Grantee Profiles

Grantee Profiles

Reading Partners: In 2003, Reading Partners had just one tutoring site in East Menlo Park, but SV2 Partners saw tremendous potential for growth. SV2 awarded a three-year grant and several SV2 Partners joined the Reading Partners board, helping to create and implement aggressive strategic plans. Today, Reading Partners is a nationally-recognized tutoring program, serving nearly 3,000 students in 60 sites throughout California, Washington, D.C, and New York, and recently securing a $7 million grant from the federal Social Innovation Fund - one of the most competitive and high profile grants for nonprofits.

Full case study coming soon

New Teacher Center (NTC): When SV2 made its grant in 2004, NTC was operating as a program within UC Santa Cruz. With the grant dollars and expertise offered by SV2 Partners, NTC became an independent nonprofit, and strengthened their mentor training program which to date has been used to induct 26,000 teachers and administrators throughout the entire country. Introductions from SV2 Partners have helped NTC leverage $6.4 million in unrestricted capacity building funding from all the leading national venture philanthropy organizations focused on large scale change -- New Profit, NewSchools Venture Fund, SeaChange Capital Partners, and Skoll Foundation.

Full case study coming soon

Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY): Using SV2’s grant dollars, FLY hired their first Development Director in 2005 to create their funding strategy and grow their donor base, eventually quadrupling their budget. SV2 Partners also stepped in to provide executive coaching, create a media plan, and serve on FLY’s Board of Directors. Now FLY has the sustainable infrastructure they need to ensure their long-term success, and they are reaching twice as many juvenile offenders as they were able to before the SV2 grant.

 Full case study coming soon

Downtown College Prep (DCP): SV2’s grant to DCP charter school in 2001 could not have come at a more crucial moment. With SV2’s grant dollars, DCP was able to secure a permanent school site, and SV2 Partners became heavily involved in developing DCP’s strategic plan, joining the board and donating more than $250,000 outside of the original grant. Since SV2’s grant, DCP has opened two more campuses and is regionally recognized as a leading model for sending low-income, first generation students to college.

Full case study coming soon

Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI): In 2007, BAWSI was growing quickly but lacked the long-term planning and infrastructure to ensure that their growth was sustainable. With SV2’s support, BAWSI was able to initiate a donor database, create a long-term strategic plan, and develop metrics to evaluate their programmatic success. Thanks to this strong foundation, BAWSI has now served 10,000 low-income girls in fitness programs throughout the Bay Area, and the organization continues to grow.

Read the full case study (PDF)

Family Connections: SV2’s grant was pivotal for Family Connections, bringing this local grassroots nonprofit to a scalable model of effective early childhood education. With SV2’s 2007 grant and the ensuing advising from SV2 Partners, Family Connections staff were able to increase their operational efficiency, improve their marketing strategies to increase community awareness of the resources they offered, and open a third site in Redwood City.

Full case study coming soon