A dedicated team of SVP Denver Partners, recently completed a successful 6-month capacity-building engagement with Women’s Bean Project (WBP).  WBP helps local Denver-area women thrive by providing stepping stones to self-sufficiency through social enterprise, specifically through manufacturing gourmet food products. 

In partnership with SVP, WBP implemented a new software program and drafted a user’s manual to accompany it.  The software program is used to track each woman in the program, and measure their accomplishments upon graduating from the 6-9 month program WBP provides.  SVP Partner, Sara Bayless, was instrumental in assisting WBP’s Program Director on ensuring that the correct data was being collected to measure program results.  Additionally, SVP Partner and board member, Linda Peotter, worked directly with WBP’s Fund Development Director to build their nascent Corporate Sponsors program.  Together, they developed a call strategy, and revised the marketing materials to attract more corporate sponsors. 

As a result of that work, WBP went from 10 corporate sponsors contributing $27,000 in 2017, to 17 corporate sponsors and $40,000 raised through May of this year!   According to Linda and Sara, this capacity-building engagement was a lot of fun, and a great opportunity for learning.  In fact, we learned that WBP only receives about 45% of their funding from their social enterprise program, so strategic fund development is critical to support each and every woman who partakes in their programming. 

SVP is delighted to have helped the human services aspect of WBP’s efforts in providing a safe and accepting work environment where impoverished women can thrive by helping with two very important aspects of their business: program database management and corporate sponsorships.