Blog
Together We Succeed
Yes, back in the day, Reading Results was, indeed, the Portland Reading Foundation, a small scrappy nonprofit with a big idea and a tenacity to move from a founder-led organization to a more established nonprofit. Serving 11 schools and about 60 kids, Social Venture Partners took the risk and in October 2009 funded the investment.
From Encore Fellow to Board Member at KairosPDX
I accepted the nine-month Fellowship and dug in to learn as much about the financial inner-workings of KairosPDX as I could. I treated this opportunity from the perspective of a start-up not-for-profit business and asked myself what financial management structure would I want in place if I were to “invest” in KairosPDX.
Meet Our Public Health Perspective
To help us pursue our Ready for Kindergarten goal to ensure that all children in the Portland metro area are prepared for kindergarten, we have built a Goal Strategy Team to plot our best course. The team will inform SVP's investment process by providing a detailed understanding and high-level perspective on Portland's early childhood landscape. Here is what Jessica Guernsey has to say about the unique perspective she brings to the table and why she got involved.
Results and Targets to Kick Off 2016
In 2015, we developed Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to report activity against our four Strategic Objectives. The KPIs are intended for Board review quarterly and full Partnership review at our Annual Partners Meeting. We have highlighted several key results and targets on which to focus.
Investing in the Future: Partnering with Latino Network to Build Capacity
‘Our newly enhanced infrastructure is starting to give us the strong base we need to keep growing,’ - Carmen Rubio, Latino Network Executive Director.Nearing its 20th anniversary of providing culturally specific solutions to the Latino Community, Latino Network had reached a critical crossroads. In working with SVP Partners to plan growth strategy it had become apparent, given expected growth in its programs and client population, that an investment in organizational capacity was needed. Supporting Latino Network to reach its potential meant investing in an administrative infrastructure that could support growth in its highly successful programs.
Encore Fellowship Prepares Marketing Professional for Encore Career
After I completed my Fellowship, I knew that I wanted to continue my work in marketing and communications for a nonprofit, so I applied to job postings on the MacsList website. I saw a position at Janus Youth, an organization that provides community-based services to enhance the quality of life for children, youth and families, had an interview and got an offer within two weeks. The experience I had in my Fellowship and the communication work I accomplished at PSU were crucial in preparing me for this position.
SVP's First Investment Remembered
It was a great partnership between SVP Portland and Morrison. It served as a role model for many years. In the end, we accomplished all that we had intended. Our biggest impact was actually on the financial side: we put in a new financial system that vastly improved their billing cycles, outsourced their building maintenance (saving $50K/quarter), and revamped their real estate management. Overall we calculated we did all of the above and saved them almost $2 million over the four years. We also contributed many, many hours of volunteer time. I can’t recall the total.
Updates & Reflections on Year 1 of KairosPDX Investment
A year ago, we set an extremely ambitious agenda for our capacity-building investment with KairosPDX. Nine generous and expert Partners and one highly talented Encore Fellow joined our team to “roll up our sleeves” across five+ capacity goals. What follows is some of the measurable progress we’ve made so far and what lies ahead for year two.
2015 Year-End Message: Here's My Dream
While I offer endless thank yous as well, we take responsibility for results at SVP, so it’s equally important that I share where we still need to stretch.
Progress and Priorities, Fall 2015
We continue to focus and increase our effort in driving numbers one and two but we have just begun to scratch the surface of the significant funding alignment role that we must play. Thus, we have set the following 2016 priorities to take important next steps to increasing that effort.
Global Collaboration
We will make our investments very strategic to solve social problems and educate our partners as real strategic philanthropists. This is inspired by SVP Portland.