Venture Philanthropy
Venture Philanthropy is a new opportunity for Spartanburg County Foundation Fundholders that allows them to participate in community building by using their philanthropic funds to invest in nonprofits, small businesses, and community projects while having a potential return on their investment.
In the fall of 2023, the Spartanburg County Foundation announced its new partnership with Abundance Capital, a non-profit, Venture Philanthropy platform, helping charitable donors make impact investments in their communities, generating inclusive prosperity and creating sustainable local economies.
In January 2024, the Foundation hosted a meeting introducing the first two local-impact projects vetted by Abundance Capital. The projects highlighted two different formats for leveraging the power of venture philanthropy. An effort to build capacity for veteran-owned businesses is now underway with Upstate Warrior Solution, a nonprofit organization with offices in Spartanburg and Greenville. The Aden Bonded Warehouse project is a capital project designed to reclaim and repurpose abandoned property in Spartanburg’s Northside community into a thriving multi-use space for small business development and community activity.
I had hoped that the Foundation would find a way to include venture philanthropy as an opportunity for our community and am pleased that the Trustees were able to build this partnership with Abundance Capital.
– Bert D. Barre, 2023 Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Spartanburg County Foundation
