Searching beyond the first six search pages

I had done hours of research on venture philanthropy -- I really had. I first googled it, read those articles, then searched for material on the websites of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a leading industry philanthropy magazine, the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and the Foundation Center, the web pages of the philanthropy departments at the City University of New York and Indiana University, and the blog Tactical Philanthropy. To this I added the websites of known venture philanthropists: Venture Philanthropy Partners, Robin Hood, Blue Ridge Foundation, Social Venture Partners - International, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. This research provided useful if often times divergent information. Some were too specific and others - especially media reports - too reductive. But it all still left me unsure about what venture philanthropy really is.

Then I searched the term "venture philanthropy" on Google once more, this time going past the sixth search page, like Professor Penenberg suggested. That's when I found a 2006 report by an associate professor from the University of Southern California's Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. The 28-page analysis on "venture philanthropy" -- "The Construction and Evolution of Venture Philanthropy" -- touched on all the questions I had, namely what the hell is venture philanthropy:

"Offering a succinct and encompassing definition of venture philanthropy is difficult" because the "field is in some ways defined by its distinctiveness as a "new" approach to grantmaking, there is a range of different activities taking place under the venture philanthropy banner, and recently some organizations have decided to label their work under different, less controversial banners."

It would have helped if I read this weeks ago.

But that's not the point here. The lesson is that I should have searched further into Google the first time. And even though I eventually looked through 30 search pages and the only real find came on the eighth page, I should have kept searching.

Week in Interviews

On Tuesday I met up with Matt Klein, executive director of Blue Ridge Foundation New York, which funds Groundwork. And today I had a phone interview with Rich Souto, former associate executive director at Groundwork and now executive director at New Heights Youth. Both interviews went well and in fact are a good complement - one the venture philanthropist and the other on the non-profit organization side. Matt and Rich were with Groundwork in the beginning, so they are valuable sources who can talk about what it's like to build up the work of a social entrepreneur. Matt tended to use technical terms more often - saturation and community organization - while Rich gave plenty of colorful anecdotes about the group that started Groundwork. Both had great things to say about Groundwork's co-founder Rich Buery. Matt noted that even if he had not known Buery (they were classmates at Yale Law, but had met before then), Blue Ridge would still have invested in Groundwork because of Rich. Souto talked about how fun it was to work for Buery, especially when it came to kaoroke nights.

Making of the Video

There are two things I don't know how to do: swim, and shoot and produce a web video. In both, learning the skill would have been much easier and more fun if I had done it when I was 12, when failing didn't feel so pronounced. Well, that didn't happen, and for GNews I had to do the video.

We were basically given a few lessons and then sent out to film and edit. I'm a big boy so I didn't mind, but I did do things to hurt my learning curve. The most prominent handicapping was not buying a camera and playing with it before going to shoot. So essentially every time I went out to film I had to learn how to use the camera at the same time. And with video, the interview and first draft are one in a way that's different from writing. At the interview stage you already need to frame the picture rather than just gather information.

This being said, most of my video came out like decent home video, which is really all I could ask for. I had a great subject and I actually thought out how my story would unfold before filming, that way I could go get what I needed. That's why I got up at 730am to get from Sunset Park in Brooklyn to East New York to follow my subject, David Adekoya, from his home to school. Of course later this turned out to wasted because this portion of the story didn't test well, but it was still interesting. If nothing else, I planned out my footage.

There's nothing to say about editing accept that it takes a lot of time, is annoying in the beginning, but when I got the hang of it I quite enjoyed it. Part of this is because I am not as invested into video as I am into writing. I read well, which makes writing difficult because I can see how hard it is to produce very good work. But with video I can't really say I can judge it with much authority. And so I try to keep my video simple, and that doesn't annoy me like it would with writing. I found video a fun storytelling media also.

What I put up is a mess. I needed to post something, so I took my long piece and just cut bits away so I could upload it. It's not pretty, and I'll retool the whole thing before the end of the semester. I don't intend to do anything fancy - no zooms and music or parlor tricks. Just a simple story, with pictures.

Video - Rough Cut!

Ok, this isn't pretty but here is the rough cut to my video, cut to an economical 2'24''. My feature article will be on the non-profit Groundwork and its funders, but the video follows one of the teenagers who went through the program. He's now a freshman at City College of New York and still works at Groundwork. So without further introductions, David Adekoya...

Groundwork Inaugural Fall Benefit

This past Wednesday I attended Groundwork's inaugural fall benefit. For those that don't know, my feature article will focus on Groundwork, a East New York-based non-profit that provides services to community youth and families, and the venture philanthropists that provided the organization with its seed money. Groundwork is now in its fifth year of operation and the benefit represented an opportunity to reach out to new funders, an important moment that I wanted to document for my story.

The benefit was held at the Allen Room on the fifth floor of the Time Warner Building. It began with a cocktail reception where those who came would bid on items for a silent auction. This was my first chance to meet Rich Buery, founder and executive director of Groundwork. Rich grew up in East New York, went to high school in Manhattan, before going to Harvard then Yale Law. As you'd expect on a night like this, Rich was in constant motion, greeting attendees, nodding and talking, shaking hands and taking pictures. There was a diverse crowd there, and some of the teachers, administrators and even students from Groundwork had come (the students came in from East New York with some teachers on a bus). David Adekoya, whom I filmed for my web video and was a keynote speaker that night, came in a brilliant white suit jacket. I remember David telling me that many of the kids in East New York spend all their time in their neighborhood, and that Groundwork is a way out, an avenue to see something different, even what they see is only another part of New York. He even recounted how some of the things he saw in Mahattan surprised him - he'd expected everyone to be in business and therefore dressed up in suits and the like, and didn't expect that there would be people dressed like how people in East New York were dressed, casually. I can't imagine what it was like for the high school students there that night - I'd never gone to this kind of thing when I was their age.

After a while the crowd moved into the actual room, where tables were set out on the tiers of the half circle that looked toward the stage, behind which was the most magnificent view of Columbus Circle, Broadway, and Central Park, all brightened by the nighttime lights of cars and fountain lights and lit buildings and lamp posts. Against this backdrop Rich, Silda Wall Spitzer (The governor's wife) and a few others spoke, before the crowded reconvened back in the reception area for more drinks.

New Sources

In my last entry I wrote that I emailed Sean Stannard-Stockton from the philanthropy blog Tactical Philanthropy to ask about venture philanthropy. He was kind enough to get right back to me with some organizations I should check out. Here's his email:

I think the best thing for you to do is explore the websites of Social Venture Partners - Seattle, Social Venture Partners - International and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. All of them are at the forefront of venture philanthropy. You can also list to my podcast with Paul Shoemaker, the president of Social Venture Partners - Seattle.

He also recommended that I try contacting Paul Shoemaker. A few days later Sean emailed me again and said he read this blog, which was I'm kind of embarrassed about because my blog is a bit of a mess.

Reaching out to Sean has been a relevatory experience. As a journalist I have to contact people all the time. Some are friendly, most are professional, and a small minority would rather not speak with me. Usually the relationship is I am the journalist - I call and ask my questions - and the experts/subjects answer my questions tell me their stories. And then I write the story and I usually don't talk to the people again.

In class my professors always talk about networks, the interconnectivity of the web, and the community there. About how it's no longer just the journalist producing news and the reader consuming. And I think I'm starting not only to understand that, but also experience it.

Big Week

With the web video almost behind me, I have a big week ahead in terms of my venture philanthropy/social entrepreneur project. Groundwork Inc. - the East New York-based non-profit that I'm covering - holds their inaugural fundraising gala this Wednesday. The event comes as Groundwork has reached its fifth anniversary, and has reached a certain scale so that it can approach a different set of funders. Also, this should be my first opportunity to meet Groundwork's founder and executive director Richard Buery. David Adekoya, the 18 year old college freshman whom I profiled for my web video, will be a keynote speaker, which I'm excited about.

While this is all happening, I still need to do more background research. I keep reading about venture philanthropy but am not altogether sure how to define it yet. Measurable results certainly is a part of it, but I've also read traits of venture philanthropy include long term funding and a greater level of involvement than just giving money. Blue Ridge exemplifies this mode of philanthropy. Additionally, I still not quite sure if giving seed money to socail entrepreneurs is a defining characteristic of VP.

The blog Tactical Philanthropy has been a great help. It gathers together a lot of useful information and has a very welcoming tone about it. I've just emailed the blogger, who actually went to the same college I went to, and hopefully he can give me some direction.