A local philanthropic group is taking a novel approach to supporting unconventional ideas that may be brewing inside some of the region’s nonprofit organizations.
Social Venture Partners Cincinnati, which pools its member contributions and pairs its partners to offer coaching and training to nonprofits, is broadening eligibility for its funding with the launch of Project XLR8, a new accelerator model to support “socially innovative nonprofits,” the group said.
Project XLR8 is part pitch competition that also borrows from the group’s traditional investee process.
SVP, in the past, has picked two or three nonprofits to receive funding over a multiyear period. As part of Project XLR8, SVP will select 10-12 organizations for an eight-month program, where the nonprofits will receive grants, hands-on coaching, training and collaboration to develop their ideas.
As the program progresses, one idea will ultimately be chosen for further funding and support. SVP said the program is needed to help reduce disparities in health, income, education and opportunity.
“We want to encourage nonprofits to take risks and bring forward fresh ideas that might not receive conventional funding because they are untested or new,” Chris Shroat, SVP board chair, said in a release. “We aim to help nonprofits focus on what really matters – making our region a stronger and more vibrant community.”
During the first phase of the program, SVP will work with nonprofits to brainstorm and refine their ideas.
Four to six nonprofits will be selected to advance to the next step.
Over the next 12-16 weeks, SVP will work with those groups on business plan development. This phase will close when SVP selects one idea as the focus of a sustained, multiyear community investment.
SVP will help the chosen nonprofit identify and solve the most pressing challenges in launching the idea. The funding will last up to three years, but SVP said its relationships are often sustained well past the funding period.
“Project XLR8 is intended to build even deeper relationships with our nonprofit collaborators and help them maximize their impact,” Shroat said.
Applications are due Aug. 1. Eligible participants should have nonprofit status and a “socially innovative idea that aims to enhance opportunity and create effective, sustainable and just solutions to society’s challenges."
SVP will host online community forums to discuss Project XLR8 at noon Tuesday, June 15, and 5 p.m Thursday, June 17. The online application opened June 11.
SVP Cincinnati is part of SVP International, a network of 3,500 philanthropists across 40-plus affiliates. The group’s partners bring decades of expertise in finance, marketing, fundraising, strategic planning and more.
Currently, SVP Cincinnati investees include Mortar, which offers programming and services to support underserved founders and entrepreneurs, and Women Helping Women, which works to prevent gender-based violence and provides non-shelter crisis intervention services in Hamilton, Butler, Brown and Adams counties. Locally, the group has about 60 partners.
