Frequently Asked Questions
Looking for information about New Profit, or our definition of social entrepreneurship? Below you can find answers to some of our most frequently asked questions. ABOUT NEW PROFIT
When was New Profit founded? New Profit was founded in 1998. To learn more, read about our story. Back to top What does New Profit do? We provide growth capital grants and strategic support to a set of innovative social entrepreneurs and their organizations, while also pursuing a set of social innovation strategies to improve the environment in which all social entrepreneurs operate. Visit What We Do to learn more. Back to top What is New Profit's ultimate goal? Our ultimate goal is to create an environment in which innovative social entrepreneurs and their organizations have the necessary strategic and financial resources to grow their solutions to scale and achieve sustainable, transformative social impact against some of the biggest problems facing our country in education, public health, poverty alleviation, and workforce development. Visit About New Profit to learn more. Back to top What is the relationship between Monitor Group and New Profit? Since 1998, Monitor Group has served as New Profit's strategic partner, working closely with us and our portfolio organizations to address many of the key strategic issues facing nonprofits today. Read more about this partnership. Back to top How can I get a job at New Profit or with one of the organizations that New Profit funds?
How can I contact an individual at New Profit? We encourage you to visit Contact Us and use the form provided to contact New Profit. Through this form we are able to correctly field inquiries across the Team, ensuring that you will receive more prompt and relevant answers to your questions. Most inquiries receive a response within a week. Back to top Who should I contact at New Profit with a press/media inquiry? For detailed information on press or media inquiries, please see media resources. Back to top I'm doing a research project and would like to interview or survey New Profit. Who should I contact? Please email impact [at] newprofit [dot] com with research requests. Back to top Is New Profit on Facebook or Twitter? Yes, in addition to maintaining www.newprofit.com and www.americaforward.org, New Profit has a presence on both Twitter and Facebook. You can find and follow our updates using the links below: Twitter: www.twitter.com/newprofit Facebook: www.facebook.com/newprofitinc Back to top What is New Profit's mailing address? New Profit Inc. 200 Clarendon Street, 9th Floor Boston, MA 02116 Please refer to Contact Us for driving directions. Back to top Giving to New Profit Who invests in New Profit? Our investor community is made up of individuals and families who are passionate about creating the greatest possible social impact with their philanthropy. Visit Investor Community to learn more. Back to top In addition to investing in New Profit, how do individuals support New Profit's work? Our investors are passionate about creating high social impact with their philanthropy, often seeking engagement with social entrepreneurs and their strategic challenges, as well as with New Profit itself. Read more about our investor engagement opportunities. Back to top How does an investment in New Profit differ from a donation directly to an organization? An investment in New Profit differs from one made directly to an organization in that it is significantly leveraged. Investments in the New Profit are amplified at a 2:1 ratio by the intellectual capital and strategic resources contributed by New Profit, Monitor Group, and other partners. Visit Advantages of Giving to New Profit to learn more. Back to top Investment Selection and Management What is New Profit's selection process for portfolio organizations? New Profit's investment selection cycle is a six-month process that meaningfully engages candidate organizations to best determine which ones fit both our investment criteria and fund priorities. Please visit Investment Selection for more detailed information. Back to top Is my nonprofit organization a good fit for New Profit's portfolio? New Profit seeks to identify innovative social entrepreneurs leading path-breaking organizations that change the lives of the people they serve and effectively tackle some of our nation's most urgent problems in education, workforce development, public health, and poverty. Please see Investment Selection for more detailed information. Back to top What happens after I submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI)? When you submit your letter of inquiry using our online form, you will be given immediate confirmation that we received your LOI submission. Please note that you will not receive a confirmation email. Our team will notify you regarding the status of your LOI within three months of submission. The LOI is part of a three-round investment selection cycle, and we encourage you to refer to Investment Selection for more details on each round. Back to top How does New Profit support organizations in its investment portfolio? Once an organization becomes part of our investment portfolio, we provide multi-year financial support to increase organizational capacity and intensive strategic support to anticipate and plan for the challenges organizations face as they grow. To learn more about how we support our current investments, visit Portfolio Management. Back to top Does New Profit invest in for-profit, socially responsible organizations? Presently, New Profit is committed to working only with organizations with nonprofit, 501(c)(3) status. However, we are always interested in hearing about good ideas in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors that have the potential to create large-scale social change. Back to top How many organizations has New Profit invested in? To date New Profit has invested in 32 organizations, 21 of which are current investments while 11 are past investments. Back to top The Pathways Fund What is the Pathways Fund? The Pathways Fund backs critical interventions in youth development to yield significant improvements in helping young people navigate the increasingly complex path from high school to college and productive employment. Grants made through the Pathways Fund will be directed towards a diverse set of geographic areas including Baltimore, Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Providence, RI, San Francisco, Seattle, and the state of West Virginia. The Pathways Fund is made possible through a grant from the federal Social Innovation Fund, administered by The Corporation for National and Community Service, and through a collaborative partnership between Blue Ridge Foundation New York, Carnegie Corporation of New York, JPMorgan Chase, Open Society Foundations, Robin Hood Foundation, SeaChange Capital Partners, and New Profit Inc. Back to top What is the Social Innovation Fund? The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) is a new competitive grant program housed at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) that was designed to expand innovative solutions to social sector problems with evidence of strong results in communities throughout America. The Social Innovation Fund was authorized in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in April 2009. You can learn more about the SIF on the CNCS website. Back to top Will New Profit, through the Pathways Fund be proactive in seeking out innovative organizations it has not funded before? On February 23, 2011, New Profit announced announced new grants to three organizations to add to the Pathways Fund, in addition to its preselected organizations. Read our official announcement, and learn more about the the Pathways portfolio. Back to top Does New Profit already have a list of Pathways Fund grantees prepared or will the organization conduct an open selection process to find grantees? As part of New Profit's application to the SIF, we competitively pre-selected College Summit, iMentor, and Year Up for the Pathways portfolio because of their innovative approaches for addressing issues surrounding youth development with a history of measurable results. College Summit, iMentor, and Year Up were selected by New Profit based on our established open and competitive investment selection process along with updated benchmarking data. On February 23, 2011, New Profit announced announced new grants to three organizations to add to the Pathways Fund. Read our official announcement, and learn more about the the Pathways portfolio. Back to top How do I apply to be a subgrantee in the Pathways Fund? The Pathways Fund's online application process concluded in October, and on February 23, 2011, we announced announced new grants to three organizations. We are not accepting additional applications at this time. Back to top Venture Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship What is Venture Philanthropy? Venture philanthropy is a set of related approaches developed by individuals from the private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors across the United States in the 1990s, and more recently in Europe and beyond. It is characterized by a focus on performance and impact, investor engagement, and the financial support of strategies and organizations rather than programs. Responding to an array of challenges associated with more traditional forms of philanthropy, venture philanthropy models vary along many dimensions: some focus their support on an issue area (e.g., education or workforce development) or a region (e.g., New York or Washington, DC); others are issue-neutral and national; some focus more on investor engagement, while others emphasize the relationship with their portfolio of organizations; still others focus on seed-stage organizations and their leaders, while others focus on replicating scalable models; and so on. Some examples of other venture philanthropy funds include Acumen Fund, Echoing Green, NewSchools Venture Fund, REDF (Roberts Enterprise Development Fund), Robin Hood Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Social Venture Partners International, and Venture Philanthropy Partners. Back to top What is a social entrepreneur? What is social innovation? Please visit On Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation for detailed answers to these two questions. Back to top |
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