From Our New President - Dave Smith

(From the July 2006 Newsletter)

I am often asked why I joined Social Venture Partners Portland (SVPP). The first answer I give is that I am passionate about our current focus of investing in children and education. It is certainly a critical area of social need, and I have a special place in my heart for kids, having four of my own. The second answer I give is "the model". But what I really mean is that I like the leverage that my investment achieves when it is put to work with SVPP.

"SVPP is unique", I say. "I can leverage my investment in SVPP an average of five times. For every dollar I contribute, the organizations that we partner with, on average, leverage that dollar into $5 dollars of total benefit. You can't argue with that kind of payback, and I think this is unique to SVPP".

SVPP achieves these kinds of returns by using that dollar to attract additional financial and in-kind donations from a variety of other sources including our own partnership, foundations, community philanthropists and even the government. We also contribute significant volunteer hours to each non-profit partner that together with the financial contributions translate into real operational impact. Several of our non-profit partners have reported that the value of the operational impact, as a result of their relationship with SVPP, is in the six and even into the seven figure range. With this kind of total impact, it is easy to see why an investment in SVPP is so much more valuable than just the value of our direct financial investment.

SVPP is doing great work. In the five short years of our existence in Portland, we have contributed nearly $700,000 in direct financial contributions to seven area non-profits and had a total impact of well over $3 million! Let's focus our collective efforts this year on spreading the news about SVPP and what a compelling and leveraged investment it is. We can do even more good with more resources at our disposal. Let's get the word out!