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November 2007
As I travel around the region, I continue to be surprised the number of people who think VPP is an organization supported solely by the Northern Virginia technology world. In fact, VPP’s investors come from throughout the region with a variety of personal and professional backgrounds—high tech, real estate, finance, publishing, and other enterprises. They have a wide range of interests, philanthropic goals, and varying levels of philanthropic experience. As our investor community grows, we aim to reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the National Capital Region. We also share what we’re learning with our investor community for application in their own philanthropy. We work every day to meet these goals.
One of things that I am most proud of at VPP is the very active and robust ways that we connect with our investors and they connect with us. In early October, investors Kristin Ehrgood, Kathy Bushkin Calvin, and Caren DeWitt Merrick co-hosted a dinner and discussion about women in philanthropy. This dinner was the third in a series of what we are calling “salon conversations” for VPP investors and friends on this topic. These intimate gatherings have been warm and lively with provocative discussions covering everything from trends women see in philanthropy, to how our region’s changing demographics affect women, to the use of celebrity to galvanize social change, to the challenges for women in balancing work, family, and philanthropy. The response to these dinners has been enthusiastic, so much so that we plan to extend this dialogue with a larger gathering of investors and friends as well as through our VPP Speakers series. These gatherings reinforce two things for me: first, the desire among our investors to be part of a community, and second, how exciting it is for people to come together in small groups to discuss their philanthropy and the pressing issues in our region and in their lives.
Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, UN Foundation said, “I became a VPP investor because it represented a big opportunity to join with others who had a similar vision and to give together and learn together. Going forward, I’m excited that VPP is reaching out to two categories: 1) the more established donors in the region, because I believe VPP is a hybrid of the best of both new and old philanthropy; and 2) more women, because it’s good to have that diversity in our group."
Regardless of our investors’ backgrounds, the big questions for each are: “How can I make a meaningful impact on improving the lives of children? How should we invest our dollars and our time? Where can we be most effective?” The answers for each person are, of course, different. But a common thread emerges; they see VPP as a valuable and insightful guide for their philanthropic journey.
Knowing that, we strive to work individually with each of them to their desired level of engagement, consistent with their interests and availability. Some want to be heavily engaged, even joining the boards of our investment partners, while others prefer to get involved with specific efforts as their schedules permit. We offer our investors a number of ways to connect with us and with each other through intimate gatherings like the Women’s Dinners I described earlier, and through our Speakers Series where we introduce our investors to renowned people on the front lines of social change. We have been fortunate to hear from Mohammed Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize; DC Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee; Patty Stonesifer, who heads the Gates Foundation; and CNN founder and philanthropist, Ted Turner.
Some investors have found a means to extend their own philanthropy through VPP. For instance, Steve and Jean Case of the Case Foundation wanted to strengthen and deepen their involvement with VPP’s investment partners. Working closely with us, the Case Foundation staff has designed a quarterly professional development series for all of our investment partners that complements the strategic assistance provided by VPP. This program will help investment partners address some of their newfound organizational capacity needs brought on by growth.
Other investors find that they can apply what they learn from VPP’s processes to their personal philanthropic efforts. VPP Co-Founder and Board member Raul Fernandez puts it this way: “My involvement with VPP has made me think about the right questions to ask when looking at organizations to fund and has given me guiding principles to apply to my own philanthropy.”
At VPP, we have focused our work on two fronts—first, helping strong nonprofit leaders be better, stronger, and more effective in delivering services that improve children’s lives; and second, enabling people and institutions who have the resources—financial and otherwise—to invest to bring the highest levels of social return. Most of the time, we talk about the former. But creating a strong, engaged, and informed investor community is critical to our work. It is essential to our success, to the success of our nonprofit investment partners, and to the success of the region.
Throughout my career I have been a bridge builder, bringing together disparate groups to work together for a common purpose. I like to think that VPP is also a place that builds bridges—linking people from many places, from different backgrounds, with different skills and resources—to focus on the common goal of making life better for children and families in our region. We can only be as effective as the people who join us, so we work daily to cultivate and involve our diverse and highly engaged investor community in the work of VPP and its investment partners.
- Carol Thompson Cole
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