By Elizabeth Cloutman
SV2 partners invest time, talent and funds to meet community needs
Younger Silicon Valley professionals who have achieved success would like to give back to their communities, but with challenging careers and family life, they often don’t have the time or the experience to evaluate charitable causes.
Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) can help them achieve their goals, said Los Altos Hills resident Kelly Porter, co-chairman of the organization.
“We’re looking for people who have a demonstrated interest in charitable involvement,” Porter said. “SV2 helps our partners become better givers, more effective givers. It’s an organization set up to make an impact on the community.”
Laura Arrillaga, who is also the director of her family’s charitable foundation, established SV2 in 1999 as an auxiliary fund of Community Foundation Silicon Valley while she was still a Stanford graduate student.
Porter, founder of Zap Ventures, joined about two years later. Arrillaga and Porter head a group that has grown to 144 philanthropic partners.
SV2 is based on the principle of “venture philanthropy,” Porter said. Just as individual investors pool their money to fund Silicon Valley businesses, SV2 partners pool their donations into a single fund. Partners, with guidance from Community Foundation Silicon Valley staff, mutually determine four Santa Clara or southern San Mateo counties’ non-profit organizations to which they wish to give grants during a given year. By pooling funds, “our grants are larger and have a bigger impact,” Porter said.
Barbara Larson, Community Foundation director of development, noted the partners have already given grants amounting to half of SV2’s $1.2 million fund.
However, being an SV2 partner is more than just donating money, Porter emphasized. “Our partners have to get involved with the organizations to provide value-added support above and beyond the grant.”
In addition, SV2 holds quarterly educational forums that deal with a single issue, such as economic development or homelessness. This quarter’s topic is adult literacy. “We’ll bring in four people to speak - one who’s an expert to give an overview and the executive directors of three non-profit organizations involved with the issue,” Porter said.
Larson said Porter has “helped us take (SV2) to the next level.” Parents of three young daughters themselves, Porter and his wife, Christina, were committed to getting the children of SV2 partners involved. “Five months ago, we began SV2 Kids,” Larson noted. “People can bring their kids with them on outings and talk about the value of giving back.”
For example, last October, SV2 partners and their families went on a “reverse Halloween,” Porter said. They shared treats with residents of Lytton Gardens Senior Center in Palo Alto and talked about the value of the older adults in their lives. “The activities are so much fun, even our single partners want to come along,” Arrillaga said.
Beneficiaries of recent SV2 grants include Child Advocates of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the September 11 Fund, East Side and Downtown College Preparatory schools, and Lenders for Community Development, Arrillaga said.
SV2 partners come from all professions, Porter said, from venture capitalists to attorneys. They typically range in age from their 30s to mid-50s. Becoming a partner requires pledging from $2,500 to $25,000 annually for two years.
“These are people who say, ‘I’m not going to wait until retirement; I want to start giving back now,’” Larson said. “That’s what’s so exciting for us.”
For information about becoming an SV2 partner, call Larson at (408) 278-2204; or logon to www.sv2.org.
