Social Venture Capital

venture |ˈven ch ər|
noun
a risky or daring journey or undertaking : pioneering ventures into little-known waters.
• a business enterprise involving considerable risk.

So whadayagit when you gather a hundred smart people willing to risk several thousand dollars and hundreds of hours every year to make a difference? The answer in North Texas is the Dallas Social Venture Partners (DSVP).

Just returned from an intro to DSVP in preparation for this year's grant cycle. I'm impressed. This is venture capital at its best. The capital is not just their bucks, but their brains and hearts to assist nonprofits in capacity building.

By December, DSVP will select one or two nonprofits focusing on youth-at-risk and edu issues and help those orgs start attaining some really big goals. The help comes from investments by the partners in the form of funding, and more significantly in the form of expertise...critical skill sets of every type that well run organizations in any business need to succeed.

What a concept! Increasing your joy to stuff ratio and working together to change the world.

This will be fun to watch. Sort of reminds me of a paceline.