We asked Maya to tell us a little more about the New York City Venture Philanthropy Fund as a follow up to her last post because the idea of a small group of people wanting to make change (and making it!) is one that is close to FLiP's heart.
New York City – so many people to meet and so much to do! It's easy to stay within the groups you know for the convenience. But breaking out of your own world makes it possible for a small group of people to make big change.
The New York City Venture Philanthropy Fund (VPF) brings together people from across sectors - staff and employees from nonprofit organizations, philanthropies, and corporations as well as freelancers of all varieties. Heather Rees started VPF by gathering a group of people in her home through a post on the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network-NYC listserv. From this meeting, a small group of strangers united by the idea of giving differently recruited other members. When these diverse worlds collided, this small group of people with different networks and areas of expertise took the idea of small money making big change and put it into action.
A sampling of VPF’s diversity includes: computer programmers, nonprofit managers, advertising and marketing professionals, corporate sales, Wall Street finance folks, graduate students and philanthropic professionals. Diversity brings a richness of experience through different perspectives and expertise. Through this team VPF created from scratch: a marketing and branding identity and philosophy; a membership and outreach strategy with implementation; social networking vehicles including Facebook and Twitter accounts; a grantmaking process that started with a request for proposals and ended with a $10,000 grant award; and perhaps most importantly, a community. From one idea and one person, VPF has grown to more than 37 members and counting.
If you want to learn more about how to make small money equal big change, you may want to get involved in a giving circle like VPF or hear about what is going on by following VPF on Twitter.
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