the practice of venture philanthropy: lessons learned benny levin

Membership Meetings May 2006

Venture practices to better Israel

The Practice of Venture Philanthropy: Lessons Learned Benny Levin

Bringing Venture Philanthropy to Israel

• IVN’s original mandate in the field of education was to raise student achievement while advancing management capabilities within the system.

• IVN also aims to create a platform for members to become actively involved in venture philanthropy in Israel.

IVN’s First Steps

• Focus on:

• the periphery

• improving student achievements in core languages

• direct membership involvement in the field

Lessons Learned from Experience in the Field

• Need for increased professionalism in the existing public sector due to a lack of:

• Advanced tools to measure where there are problems

• Proper management of existing resources

• Coordination between local and national policy-makers

• Focus and prioritization based on reliable data

IVN’s Response

• Integrative approach that focuses on empowerment of existing leadership using advanced management tools:• Focusing on the role of the integrator

• Creating joint forums with existing municipal & national leaders

• Management training

• Establishment of Information, Measurement & Evaluation Units

• Municipal mapping and data-driven decision making

Significant Results

• Signs of change in management culture:

• Municipal-wide mapping of student achievements

• Requests for Measurement & Evaluation

• Requests for advanced management tools• Municipal Intervention serves as an incubator

for other IVN initiatives.• Potential for synergy between initiatives.

IVN’s strategic initiatives today

School PrincipalTraining

Active Citizenship

StartUp Jerusalem

SE Fellowship

IsraCorps

EI :Municipal

Intervention

StrengtheningMunicipal

Capabilities

Areas for Improvement

• Members engagement• Fundraising

Strategic Initiative Highlights 2005-6

Municipal Intervention

• Growing evidence that the EI is valued by our partners.

• The Information, Measurement, and Evaluation Units constitute a major tool for data-based management and achieving sustainable change.

• For the first time, there have been municipal-wide mappings of student achievements in core subjects.

• Significant improvement in student achievements.

Example of city-wide mapping

Example of core language results

• Year-end results show both significant student achievement and reduction of gaps in mathematics between students in 3rd, 4th & 6th grades in Kiryat Shemona, who began the year in the weakest section of the class.

0

20

40

60

80

100

beginningof year

end ofyear

lowest quartile

remaining 3quartiles

Shay Ben-Yaish, Deputy Mayor of Sderot

• "It is only through education that true social change can be achieved… I had a vision for the education system in Sderot, but I did not know what to do, how to create a plan, how to define the objectives. Through the Education Initiative, IVN's representatives helped me to put a concrete work plan in place and they are our partners in facilitating its implementation."

Principal training

• Developed, implemented and received positive feedback on a unique course that brings universal management techniques to the field of education.

• Evidence of change in management culture within the schools.

Jacqueline Namer, School Principal Training Course Participant

Active Citizenship

The active citizenship program was launched during the 2004-5 school year as a pilot in the development town of Sderot and is currently being taught to @1400 students.• Positioned citizenship as a core language• Solidified the connection between civics and social action:

• Campaigning for student council elections while learning about elections as an expression of democratic principles.

• An elementary school initiative for renewing an animal center while learning about civic participation.

• A school environment renewal project through art with the renowned Bezalel Art Academy and local artists.

IsraCorps Action Center

• Identified the disconnect between volunteers and those they came to serve; developed a response.

• Created a high-level training program to maximize volunteer time.

• In 2005-6, IsraCorps trained nearly 400 volunteers in 32 municipalities throughout the country including more than 150 volunteers from the periphery.

SE Fellowships

• Received over 259 applications for the 2005-6 fellowships, up from 65 the year before; and selected 4 new Fellows and Mentors.

SE Fellow Chaim Fox-Emmett

StartUp Jerusalem

• Recruitment of the SUJ Board and Staff • Attaining commitment of Prof. Michael E.

Porter to serve as Honorary Chair• Establishment of strategic partnerships with

private sector organizations• Development of strong working relationships

with the national government• Preparation and Launching of Cluster

Initiatives

Bringing business practices to better philanthropy

• “The new approach to philanthropy is ‘strategic’, ‘market-conscious’, ‘knowledge-based’ and often ‘high-engagement,’ and always involves maximizing the ‘leverage’ of the donor’s money.” – The Economist

IVN’s Current Positioning

• Empowerment of the community while building management skills

• Build & support social leadership• The unique approach to IVN:

• Provide tools for data-driven decision-making

• Active membership base

• Strategic partnerships

What we need to succeed

• Membership involvement

combined with financial commitment

IVN Member Heli Ben-Nun