What is SEED20?
Created by Social Venture Partners (SVP) Charlotte, the annual SEED20 program identifies, highlights and connects the community to our region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges. These innovations can be developed by:
- An individual or start up with a well-formed idea
- An emerging nonprofit
- A well-established nonprofit with a new program
Each year, over the course of two months, a class of nonprofit participants receives training, coaching, feedback, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story – who they are and why they matter. These efforts culminate in SEED20 OnStage, a high-energy event where ten members of the class compete to win cash awards by making three-minute pitches to a community audience. SEED20 OnStage includes a celebration where the audience can interact and connect with the nonprofit participants to learn more about their mission and opportunities for support and engagement.
SEED20’s mission is to promote the power of social innovation.
- We believe in the power of social innovation to unleash breakthrough ideas that creatively attack tough social challenges.
- We connect innovative people and organizations to funders, to one another, and to the broader Charlotte region.
- We empower nonprofits with the skills and confidence to tell their stories in ways that inspire people to act.
- We educate the community about pressing social issues and organizations that are dedicated to addressing them.
Social Venture Partners Charlotte is a nonprofit organization passionately attacking the issue of social and economic inequality in Charlotte through venture philanthropy. Our vision is that through SEED20, the Charlotte region will be a community that embraces our nonprofit entrepreneurs, providing them with an environment that supports innovation. The SEED20 program, the OnStage event, and alumni activities are all coordinated by SVP Charlotte’s staff and volunteer members.
Click below to learn more about what the SEED20 program is, what it is like to attend SEED20 OnStage, and what the experience means to our nonprofit participants.
“I’ve attended SEED20 for many years, and it is by far my favorite nonprofit event. You leave feeling inspired and uplifted knowing there are positive people in our community who are passionate about helping others and bringing about social change.”
Nicole Stotts
Alumni Network
To the audience of the SEED20 OnStage event, our program might seem like just one inspiring evening. But after the party is over, the prize checks have been deposited, and everyone has gone home, this year’s SEED20 participants become members of the SEED20 Alumni Network! All SEED20 participants are welcome in the network and can use the opportunity to find collaborators, mentors, and partners. As the steward of the Alumni Network, Social Venture Partners Charlotte offers multiple workshops each year for the enrichment of the alums. These sessions vary each year and address a wide variety of topics, such as guidelines on effective fundraising practices, seminars on understanding leadership styles and improving organizational governance. Below is a sample of what was offered in 2024.
Social Venture Partners Charlotte
Social Venture Partners (SVP) Charlotte invests in and strengthens innovative nonprofits who are tackling our community’s greatest challenges by leveraging our network of engaged philanthropists. We envision a thriving Charlotte area nonprofit community equipped to support all people to pursue their full potential.
SVP Charlotte fuels nonprofit innovation in the community through three distinct programs
- Investee: Deep, multi-year investments of financial, social, and human capital in a select number of promising nonprofits
- SEED20: Our signature program that identifies, highlights, and connects the community to the Charlotte region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges
- Spark Team: Pro bono consulting for nonprofits with a focus on building skills and knowledge
SVP Charlotte is an affiliate of Social Venture Partners International (SVPI), which is the largest network of engaged donors in the world with more than 40 affiliate organizations in nine countries bringing together over 3,400 partners investing $70 million in 900+ nonprofit organizations worldwide. Each SVP affiliate invests in their local community and is connected to the global movement woven together by SVPI.