Social Impact Organizations

The social impact organizations (both for profit and nonprofit) we select are willing to be transparent and collaborative. Most of all, they’re ready to take their vital work to the next level.

What We Bring to the Table

• Tools to assess your organizational capacity – aka the strength of all those behind-the-scenes systems: human resources, financial management, communications, board governance, etc.
• Skilled volunteers who will help build your organization’s capacity in the areas that are keeping you from reaching your full potential.
• A commitment to working in partnership. We acknowledge that there is a power differential in funding relationships, and will do our best to mitigate its effects. We will invite your honest feedback, own up to our mistakes, and strive to find a path that works for everyone involved.

What We’ll Ask of You

• A willingness to take a hard look at what’s holding your organization back, and to share those weaknesses openly. Once the cards are on the table, we can get to work – together.
• Flexibility and openness to working with volunteers who have busy schedules and varied professional backgrounds.
• A commitment to calling us out when something’s not working for you. That may be uncomfortable, but our best results come from honest relationships.
• An annual work plan and progress report that outlines the capacity building areas you are focused on, how they relate to your mission, and what you have achieved at the end of each year.

Our Guiding Principles

SVP believes we have the greatest opportunity working with social impact organizations that have:

• A shared understanding of the importance of building internal organizational capacity to achieve their mission;
• A clearly articulated mission for the organization’s programs and infrastructure;
• Strong, stable and committed leadership;
• The internal capacity (staff, board & financial resources) to embrace an SVP partnership, which includes regular self-assessment, working with volunteers, and committing to reviewing documents and materials relevant to project work;
• A track record of successful collaboration and/or partnership, indicating the organization’s ability to embrace and benefit from SVP’s mentorship and other in-kind services, as well as SVP’s financial support;
• Proven results indicating the desire to expand, replicate or otherwise leverage success by addressing root causes of major community issues;
• Specific internal organizational challenges that currently prevent achievement of their full potential.

Our Process

Following your application, our selection committee of Partners will review the applications and select the organizations that will move on to the next round, which entails site visits and conversations with the CEO, Executive Director and/or member(s) of the board.

If you are chosen for a site visit, the visits will take place throughout April (depending on schedules). Then, you will receive notification as to whether you’ve been selected as a finalist during the week of April 24th. The organizations selected as finalists will present a fast-pitch style pitch at our annual Spark Tank. At the event, SVP partners will use the pitch to determine 1) which social impact projects they will sign up to work on, and 2) which organization will win a $2,500 prize for best pitch.

Please note: all finalist organizations selected for Spark Tank are fully vetted and eligible to become advisees. Selection of advisees will be based on partners volunteering for the projects that most align with partners’ skills and interests. As such, the pitch at Spark Tank will be crucial!

January 25, 2023 – Applications Open

February 24, 2023 – Applications Due by 5 PM

Week of April 3rd, 2023 – Applicants notified for site visits

Week of April 24th, 2023 Selected organizations invited to present their organization and project at Spark Tank, where SVP Partners will select advisees and winner of cash prize

Week of May 15th, 2023
Spark Tank – organizations will pitch for a $2,500 prize (selected by attending SVP Partners); Partners will also sign up for advisee projects first week of June projects begin.

ARE YOU READY?

PLEASE APPLY BEFORE FEBRUARY 28, 2022 AT 5:00PM (CST).

If you have questions about SVP Dallas’ Advisee Application Process, please contact Danielle King at dking@svpdallas.org.