NonProfit NewsPod: Meet the 16 SVP Fast Pitch Nonprofits Taking the Next Step Toward the Stage

Jeff Holden: [00:00:00] Welcome to this nonprofit podcast, NewsPod, where we amplify the voices of nonprofit leaders making a difference in their communities. I'm joined by Drew Hayes, chief operating officer of Sacramento Venture Philanthropy, to share some exciting news about this year's Fast Pitch competition. Drew, welcome.

Drew Hayes: Hey, thanks, Jeff. I appreciate being here today, and, uh, we've just really enjoyed our partnership and your support over the years, you know. One of the things that we'll get into in a minute is we start helping nonprofits get better at telling their story, and then they get to come onto your network and get the word out in a, a much broader sense.

I know you'll share a little bit more about that later, too. 

Jeff Holden: Absolutely. Well, this is the 11th annual Fast Pitch coming up this year, which is just... It, it's amazing to think it's been 11 years. I remember the very first one. And, you know, what an exciting event it is each year w- with the [00:01:00] finalists giving everything they've got on stage to present to the audience their stories in three minutes which is- 

Drew Hayes: Yep

Jeff Holden: no easy task. Tell us a few things that are going on with Fast Pitch 2026. 

Drew Hayes: Yeah, so, you know, the program grows every year, which is phenomenal, and we see that growth in a number of different ways. The first one is this year we had almost 100 applications, and that's grown just since I've been leading the program from around 50 or so to nearly over 100 this year, which is cool.

Second area of growth we've seen is attendance, which has also been amazing. We have sold out the Sofia Theater for the past two years, and so this year we have been able to move over to the Crest Theater, which will allow us to double our capacity to nearly 1,000 folks. That'll be amazing. And then we've seen a huge growth in donations as well.

Some of that is because we have more people coming, but some of that is we're getting a broader, you know, reach into the philanthropic community in Sacramento, along with the message that really everybody can be a [00:02:00] philanthropist, right? It doesn't take a, a ton of money, just a few dollars and come enjoy a great program.

So that's been really fun. We've expanded the mission also this year. In past years, we focused a lot on STEM and youth, which has been a fantastic focus. This year we broadened that to be the five determinants of health, social health, and so that allowed us to get a broader cohort serving more diverse populations when the Sa- within the Sacramento area.

Jeff Holden: Boy, that's... Y- you know, I'm thinking, over the course of the 11 years as well, it almost compounds itself. You know, each year you have those 16 finalists, the 10 stage presenters. As the years compound, they, they lay on top of each year. Each of them are gonna want participate, see who's doing what. You know, for those who didn't make it into the cohort on a particular year, they're gonna wanna come back and learn what those who did are doing.

Tell us a little bit about the process, 'cause I think that's really important for everybody to understand. And you mentioned this is the most applications you've [00:03:00] ever had as well. 

Drew Hayes: Yeah, absolutely. So the application process starts in... well, it starts for us in May in terms of getting everything ready. The application window goes from June to July.

And then starting in July, we close the application window, and then we do an initial pass for completeness against those 100 applications. We're looking for fit, making sure that they're a registered 501[c][3], that they're already serving a population with measurable results. For us this year, that got us down to about 80, and then from there, we hand those applications off to the interview team.

There's about 10 folks on that team, and they meet with each individual nonprofit one-on-one. That helps provide a little more context. They provide their notes, their feedback, and their ranking, really just a thumbs up or thumbs down, and then we take all that information, and we open it up to our partner network for ranking.

So we've got about almost 90 partners in our partner network, and they participate financially, but they also participate with their time in engaging with nonprofits. And so [00:04:00] they get an opportunity to see where their funds are gonna be utilized and vote for who they would like to see in the program this year.

So once that happens, then we take all of that, the combined information from the interviews and the partner ranking, and we hand that off to our selection committee. Each member of the selection committee reviews every application and all the notes and feedback they were given, and then they submit their top selections, and that gets us down to about 30.

After that, we select the top 16 based on a variety of criteria. As you can imagine, that top 30, they're all well-deserving organizations. Frankly, everybody who applies could, you know, be a, a participant for sure, but once we get to that top 30, the decisions are really tough. And so we're looking at population served, the location of those nonprofits.

We like to make sure we have all four counties that we serve represented. The size of those nonprofits. We want a good demographic range. We look at the demographics of the population as well as the leadership, right? And again, the goal is just to make sure we have a really good representation of nonprofits in that [00:05:00] final 16 

Jeff Holden: You know, I'm, I'm listening to you.

It... You said roughly 10 people on the evaluation team per nonprofit that you're evaluating. I mean, just if each of those 10, if they're aggregated, if they're all together at the same time or whatever it is, spends just one hour on that nonprofit, that's 900 hours from the organization just in evaluation, which is an incredible amount of, of time commitment for the greater good.

Drew Hayes: Yeah. It's incredible. We, you know, SVP, as many nonprofits are, we're really fueled by a lot of volunteer time. That's our board, that's our partner network, that's community folks who wanna be involved. And so those 10 volunteers, they each get assigned 10 nonprofits. And you're right, they're each spending a couple hours at least with each nonprofit in terms of the prep and getting things scheduled, and having the interview and getting their notes dialed in.

So they're, you know, they're each easily spending 20 or 30 hours on that process. [00:06:00] 

Jeff Holden: So you get it down to the final 16, who we will reveal today in this conversation. But what determines from 16 to 10 who gets to the stage? 

Drew Hayes: Yeah. That's a, that's kind of the next part of the, of the process. So we kick things off, we will have our, our kickoff party, and that's gonna be hosted at Empress, which is gonna be a great time for the whole cohort to meet each other, and that's the nonprofits as well as the coaches.

And so that in- allows the coaches an opportunity to go around to meet all the nonprofits, to talk to them in more detail, and then both the nonprofits and coaches have the opportunity to request pairings. If they really hit it off and think they'd work well together, they can let us know. We have a mechanism for that.

And then we do the pairings for each of the nonprofits and the coaches. Each nonprofit will get paired with two amazing coaches. A lot of those are from our partner network. There's some community coaches as well. And each nonprofit will receive at least one veteran coach, so they have somebody who's been through the [00:07:00] process and knows how to run the ropes, basically.

Then we have four workshops over the next 10 weeks, and those are training sessions on how to craft a successful pitch, the use of AI in their preparation, body movement, intonation, presence on the stage, all those types of things to make sure that when they get to the stage, they're ready. And it's not just about their story, but it's about how they're telling their story as well.

Then in session three, that's their first opportunity to really get on a stage, and they're gonna give a pitch. They can use notes if they want, but that's their feedback opportunity. Aside from all the many hours they're gonna meet with their coaches in between sessions, working on their pitch, practicing their pitch, this will be the first time that they get in front of a live audience and pitch.

And during that time, all of the coaches will record from each team, from every team except for theirs. They'll all record their notes and feedback. The nonprofit will also be scored on the same exact rubric that we're gonna use at the showcase, and those scores are tallied, so they get them back just to know where they stand, but they don't mean anything at that point.

They're just [00:08:00] informational. The notes and the feedback is the real value, and that is delivered to each of the nonprofits via the nonprofit portal and the judging scoring app that we've built. Session four is where it gets serious. That's the selection pitch. So that's no notes, that's penalties for going over time, and the scores are tallied from all the coaches, and then based on those scores alone, that determines the top 10.

Jeff Holden: Wow. Wow. So anybody that's gone through this process can absolutely be ensured that their ability to tell their brief story is well-honed, well-crafted, and easily understood. 

Drew Hayes: Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up, Jeff. You know, we really make an emphasis throughout the process that this is a program and not a competition.

The nonprofits are gonna leave with two main takeaways. One is the process itself, engaging their board, galvanizing their mission and vision, and understanding how to tell their story and [00:09:00] communicate their impact in the community effectively. And the second takeaway is the pitch, right? And they use that in a variety of different areas.

They've used it on your program. They use it in TV interviews. They use it to craft their marketing. We also have a number of stories from multiple organizations who didn't make it to the stage, and I love these in particular because it demonstrates the value of the program versus just the ultimate goal of getting on the stage.

Two really quickly, one Musiclandia a couple years ago. Buddy was a participant who really just had, had a difficult time in front of the audience, but he used the tools that he learned through the process, and he applied for the Impact 100 grant, and he received $100,000 using his pitch that he learned in SVP Fast Pitch.

And then we had one more, MOSAC, last year. They, again, didn't make it to the stage, but they used their pitch to craft their fundraising video for their donor gala. They had a target of, I believe, 120,000, and they raised nearly $200,000 using their pitch. So again, it's about the process and the learning and what you take away from it, not [00:10:00] just making it to the stage.

Jeff Holden: Yeah, and I will say the people who have been through Fast Pitch and/or Impact 100's, you know, g- process, when they come to the studio, 99% of the time their opening salvo with me is so good. It's so compelling. They set the stage for their organization so quickly, the conversation just flows from there.

They're distinctively different. And, and I have the opposite, too. The people who come into the program in the studio and go, "I wanna get to the stage. I wanna be one of the Fast Pitch presenters. I can't wait to be, you know, a, a, an applicant for SVP next year." Or if they didn't- Sure ... make it the year prior, they're gonna come up again and keep coming until they get there.

We just had somebody had that situation where, you know, they, they didn't make it this year, but they're determined. They will be back next year. 

Drew Hayes: We received several emails from folks who didn't make it this year, 'cause again, with 100 applicants and only 16 spots, there's a lot of folks that could have and should have made it in, right?

But two or three emails stand out where they [00:11:00] just expressed their appreciation for the process, just going through the application process, because it's pretty rigorous. It takes a couple of hours to complete that process, and you have to pull a lot of data. And so they were just expressing the fact that just going through the application process and working through that with their board was of tremendous value, and they're so much more prepared for writing grants in the future and ideally for applying again next year.

Jeff Holden: Totally, totally agreed, and I hear the same thing. And I encourage it every time somebody is sitting here, and maybe they don't even know you exist, whi- which is part of what we're about is, is, you know, helping organizations be heard and seen, where, hey, you've got to apply For Fast Pitch next year, it's, it's significant.

It will benefit you. You will learn and grow from the entire process. So let's... Th- this is what everybody's waiting for here. Who are the 16 finalists this year? 

Drew Hayes: All right. So the cohort for Fast Pitch this year in alphabetical order is Aspire Kids, Academy [00:12:00] Stay, Alliance for Black NICU Families, Auburn Symphony, Bridging Medicine, Building Careers Foundation, Color the Block, Davis Forest School, Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Mercy Holistic Ministry, Mosaic West Sac, Rough Healing Heroes, Sacramento Youth Center, The Greenhouse, and the Lionheart Community, and finally xHope.

And if you want more information on any of those organizations, you can visit our website. They are listed as the full cohort under the Fast Pitch initiative, and you can click on their names and it'll pop you out to their websites to find a little bit more about what they do. 

Jeff Holden: I love that grouping. It's just a, a wonderful mix of representatives in the, in the community through the nonprofit resources that we've got, and I'd say about a third of them have been in the studio already.

So I will really be anxious to see how they go through their [00:13:00] process as well. So those 10 finalists present to the audience for their favor to see if they can get the audience to donate during their presentation, correct? 

Drew Hayes: That's correct, yep. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. And then there's also a panel of judges who are judging to help identify who gets the awards from SVP.

Tell us a little bit about those. 

Drew Hayes: Yeah. So it can be a little confusing. I'll break it down as cleanly as I can. We'll start with the end. Last year, we raised about $275,000, and that full pool of resources gets distributed across the entire cohort. Now, there are some awards for placing well from the judging criteria, and again, that's the same criteria that they've been using the entire time.

We present that in session one, so they know exactly what they're crafting their pitch towards, and that criteria is then used to judge the, the ultimate, you know, first, second, and third place. There's $35,000 from the SVP Partner Fund that goes into the prize pool, [00:14:00] and that's divided up generally 15, 10, and five between first, second, and third, pending ties, of course.

Then there's two additional prizes, which are most donations, so the number of individual donations received, and most donors, so individual donors. And both of those get $2,500 each as well. But again, we have other mechanisms for funding. Number one, the attendees can directly support any organization they choose or the full cohort.

We also do a paddle raise, and those funds are divided between the full cohort, and we do a live auction, and once again, funds divided between the full cohort. So again, about $275,000. We're looking for perhaps 350 plus this year. We'd love it if it was more than that. Generally speaking, the, you know, the top nonprofits get between $30,000 and $40,000 each, but everybody gets a, gets a good amount of money.

They get the exposure. And again, as we continue to emphasize, they get those resources that they can continue to use to get the message out and raise money. 

Jeff Holden: And I recall last year [00:15:00] just standing on stage, there were some individual donors that came up and said, "I would like to give you X as a result of your performance," after the fact, and it w- it was just amazing.

It was- 

Drew Hayes: Yeah. We've had- ... 

Jeff Holden: really amazing ... 

Drew Hayes: we've had a ton of those happen. Those are tough to track. We love it when a nonprofit comes back and lets us know, but there's a lot of folks that maybe don't want their name on the screen or wanna give a larger amount than they're comfortable with recognition for, and so they will walk up afterwards and, you know, hand them a check or say, "Please let me come, come give a tour."

And we've had a, a number of amazing partnerships come out of that and large donations. 

Jeff Holden: That's just incredible. So there's a panel of judges. There are five if I'm not mistaken. 

Drew Hayes: Correct. 

Jeff Holden: And I know one of them really well. Who are the other four? 

Drew Hayes: Yes. Great segue. So we do one thing which we've always enjoyed, which is we invite our number one leader from, from the team who won last year to come back as a judge, and so Emily Sanders won last [00:16:00] year.

Mm-hmm. She's with Connect To Change, and so she'll be coming back and judging this year. Next, we have Dan Kneedler from US Bank. US Bank is our title sponsor this year, and Dan has been involved with Fast Pitch and, and SVP as a resource and as a funder and supporter for many years. I've lost count of how many Fast Pitches he's been to, so he's gonna be a great judge.

Next, we really love to partner with the great foundations we have in the area, and so we have Vince Sales from the Sac Region Community Foundation and Stacy Fririch from Yolo Community Foundation. Finally, we always like to have a veteran judge, and so that brings us to you, Jeff. You're our last judge. 

Jeff Holden: I cannot tell you how excited I am to do this again.

I was a judge two years ago. I, I think I might have been the Simon Cowell of the panel, but it was so fun, and it was so neat to see now, two years later, where those organizations are, having been through Fast Pitch and watching it, and actually judging them. And [00:17:00] for the benefit of those who think this is easy, the judging is extremely difficult.

Not only do we have the list of criteria and the things that you're watching for, but you're literally looking for execution, and at the same time, you're really hearing, trying to ferret out the, you know, the mission, the purpose. What's, what are they really saying while you're looking at technical elements to ch- check off?

So it, it's exhausting when you're really into it and, and trying to pay attention to all the elements. So you guys do a fabulous job of giving us things to both critique and assess. 

Drew Hayes: Thanks, Jeff. We're so happy to have you back and have your experience on that panel. Can't wait to hear the questions you ask the nonprofits.

Jeff Holden: All right. Before we wrap, let's run through the details of the event one more time, Drew. Time, place, date, et cetera. 

Drew Hayes: Yeah, absolutely. So the showcase will be held at the Crest Theatre downtown on K Street. That will be November 9th. Doors open at 5:30. We do have some VIP [00:18:00] tickets available. You can join our VIP experience at 4:30 if you are one of the lucky few.

We are limited on space on that, but we're super excited to do that again. Tickets are available on our website. They will go on sale, I believe, on the 27th, so we'll have that ticket link up there. And right now there's a save the date, so you can still go there and get that on your calendar, but tickets will go on sale on the 27th.

Jeff Holden: And this is a new venue, so for everybody who's thinking, "Oh, I gotta go," it, it's not at The Sofia. This is, is now at the Crest Theatre. And what I really like- Correct ... about it, underneath the Crest we've got the, the E- Empress, which is, I'm sure where you'll be hosting and having cocktails and everything, which a- again, is another wonderful collaboration between nonprofits.

You know, there's you, nonprofit. There's, there's Empress being run by Alchemist CDC. Alchemist works with Juma. So we just have this, this continuation of collaboration of, of organizations that is really what we're trying to share to everybody. And- Yeah ... hey, look, you gotta work together. This [00:19:00] is what makes it so wonderful.

Drew Hayes: Totally agree. I... That's a great example because both Alchemist CDC and Juma Ventures have been through Fast Pitch Juma a couple of times. They've also both been through our think tanks and, you know, it's just fun to see them grow and expand as an organization. And, you know, once you're in the SVP family, you're, you're kinda stuck with us for life.

The partnerships, the relationships you build, it's just been awesome to continue to see them grow. One other note I'll just make. I know we've been talking mostly about Fast Pitch. If you're a nonprofit thinking, you know, "Maybe I'm not quite ready to do that," or, you know, "We, we've already done it in another, in another setting," or something like that, I encourage you to go ahead and apply.

The main reason is out- applying for Fast Pitch is the gateway to all of our other programs. We wanna see you put in that time and effort, and we- that's how we gather a lot of information about your organization, and then we can plug you into any of the other programs that might be a fit. 

Jeff Holden: You said something, Drew, that once you're in the family, you're in the family, basically, and i- it's, it's similar here.

You know, we're [00:20:00] almost 200 interviews in, 200 stories, 200 nonprofit podcast episodes, and it's the same. I mean, we, we connect the dots. W- we, you know, align organizations. We share the information, and we follow them and expect them to continue to look for opportunities to work with others. And, and we see it, and we see it when they come to your stage.

We see it when they make your application. And it's just so fun to see the progression of all these people who we know are really engaged because you see them stand out from just another organization. They are the ones that are really working to, to both make the difference for themselves and for the community at large.

Drew Hayes: Absolutely. And I know we've gotta wrap here, but just one other note on that topic. You know, our kickoff party is also an alumni reunion, and it really just feels like a family reunion when we all get together and, you know, meet the new cohort, and they get to share their experience when they [00:21:00] went through.

We did something fun last year as well, and we'll be continuing to do it. We built hall of fame columns for every single cohort that's gone through Fast Pitch, and those who were at the kickoff party, we'll have them there again. It's just so fun to go through and see all the different organizations, and we had people there that have been a part of those organizations and didn't even realize that their predecessor had been through Fast Pitch back in the day.

So lots of fun and, and can't wait to continue to grow the family. 

Jeff Holden: And I do remember those columns stacked all the way down the hall. Very, very neat. Well, you know, Drew, you and the entire SVP team always do such a great job with this event, and new venue aside, I know we can expect the same exciting and evening celebration that we've come to know these past 10 years with Fast Pitch program.

I can't wait to see everyone in November. Congrats to all the finalists, and now it's time to practice, practice, practice. Drew, thank you. 

Drew Hayes: Thank you, Jeff. 

Jeff Holden: Thanks for listening. If you like our program, please subscribe, give us a positive review, and share with somebody you [00:22:00] know. This nonprofit podcast news pod is a production of Hear Me Now Studio.