Capacity Building Engagement Guidelines with SVP Denver

I. The SVP Denver Capacity Building Model

SVP Denver (“SVP”) is comprised of individuals and business representatives from many sectors of the
Denver Metro community. Together, we invest in innovative nonprofit organizations through capacity
building engagements that bring together SVP members and the nonprofit’s leadership to help them
tackle their most pressing issues and ultimately be more effective in serving their communities.

How Do We Do This?
 We make targeted investments of our members’ time and expertise through two capacity
building engagement cycles each year.
 We provide information and hands-on experience that leads to greater awareness of key issues,
challenges, and opportunities facing the nonprofit sector in the Denver Metro region.
 We introduce best practices and strategies to increase nonprofit impact and business
effectiveness.
 We facilitate pro-bono consulting services for our nonprofit investees to help them take their
organization to the next level of growth, impact and sustainability. Our consulting services
address business strategy, board development and management, fund development, impact
measurement, branding, communications, succession planning, and other specific needs.
 We provide opportunities for our members to become well-informed of matters in their local
community and better strategic leaders and philanthropists, so that they are better able to
contribute to the long-term success of the Denver Metro region.

SVP is Not a Traditional Funder

SVP provides organizational assessment, operating support, technical assistance, executive coaching,
and professional consultation to nonprofit organizations. Our members volunteer their time and
professional expertise to work with the staff and board members of our investees to help achieve
shared goals, increase business effectiveness, and improve the impact of services delivered. Through
this collaborative process, we help to increase individual organizational effectiveness and maximize the
collective impact of the nonprofit sector overall for the greater community.

SVP does not guarantee any cash grants to the organizations in which we invest time and expertise.
Our real value comes from the time spent with our investees to work through their most pressing
challenges and developing solutions to help them get to their next level in serving the community. We
will, however, help to identify and leverage funding resources outside of SVP as part of our engagement
with investees.

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Capacity Building
The nonprofit/social sector has evolved over time to incorporate multiple stakeholders and
organizations to solve community issues, working together across a larger system to increase efficiency,
effectiveness, and scale. The process of building the systems, structures and skills necessary for success
in the nonprofit arena is often termed “capacity building.” While often overlooked by organizations
who have hit-the-ground-running in their programming, capacity building is the all-important
foundational infrastructure that supports and shapes nonprofits for long-term good. The TCC Group
makes a clear distinction between “capacity” and “capacity building:”

“Capacity describes the skills and ability to make and execute decisions in a manner that achieves
effective and efficient results. Capacity building is the process of developing those skills and ability.”

Capacity Building Engagements with SVP

SVP aims to help nonprofits develop skills and ability to sustain, grow and increase their impact. There
are many types of capacity building assistance such as, consultants, web-based learning, in-person
trainings, peer-to-peer cohorts, communities of practice and pro bono skilled volunteers. We are the
pro bono skilled volunteers who want to get shoulder-to-shoulder with you in a peer-learning capacity
building engagement to work on strategic change projects that will increase your business effectiveness,
and therefore your sustainability and community impact.

SVP will support your organization’s strategic planning, general operations, and/or specific programs
and projects. If you are selected as one of our investees, our members will work with you for a period
(“engagement”) of 6-months to up to 3-years. Within that engagement with you we collectively identify
your biggest pain points or blocks, and then identify, prioritize, scope and execute on change projects to
address those blocks, and consistently check in to assess progress.

As an investee, working with SVP provides an opportunity for your organization to gain a different
perspective on how it functions and how it perceives itself, as well as gain access to input and assistance
from a wide range of local business professionals. Through our assessment process, we can help you
understand your most pressing challenges and help you tackle them with the appropriate strategy and
resources to be successful. Once your organization is selected to receive support from SVP, a dedicated
team of volunteers will work with you to develop a work plan that we will execute together over a
period of six months to up to three years, depending on your needs and capacity to work with us.

Examples of SVP Change Project Areas

 Board Leadership and Governance – board development, planning and training, policy and
procedure development, and board evaluation.
 Brand Strategy, Marketing and Communications – branding, marketing and communications
plan development, implementation coaching, and impact evaluation.

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  Financial Management – accounting procedures and system development, budget
development, and reporting and auditing.
 Fund Development – fundraising plan development, revenue diversification planning, and
evaluation.
 Human Resources – organization modeling, staff hiring, training, development strategy
 Leadership Development – executive and team coaching, formal leadership training, and
management skills training.
 Legal Affairs – insurance review, contract review, by-laws development, and regulatory agency
compliance.
 Measuring & Reporting Impact – outcomes-based program planning, development of
evaluation frameworks, tools and data analysis.
 Operations, Policies and Procedures – design of systems and activities to influence and
determine all major decisions and actions
 Vision, Strategy, and Planning – organizational assessment, strategic plan development, and
business planning.

Types of Engagements that SVP Will Not Support

SVP will not fund or staff fundraising events, auctions, debt reduction, endowment funds, capital
campaigns, litigation or legal expenses. Further, SVP will not support organizations whose mission
furthers a particular religious or political doctrine.

What SVP Will Bring to the Table

 Up to three years of capacity-building support in a peer-learning environment.
 Tools to assess your organizational capacity
o SVP will utilize a comprehensive organizational capacity assessment tool (OCAT) to
examine how your organization is operating and draw stakeholders around a shared
understanding of the organization’s current status and the next level to which is aspires.
As appropriate and necessary, we will also address behind-the-scenes systems, such as
human resources, financial management, IT infrastructure, communications, etc.
 Skilled, passionate, and dedicated volunteers. We have a dedicated and passionate group of
members who will roll up their sleeves and dive in with you to address the challenges you face,
and help build your organization’s capacity in the areas that are keeping you from reaching your
full potential.
 A commitment to working in partnership with your organization. We get that there is a power
dynamic in investment relationships, and we will do our best to mitigate that. We will invite
your honest feedback, own up to our mistakes, and strive to find a path that works for everyone
involved. While we may have specific business expertise and skills that can help your
organization, you all are the experts in your mission within the nonprofit world. With that

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 understanding, we view our engagement with your organization as a “peer-learning”
opportunity, where we can learn from each other in working towards our goals.

What SVP Will Ask of the investee

 A willingness to take a hard look at what’s holding your organization back, and share those
challenges openly. Once the cards are on the table, we can get to work – together.
 Flexibility and openness to working with volunteers who have busy schedules and varied
professional backgrounds.
 A commitment to calling SVP out when something is not working for your organization with the
context of our engagement together. Our best results come from honest relationships.
 Completion of a project work plan and progress report that outlines the capacity building areas
on which you are focused, how they relate to your organization’s mission, and what you want to
achieve at the end of the engagement with SVP.

We are not going to lie; we ask a lot of our investees throughout the course of our engagement
together. By the same token, our members are dedicated to helping your organization address the
business challenges you face, and become more effective in the work you do for the community. We
understand that all organizations have challenges to face, including our organization! We will approach
our engagement with your organization from an empathetic and humble point of view, and we hope
that you do the same.

II. Applying for an SVP Capacity Building Engagement

Investee Selection Criteria: Requirements

Nonprofit organizations are eligible for a capacity building engagement with SVP, if they meet the
following mandatory criteria:

 Your organization is a qualified nonprofit agency that is registered as a 501(c)3, or is a program

under a fiscal agent.
 Your organization is located within and serves, at least in part, communities within the seven-
county Denver Metro region (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and
Jefferson counties). We are particularly interested in organizations that focus at least 51% of
their services within these seven counties.

SVP Reviews Applications through the Following Lenses

As a program of The Denver Foundation, SVP works to leverage their grant-making efforts with our
capacity building engagements to get nonprofits to the next level of their evolution. In support of this
relationship, SVP will be reviewing applications through the lens of The Denver Foundation’s four
community impact areas:

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  Basic Human Needs
 Economic Opportunity
 Education
 Leadership and Equity

In collaboration with The Denver Foundation, we work with community organizations to improve the
lives of the most vulnerable people in Metro Denver, and we are committed to helping organizations
that address, in one way or another, one or more of the above areas of focus, whether that is advancing
equity, finding solutions to meet basic human needs for every community member, obtaining education
that prepares community members for success, and/or helps them gain access to economic opportunity.
Please note that these are areas of focus for us, but not requirements for application.

Applicant Characteristics That Create Successful Engagements:

SVP’s Investment Selection Committee is made up of a select group of our members and they review
applications and conduct site visits with an eye for the following qualities:
 Your organization is grounded in its mission and is making a meaningful impact in the
community.
o Your organization can demonstrate that it is meeting a clearly-defined community need
in a clearly-defined service area or focused on a specific population.
o Your organization has a sound business model, in its practice and is shown to be
delivering the intended value.
 Your organization shows financial stability over the past three years.
o Your organization has a consistent financial history or credible plan that demonstrates
likely continued operations as well as the growth of such.
 Your organization has the internal capacity to work with SVP.
o Your organization has a sufficient number of staff and board members who have the will
and availability to invest time to work with SVP over the course of the investment
engagement, and still be able to handle the day-to-day operations.
 Your Executive Director is a champion for change and your organization is ready for a
collaborative relationship with passionate volunteers.
 Your organization embodies values, policies, and practices that ensure all stakeholders are
engaged equitably.
 Your organization offers an interesting opportunity for our members, and your needs are
aligned with our capacity to help.

All in all, nonprofit organizations that have the following characteristics are encouraged to apply for a
capacity building engagement with SVP:
 Strong interest in a mutually beneficial capacity building, peer learning relationship for up to
three years

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  Strong support of your Board of Directors to enter into this type of relationship
 Strong, passionate, and stable organizational leadership
 Willingness to self-reflect and accept external assistance to improve business operations
 Strong desire to expand “get to the next level” in your organization’s evolution

III. How to Apply for a Capacity Building Engagement with SVP

If you feel your organization meets the application criteria and aligns with the characteristics that we
look for in investees, then we encourage you to submit your application, which you can access via this
link. Please check our website for specific current investment cycle information, such as application
deadline, review timeline, and other special instructions for the current cycle you’re targeting.

Attend the Pre-Application Workshop with SVP Staff

Once you have determined you would like to consider applying for a capacity building engagement with
SVP, you are invited to attend the pre-application workshop hosted by SVP staff. This will be an open
forum for potential applicants to come forward with specific questions about organizational
characteristics, eligibility, needs, timing, etc. and listen to other organization’s questions, as it may
inform your process. We will go through the application process in detail, including how we make the
final decisions for investees. Information about the specific workshop associated with the current
investment selection cycle can be found on our website.

Online Application Form

Navigate to the online application to apply for a capacity building engagement with SVP.

Questions?
Contact SVP Info with specific questions. We are here to help.

IV. Capacity Building Engagement Application Review Process

Each application will be reviewed by SVP staff, as well as our Investment Selection Committee, which is
comprised of our members. Each applicant is subject to a comprehensive review process and scoring
system that is based on the above criteria, review lenses, and other organization characteristics that we
look for in applicants.

Applicants will be down-selected into a sub-group of applicants after a first-round review by staff to
ensure each applicant meets the minimum criteria. Next, the Investment Selection Committee reviews
the sub-group applications and begins the due diligence process, which spans the course of a few weeks.
Due diligence involves follow-up questions with applicants, market research, as well as site visits, to
better understand each organization. The Investment Selection Committee assesses SVP’s current

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available member resources and interests in tandem with the characteristics of each organization and
the needs it wants to address with SVP, and makes final decisions.

If your organization is selected to the sub-group, members of the Investment Selection Committee will
conduct a site visit to your organization, which will allow them to see your work in action, meet the key
players – including staff and board members - and dig into your willingness and capacity to work on the
needs you have presented in your application. The site visits also give you a chance to ask questions of
SVP.

Capacity Building Engagement Selection Process

Once your organization has been selected as a new investee with SVP, our staff will reach out to you
directly, and get you connected with the team of volunteers that will be dedicated to working with you.
The team leader will then reach out to you to schedule a “kickoff” meeting that should involve your
organization’s key players. The team will orient you to the SVP process and discuss whether you would
like to run an organizational assessment. They will then work together with you to scope out the chagne
projects and create a mutually agreed upon working arrangement for the duration of the engagement
with multiple check-ins to assess progress.

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