Pitch Perfect: Nonprofits Make Their Case on Stage in 180 Seconds
By Mike Saucier
They stood on the stage and made their carefully crafted three-minute case for how they will “change the world.”
In a live, showcase event at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, finalists for Social Venture Partners “Fast Pitch” competition vied on Tuesday night for cash grants – plus thousands more raised that evening by community leaders, business executives and philanthropists.
After the dust settled, Labor’s Community Service Agency, which operates the only affordable car-purchasing program in Arizona, won the Social Venture Partners Innovator Award of $25,000. The Judges’ Choice Award of $10,000 went to Read Better Be Better, which helps children improve literacy skills and become better learners.
Social Venture Partners Arizona awarded more than $60,000 while audience members donated an additional $15,000 after hearing the inspired pitches.
One memorable moment of the night came when the Kiita Foundation gave an on-the-spot award of $2,500 to Skate After School, after giving $7,500 to Northbridge College Success Program.
The full list of Fast Pitch award winners:
- $25,000 SVP Innovator Award to Labor’s Community Service Agency and Stephen Sparks, who was chosen by a panel of Partners from the SVPAZ network for the innovation and repeatability of the SHIFT program.
- $10,000 Judges’ Choice Award to Kelsey Pinckney, program coordinator at Read Better Be Better, who was chosen by the panel of community judges during the showcase event.
- $7,500 KIITA Award: In Inuit, KIITA means “Get up and Go!” This year, Jason Moore with Northbridge College Success Program compelled KIITA Foundation members to get up and give them money. Kiita donated an additional $2,500 to Ryan Lay with Skate After School.
- $5,000 Jaburg Wilk “Making Tomorrow Better Today” Award to Kelsey Pinckney, program coordinator at Read Better Be Better, for its work in literacy at the critical third grade level. This is the inaugural award for Jaburg Wilk.
- $2,500 ASU Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Award to Melanie Isaacs of Pal Experiences for its work in accessibility for children and families with autism.
- $2,500 People’s Choice Award: After the presenters concluded their pitches, audience members texted for their favorites. Shelia Iyengar of The Nagi Foundation received the most votes.
- $1,500 Don Keuth Mentor’s Choice Award to Melanie Isaacs of Pal Experiences. She was selected by the 60+ mentors who participated in the program this year. The award is in honor of Don Keuth, a long-time Fast Pitch mentor and friend of SVPAZ, who passed away in January.
- $2,000 Student Innovator Award to Joshua Smith, an ASU student and CEO of Fortunes Financial. Fortunes Financial is a software-based education tool that teaches college students how to manage their money.
- $5,000 Social Enterprise Award to Jacob Hamman, co-founder of Zenjoi, a social enterprise seeking to improve quality of life for Alzheimer’s victims.
- $10,000 Match. The S. Rex and Joan T. Lewis Foundation graciously donated $10,000 for a donation match the evening of the event. Any of the 23 (student and nonprofit) Fast Pitch innovators received dollar-for-dollar matching, up to a $10,000 combined total.
A star-studded panel of judges picked the winner of the competition – a high energy, rapid-fire presentation event during which finalists share the mission, vision and impact of their organization with the audience and judges.
This year’s judges included Jenny Poon, the Phoenix Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year and founder of Co+Hoots collaborative co-working space; Todd Christy, American Airlines vice president; Laura Mitchell, executive director of the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation; Megan Finnerty, founder of the Arizona Storytellers Project; Elisa De La Vara, chief community officer, Arizona Community Foundation; Mark Hiegel, president and CEO, Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce; Lawrence Robinson, executive director, Center for Civic Participation, Maricopa County Community Colleges; and Roberto Yanez, vice president and general manager, Univision Arizona.
The Fast Pitch concept comes from a group that takes an entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy—Social Venture Partners Arizona. It’s just one of the ways the group aims to help nonprofits on the front lines that are tackling some of Arizona’s most pressing issues and want to take it to the next level.
The event was emceed by Kim Covington of the Arizona Community Foundation and Park Howell of The Business of Storytelling.
Past winners are listed below, with an update on how they are faring after winning the big pitch prize.
Feeding Matters (2010): The first Fast Pitch innovator investee, Feeding Matters, received five years of funding and strategic guidance. Social Venture Partners impacted children with feeding struggles by advising Feeding Matters on strategy, finances, fundraising and organizational growth. The staff points to the following accomplishments:
- An annual operating budget that’s grown from $72,500 in 2010 to $1.3 million
- A fulltime staff of 11, up from three
- Complete rebranding, messaging, and renaming of organization
- Continued research to help validate a feeding questionnaire used by doctors and parents to identify feeding red flags
- Hosting a multi-day medical conference with more than 500 in-person and online attendees representing 12 countries
- A revamped, interactive website with approximately 16,500 hits a month
Bloom365 (2012): From funding, board expansion, rebranding, programming evaluations and testing, to most recently staff and office expansion and a full-fledged marketing and communications strategy, Bloom365 and Executive Director Donna Bartos have been significantly boosted by the win.
TigerMountain Foundation (2013): Founder Darren Chapman credits Social Venture Partners for helping him build a stronger board, an operating budget, and more rigor into its operations.
Spot127 (2014): On January 19, Spot 127 opened its East Campus with the ability to serve more students. The award and Social Venture Partners’ vote of confidence allowed Spot 127 to leverage and secure other funders. And that means they could open a new site on the Tempe-Mesa border, near McClintock, Tempe, Dobson and Westwood high schools. Scottsdale’s Coronado High School, the north Chandler high schools and numerous charter schools are not far away.
ONe TRUe LOVe (2016): ONe TRUe LOVe has recently partnered with for-profit Left Coast Burrito Co. food truck to sell its signature lemonade. Proceeds continue to be used to feed the homeless throughout the Valley.