Nearly 200 people rose to their feet and clapped enthusiastically. Richard and I standing in the back of the room were speechless. View SVP powerpoint presentation. David had just delivered the keynote address to the annual conference of Social Venture Partners (SVP). SVP is a network of nearly 2,000 engaged philanthropists in 26 cities across the U.S., Canada, and Japan who have given over $36 million to 400 client non-profits since 1997.
The topic? How to achieve mission impact without growing your organization.
Drawing on field experience empowering insider dreamers, David unpacked and illustrated how networks can multiply mission impact. The original presentation is downloadable below, but the five keys to leverage networks include:
1. Dreams: Inspiring enough to mobilize beyond our capacity.
2. Values: Pure enough to build unity in diversity beyond our circle.
3. Servant Leaders: Big enough to get out of the way.
4. Trust Relationships: Strong enough to weather the coming storms.
5. Win-Win Architecture: Creative enough to optimize resources at hand.
An enthusiastic standing ovation is one thing. Actually seeing behavior change is another. And as a SVP management team member wrote, “Thank you hardly seems to suffice…your work will bear fruit for years to come.”
The seeds of that change are already sprouting. The closing address by SVP’s international board chair were moving. He humbly shared that the vision he had declared in his opening address had dramatically changed after the keynote address. He no longer wanted SVP to grow to tens of thousands of partners and affiliates. His new dream is now to see “SVP catalyze a movement that will bring hope to those at the end of the line.”
Dreams InDeed plans to continue to team up with Social Venture Partners to ensure those dreams turn into deeds for those at the end of the line.
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