Social Venture Partners Connecticut Announces Call for Letters of Interest

September 26, 2017

Venture Philanthropy Seeks to ‘Invest’ to Close the Opportunity Gap in Connecticut

(WESTPORT, CT) Social Venture Partners Connecticut (SVP Connecticut) is seeking letters of interest from innovative organizations operating in Connecticut with a mission to close the Opportunity Gap. This also includes supporting cross sector initiatives providing employment or educational opportunities for disadvantaged families.

SVP Connecticut is a program and field of interest fund at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. Letters of Interest are being accepted now for investment through an online application. The submission deadline is Monday, October 16.

“Social Venture Partners aims to significantly reduce or eliminate the most pressing social issue facing Connecticut — the Opportunity Gap,” explains Mark Argosh, SVP Connecticut’s Executive Director. “SVP defines the term ‘Opportunity Gap’ to identify the severe obstacles that low income and often minority citizens in Connecticut face in securing a quality education and accessing pathways to rewarding careers. This gap imposes enormous hardships for individuals, their families, communities, and Connecticut, as a whole”.

Organizations that have an effective strategy and model that materially impacts the Opportunity Gap in the areas of education and workforce development are invited to apply. Cross sector initiatives to provide employment or educational opportunities to disadvantaged families are also supported by SVP Connecticut.

An information session about SVP Connecticut’s philanthropy model and the investment criteria for the 2017 grant program is being held on Thursday, September 28, 3:30-5:00 pm in the East Campus Forum of Norwalk Community College, 188 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, CT. Leaders of organizations interested in submitting a Letter of Interest are strongly encouraged to attend. An online information session will be held on Monday, October 2 from 1:00-2:30pm.

Advance registration for the information sessions is required. Registration information as well as SVP Connecticut’s investment criteria and eligibility parameters can be found on the SVP Connecticut website.

Using a venture philanthropy grant model, SVP Connecticut provides innovative organizations operating in Connecticut with multi-year grants of up to $25,000 per year and pro bono strategic consulting and advisory services. The members of SVP Connecticut, called Partners, seek to help organizations that align with SVP’s mission of closing the Opportunity Gap to scale their programs and organizational structure to reach more people in Connecticut.

SVP Partners engage with staff and board members to help achieve shared goals, increase business effectiveness, and improve the impact of services delivered. This combination of SVP Partners’ professional skills and expertise, along with financial support, produces positive long-term impact for the Investees. Since its founding in 2013, SVP Connecticut has invested $561,000 and over 6000 volunteer hours in 25 nonprofits in the region.

For more information about Social Venture Partners and the 2017 Grant Application process email info@svp-ct.org or visit the organization’s website at www.socialventurepartners.org/connecticut

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Social Venture Partners Connecticut, a program and field of interest fund administered by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, is an engaged community of Partners leveraging time, expertise, and resources for sustainable solutions to social problems, while becoming more strategic and effective in our personal giving. The group is part of the SVP Network of engaged donors, founded in 1997, with more than 3500 partners in 41 cities around the world. To date the global network has given more than $55 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to nonprofits that are creating social change in their respective regions. SVP Connecticut members, referred to as Partners, are successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and professionals drawn from Fairfield County and beyond, who are skilled at growing organizations with a heart for making a better world. SVP Connecticut was founded in 2013 and is based in Westport, CT. www.socialventurepartners.org/connecticut

About Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation promotes philanthropy as a means to create change in Fairfield County, focusing on innovative and collaborative solutions to critical issues impacting the community. Individuals, families, corporations and organizations can establish charitable funds or contribute to existing funds. The Community Foundation is in compliance with the Council on Foundations’ national standards and has awarded over $220 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County and beyond. As a trusted nonprofit partner and thought leader, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation brings together community organizers, business experts and philanthropists to solve our region’s challenges. Our goal is to create a vital and inclusive community, where every individual has the opportunity to thrive. fccfoundation.org.