VPP's concept and organization never would have gotten off the ground without the invaluable intellectual contributions of our four strategic partners:

• Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
  VPP is incorporated as a nonprofit public charity and operates as a support organization to the Community Foundation. This very close relationship with the Community Foundation is a reflection of VPP’s longstanding desire to work with and become part of the region’s philanthropic ecosystem.
  
  

  VPP is fortunate to have Terri Freeman, the president of the Community Foundation, as a member of VPP’s board.

  Terri and her talented team at the Community Foundation provide the VPP investment team with invaluable insights and linkages into the region’s nonprofit organizations, as well as connections to the established foundations and donors that are represented through the Community Foundation. But most important, the leadership and staff of the Community Foundation provide the VPP board, its executive committee, and the VPP investment team with invaluable reality-checks and grounding that have had a major impact on the direction of VPP.

  VPP and the Community Foundation are now co-located in the same office space in downtown Washington. There is a constant exchange and flow of information between the two organizations and their staffs. We at VPP hope that over the coming years we will be able to help the Community Foundation engage more of the region’s new business leaders and entrepreneurs as donors and participants. We hope that the Community Foundation’s donors will gain greater awareness of VPP’s investment partners and our investment approach. And we hope that both VPP and the Community Foundation will find new ways to leverage their innovative efforts to increase the effectiveness and flow of philanthropy in the region so that we can both have greater positive impact on the quality of life of children of low-income families.

  
  
• Community Wealth Ventures
  

  Community Wealth Ventures (CWV) is a consulting firm that helps nonprofit organizations become more self-sustaining by generating revenue through business ventures and corporate partnerships and helps corporations improve their bottom line through the design and implementation of community-investment strategies. Through its consulting and research, CWV encourages both nonprofits and corporations to think differently about market-based approaches to their social sector activity. It was founded in 1997 as a for-profit subsidiary of Share Our Strength, one of the nation’s leading anti-hunger and anti-poverty organizations.

  In 1998, the Morino Institute joined forces with CWV to explore the feasibility of establishing a social venture fund—making capital available for the explicit purpose of helping established nonprofit organizations grow in scale and effectiveness. CWV was founded by Bill Shore, who also founded Share Our Strength, and was then led by Gary Mulhair, the former president and CEO of Pioneer Human Services in Seattle. The experiences of Bill, Gary, and Mario gave each of them different perspectives that led to the same conclusion: that support for strengthening and expanding the impact of nonprofit organizations was desperately needed. Together, they began to discuss the prospect of starting a social-venture fund to support this kind of work, and CWV undertook a significant exploratory research effort. That research helped lead to the creation of VPP. Today, VPP is fortunate to have Bill Shore as a member of its board and executive committee.

  Since the outset of this relationship, CWV has played a vital role in VPP’s research into the field of high-engagement and highly leveraged grantmaking. In addition to vital internal research, CWV has produced the following published reports for VPP:

  • Venture Philanthropy 2000: Landscape and Expectations
  • Venture Philanthropy 2001: The Changing Landscape
  • Venture Philanthropy 2002: Advancing Nonprofit Performance Through High-Engagement Grantmaking

• McKinsey & Company
  

  McKinsey & Company is an internationally recognized management consulting firm that was built around two ideas: serving senior management on problems important to them and their enterprises; and professionalism that puts the interests of clients first and maintaining the knowledge and skills necessary to serve these clients. The McKinsey Nonprofit Practice applies these same two ideas to help contribute to the development of the nonprofit sector.

  VPP is fortunate to have developed a close strategic partnership with the McKinsey & Company Nonprofit Practice, which is led by Director Les Silverman and Principal Lynn Taliento. As part of this strategic partnership, McKinsey & Company plays several important roles for VPP:

  • Board Advisor: As an advisor to the VPP board, McKinsey & Company provides guidance in matters of overall governance and stewardship. In particular, McKinsey has played a key role in shaping VPP’s approach to comprehensive planning, refining VPP’s “core definitions,” and setting direction for the organization.

  • Management and Investment Advisor: As an advisor to the VPP investment team, McKinsey & Company provides significant guidance on candidate assessment and investment partner support.

  • Strategic Communication Advisor: McKinsey has played a major role in VPP’s efforts to contribute to the field of nonprofit and grantmaking effectiveness. For example, McKinsey developed and wrote for VPP the acclaimed report Effective Capacity Building in Nonprofit Organizations (August 2001).

  Although McKinsey & Company does not provide direct financial support to VPP, the firm has contributed very significant levels of in-kind support as well as services for VPP’s investment partners at highly discounted fees.

• Morino Institute Created in 1994, the Morino Institute is a nonprofit organization that works to enhance the lives of children of low-income families by helping to foster innovation in the nonprofit and philanthropic organizations that serve their needs.

  The inspiration for VPP came from years of private-sector experience and nonprofit work by Mario Morino, founder and chairman of the Morino Institute. The Morino Institute was the launching pad for VPP and incubated the organization. It conducted the formative research and development that laid the foundation for VPP’s creation, guided VPP’s incorporation, and continues to help develop and refine the organization and its investment approach. For example, Morino Institute executives led VPP’s investment landscaping efforts and provided significant strategic development and communications support. The Institute has continued to support VPP’s development, and today the two organizations are aligned in their mission and execution.
  
  Mario Morino serves as chairman of both organizations, the sole funder of the Morino Institute, and a significant funder of VPP. (There is no legal relationship between the two organizations.) The core VPP staff—the investment team—focuses its efforts on the philanthropic investment work of VPP, including the selection of and support for investment partners. The Morino Institute team addresses the non-investment-related activity for VPP, which includes board and committee management, strategic planning and process definition, investor development, strategic partnership development and relationship management, and all aspects of communications, publishing, and public relations.

  The Morino Institute funded the total cost of the research and development that led to VPP’s formation in June 2000 as well as all operational costs for the VPP organization through March 31, 2003. Its direct funding approximates $6 million, in addition to a range of in-kind services it has provided VPP, from office space to technology. Even now, well after the formation of VPP, the institute directly covers the expense for Morino Institute professionals whose work continues to support VPP’s mission.