Choosing Your Own Adventure with SVP Chicago

Q1: What drew you to SVP Chicago?

 Aaron Dannenbring (AD): My friend, Cindy Paulauskas, asked if I’d consider being a co-coach for Fast Pitch -- that was my intro into SVP Chicago. I didn't really understand what the role of a partner was, or the full scope of the organization, other than sort of a loose understanding that SVP was trying to do philanthropy in a new way, and reach out to philanthropists and nonprofits, in a different way than the big nonprofits operate.

What I’ve realized through that initial introduction is that partners can contribute with skills we’ve acquired in our daily work life.

Q2: You became a partner after your first Fast Pitch experience. Why?

AD: One of the things I really like about Fast Pitch is it's very structured. Every two weeks you've got this sort of engagement. We have the readout one week, the coaching session the next week, then the readout, then the coaching session. So, for three months, you've got these anchor points that you can look forward to and engage with without spending 80 hours a week on it.

I’ve coached twice now and Fast Pitch has a way of getting to the essence of who these nonprofits are beyond pitching for money. By thinking about an organization’s vision and mission and helping to refine and hone that message into a talk that somebody can give, I think the lessons from that process pay dividends to the nonprofits beyond the notion of going and pitching somebody. In my role as a coach, I didn’t give anyone a new vision for what their organization was going to do, but I helped them think through and craft the narrative that they tell the world. And I think that benefited both organizations I’ve coached, which made these very meaningful experiences to me.

Q3: How has SVP Chicago helped you move the needle on your personal philanthropic goals?

AD: I'm a goal-oriented person, but I never had philanthropy goals! SVP is giving me an opportunity to frame what my personal philanthropy goals might be. Just the initiation of that is a pretty big deal for me. 

SVP is also giving me an outlet to direct my energy and passion into something I care about and hopefully I am making a positive impact. In the past, I’ve written a number of checks to a number of organizations. You know, you go to a fancy dinner, wear a tux and write a check. It always feels good in the moment, but it doesn’t have the same lasting, soulful impact that working with SVP Chicago does. Because of SVP, I feel like I'm contributing back to a city that has given me so much.

And because SVP Chicago has such a diverse set of nonprofits in our ecosystem now, it allows partners to engage in different ways. Some organizations we support might resonate with one partner more than others and vice versa. If you’re a part of one large organization, it's pretty much one mission, right? It's hit or miss. But with SVP Chicago, it's like a choose your own adventure in the nonprofit world.

Q4: What do you look most forward to in the coming years with SVP Chicago?

AD: I’m helping facilitate the 2026 Strategic Plan, something I know how to do in a corporate context. I don't view my role as, “I have the plan for what SVP should do.” I'm a conduit for the board and staff. I hope to help these amazing leaders craft a direction for where the organization wants to go. Along the way I have a strong belief in the value of SVP and believe we are capable of having bigger impact in the future as we grow with more partners. SVP plays a meaningful role in the broader Chicago non-profit ecosystem.

It would be wonderful if we can use this process to identify the levers SVP can pull to triple our impact. I joined SVP because of the value I saw through Fast Pitch, and I wanted to do more to benefit both the nonprofits we serve and SVP Chicago.

Q5: How would you define your role as an NFP relationship manager?

AD: I see my role as one part consultant, one part coach and one part conduit to the broader SVP community. Our SVP Partners have a breadth and depth of experience in both the nonprofit and business domains that I can draw on for advice to support both my role as well as the nonprofits we serve. I’m super interested in how other partners do certain things because there isn’t a defined playbook per se for this role, and perhaps there shouldn’t be because our nonprofits are so diverse, as are the experiences of our SVP partners.

And I’m learning and growing as a result of this process.