DIRECTIONS for COMPLETING the INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
- Answer the questions in the proposal limiting your responses to a maximum of 6 pages, using a font size no smaller than 12 pt. Submit the proposal summary and proposal as a single document, not two separate documents. Please label your responses to the questions with the numbers corresponding to the question, e.g. 2.1, 2.2, etc.
- Do not send brochures, DVDs, CDs, annual reports, or other materials not specifically requested. You may embed links to videos, photos, web sites, etc. in the body of your proposal.
- All proposals must be in the Social Venture Partners Minnesota office no later than 5:00 pm CST, March 23, 2012. Any proposals received after that time will not be considered. Submit your proposal as an email attachment to bbrown@svpmn.org placing Lube-Tech proposal and your organization’s name in the subject line. Do not mail hard copies of the application.
If you have questions about completing the proposal please contact Brad Brown, Social Venture Partners at (952) 844-5230 / bbrown@svpmn.org.
PART A: INVESTMENT PROPOSAL SUMMARY
Date of Application:
Applicant Organization:
Address:
City: Zip:
Telephone:
Applicant contact name / title:
Contact email:
Grant amount you are requesting (maximum is $25,000):
Total Organizational Budget (current fiscal year):
The total number of children you now serve:
Federal Tax ID Number:
PART B: INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
1.0 YOUR “ELEVATOR PITCH”
Assume you have 30 seconds with a prospective donor. What do you tell him/her about your organization and its work that would compel them to invest in you? Your answer should be no more than 3 to 4 brief sentences. The key to an elevator pitch is to be concise – clear – compelling.
2.0 SOCIAL VALUE PROPOSITION and INNOVATION
2.1 Explain your social value proposition: What is the social problem you are solving with your STEM program and how does your program solve the problem? What is the innovation in what you do and how does it produce better outcomes for the children you serve? Which organizations are your competitors and how is your STEM program better than theirs?
2.2 Who are the students you serve? What portion of those students are at risk and what are their special needs? What are your market’s characteristics, unmet needs, and size?
3.0 LEADERSHIP
3.1 Who is the leader of your organization and what is their background and relevant skills? Is this person the founder, and if so, what is their current and future role?
3.2 What are the skills of your management team and how do those skills contribute to growing the organization? What role does your board play in the work for which you are seeking support?
4.0 SCALABILITY
4.1 How will you take your program to scale? How will you expand it into other markets, geographic areas, or larger numbers of students served in the same location? What are your growth goals over the next 3 years?
4.2 How much capital do you require to achieve the growth you projected in 4.1? How do you plan to raise the capital?
5.0 FINANCIAL AND CAPACITY BUILDING ASSISTANCE
5.1 Use of Funds: How much are you requesting and how will you use the grant to improve your organizational capacity?
5.2 Capacity Building Assistance: Describe the work that you wish to undertake with Lube-Tech’s support that will improve your organizational capacity. What types of business or professional skills, consulting, or connections do you need that Lube-Tech may be able to provide?
5.3 Direct service volunteering opportunities: Describe the direct service volunteering opportunities our employees could participate in through your program.
6.0 OUTCOMES
6.1 What are your key metrics of success and what are your results to date as measured by those metrics for the past 3 years?
6.2 What are the chief benefits for the students who participate in your program?
7.0 BUDGET
Include in the body of this proposal your budgets for 2011, 2012, and projected 2013 fiscal years. Place all three years in adjoining columns so that year-to-year comparisons can be made. Major income and expense categories are sufficient.