic engagement—becoming members or leaders of local community groups, participating in legislative advocacy, attending public meetings, leveraging resources or volunteers, and in many other creative ways.

Read about some SVP Partners stepping into roles of philanthropic leadership.
 

The SVP Community

Often, people initially join SVP for self-focused goals—to learn, to get exposure to community issues, to devise giving strategies. Over time, many Partners shift toward impact-focused goals—remaining in SVP because of the network of people and connections, the desire for deeper community impact, and the belief in investing in SVP as an institution. 

Read about some SVP Community connection stories.

Social Venture Kids – Inspiring the Next Generation

In 2000, SVP started Social Venture Kids, often called SVKids, to introduce young people to the needs of the community through grantmaking.