By Bill Draper, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
In this open letter to philanthropists working with few or no staff, venture capitalist turned venture philanthropist Bill Draper outlines an approach to address today’s social issues. Just as the best venture capitalists achieve enormous, outsized impact in their chosen for-profit investments, each of us, as investors in the nonprofit arena, can strive for the same returns. Draper, one of the first to transfer his venture approach to philanthropy, offers a 3-step model and examples of successful investments.
At the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, we have one singular belief that drives everything we do. We believe that, with early funding and rigorous support, exceptional social entrepreneurs tackling some of society’s most complex problems can make the world a better place. It’s that simple.
We’ve taken this one singular belief, borrowed from our venture capital legacy, and created a unique model, proven over a decade, for working with world-class social entrepreneurs. We find, fund, and support leaders with exceptional promise and impactful ideas that have the potential to scale.
A time-tested three-step process
It’s hard work to be sure, but over the past 12 years, we have seen these organizations materially impact the lives of millions.
- Find—Through exhaustive due diligence on hundreds of potential portfolio opportunities, working in close contact with partners, networks, and institutions crossing the public, private, and non-profit sector, we narrow our focus on a select group of exceptional leaders and organizations.
- Fund—Early on, we recognized two things that drive our funding model: 1) unrestricted capital is the most precious capital that our portfolio companies need to build out their organizations; and 2) multiyear funding, as opposed to a one-time grant, is a critical success factor in helping these great organizations achieve scale.
- Support—We also have learned that just giving early stage organizations money and checking in periodically isn’t enough. Our approach is materially different. We partner with the leaders of these organizations and provide rigorous and unrelenting ongoing support. We take a board seat for 3 years, often serving as the first outside board member. We work day and night with our grantees, opening our networks and contacts to each of these select organizations, facilitating meetings, convening critical resources, and working side by side with each leader to help all reach their full potential and build their organizations to scale.
