Fast Pitch

Four local nonprofits won cash prizes at Monday night’s Fast Pitch, an annual event that’s the culmination of a months-long capacity-building program.

The event, held at the Tampa Theatre, is hosted by Social Venture Partners (SVP), an organization with a mission to bolster the growth and sustainability of regional nonprofits by utilizing its members’ expertise and resources. Seven nonprofit leaders competed for unrestricted grant funding by delivering their best elevator pitch in front of a live audience.

Of the seven nonprofits that competed, these four took home top prizes:

• 1st Place: WellFed Community
• 2nd Place: New Tampa Players
• 3rd Place: EmpowHERment
• Audience Choice: Girls Rock St. Pete

The Florida Dream Center, NAMI Pinellas County and the Water Smart Tots Foundation also took part in Monday’s event. Before getting on the Fast Pitch stage, the nonprofit leaders participate in a rigorous four-month business accelerator class. SVP mentors volunteer their time to give participants lessons on operations, marketing, finance and properly communicating their mission.

“This was another great year of nonprofit presentations. It’s exciting to see the pitches and all the progress the nonprofit leaders have made with their Social Venture Partners mentoring,” said Mike Lally, SVP Co-Chair. “While the prize money certainly makes the event exciting, I’m convinced the biggest return on investment for each of the nonprofits is the strategy and skills they develop over the 16-month program.”

The goal of the program is to provide funding and strategic consulting to innovative nonprofits addressing critical issues in the Tampa Bay region. The business accelerator classes and Fast Pitch event are made possible with the help of SVP partners and Community Foundation Tampa Bay. CFTB has been the title sponsor of Fast Pitch since its inception in 2016. Dr. Jesse Coraggio, CFTB’s Senior Vice President of Community Impact, said organizers carefully selected this year’s seven participants from more than 50 applicants.

“You hear about the big nonprofits on a regular basis, but this event is really a good showcase of medium to small nonprofits that are doing boots-on-the-ground work to uplift our community,” Corragio said.

While the ultimate goal is to win the pitch competition and take home an unrestricted grant, program organizers and participants laud the skill gained by participating in the accelerator course, which is developed and led by some of the region’s top educators and business professionals.

“A social enterprise is successful based on the presence of three things: Personnel capacity, strategic capacity and financial capacity. Participating in SVP’s Fast Pitch gave WellFed Community all three,” said Dhalia Bumbaca, co-founder of first-place winner WellFed Community. “I am so grateful to have gained a group of mentors and partners to depend on, the time and place to develop ideas and the financial investment to make it all happen.”

Program organizers said the Fast Pitch initiative is a testament to what can be achieved when the nonprofit sector and business community come together; a prime example of “philanthropy in action,” where generous donations pave the way for tangible change.

“I was in awe. Every speech at Fast Pitch reminded me of the important work happening in Tampa Bay to uplift and heal our community,” said Jesse Miller, executive director of Girls Rock St. Pete, the 2024 audience choice winner. “SVP values the innovation and passion we have as leaders: Not just as charity workers, but as change-makers invested in the quality of life of all citizens.”

 

Lorielle Hollaway founded Cultured Books to cultivate curiosity and inspire impact among area youth – especially among children of color – by promoting a literacy lifestyle.

Cultured Books began as a pop-up bookstore in 2017 to increase literacy rates and provide children in St. Petersburg with better access to culturally relevant literature. Hollaway also hopes to impact children’s lives by ensuring that literacy extends far beyond school and is an integral aspect of their everyday lives.

“I think that’s something that’s really important to the way we market the programs that we have,” Hollaway explained. “It’s not just something that is like one-and-done – it’s a lifestyle.”

Cultured Books was established as a nonprofit organization in 2018, and the surrounding community is taking notice of its impact. Holloway took home the $15,000 grand prize at Social Ventures Partners Tampa Bay’s Fast Pitch competition Nov. 12.

Reach St. Pete received $10,000 in funding for finishing second, and 360 Eats won $7,500 for third. Florida 1.27 won $5,000 for receiving the most votes in the Audience Choice Award.

Hollaway relayed she was often told the mission of her Cultured Books Literacy Foundation (CBLF) was amazing, and needed, but that it did not meet the metrics required to secure funding.

She said that made Friday night’s win all the more surprising. “I was excited to see that people connected to our story – from the judges to the people in the crowd,” said Hollaway.

Held at the Palladium, the Fast Pitch event is the culmination of a 16-week program in which carefully selected nonprofits receive lessons from SVP’s local business partners on how to successfully operate a company. An emphasis is placed on marketing and storytelling to boost the organization’s public profile and increase revenue streams outside of government and private grants. Representatives from eight local nonprofits gave a three-minute pitch on their organization’s mission and impact on the community and then answered follow-up questions from a panel of five judges.

“It is always wonderful to see the weeks of hard work and passion come together on one night,” said SVP Program Manager Keara McGraw. “Each organization has worked so hard, and it’s incredible to be able to share their work with our community.”

Hollaway called the program intensive and said it took some time to process all the information and lessons she received, but in the week leading up to the competition, the process became clear.

“The education from it all came in at once, and that last week it was like, ‘this is why,’” she said. “This makes sense – this is why I learned this.”

Hollaway said learning how to express her passion and engage with listeners was especially helpful, as was learning how to convey metrics and measure your impact in the community. She said this experience will not only help her to increase funding for Cultured Books but also make her a better collaborative partner with other organizations.

“What it means for Cultured Books Literary Foundation (CBLF) is us being sure of what we want, how we want to do it, and then making sure that our partnerships and collaborations further our mission,” said Hollaway.

The $15,000 in unrestricted grant funding will help to create those new partnerships and collaborations.

Holloway is launching the Family Literacy Engagement Survey, in partnership with Shaping the Early Mind and Barbershop Book Club. Together, they will canvas areas in south St. Petersburg that are home to large populations of their target audience, including Jordan Park, Childs Park, Bethel Heights and Coquina Key. The goal is to learn what barriers prevent literacy-hesitant families from engaging in reading activities. This information will then be used to better support out-of-school activities for those families.

The funding will also support the Literacy Artist in Residency program. Hollaway will bring in local artists across all mediums to lead workshops, and the money will allow CBLF to provide children with art materials and workshops, and pay the artists who conduct the weekly events.

“Most of our workshops, when we have people from the community come in and lead them, it really inspires the kids to learn more about different community members, their professions and backgrounds,” she explained.

Hollaway is grateful for the guidance and support she received both in and out of the classroom from McGraw and her program mentor Karen Chassin, executive director of the St. Petersburg Foundation.

“They were just very supportive in making sure that I had all the resources to prepare me not only to pitch but also for long-term success in the nonprofit world,” Hollaway said. “I also appreciate that they value each nonprofit as its own unique organization, and they don’t try to make you into something you’re not.”

For Kelli Casto, there’s no such thing as work-life balance. Casto works full-time as an occupational therapy assistant, and in her free time she single-handedly runs Saving Our Seniors.

Casto founded the nonprofit Saving Our Seniors in 2016 to provide medical equipment, incontinence supplies and other necessary items to seniors living at or below the poverty line. Since its founding, Casto has personally delivered 20,000 pieces of medical equipment to seniors in need, and helped more than 3,000 seniors in Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco, Sarasota and Hillsborough counties.

Thursday night, Casto’s hard work paid off when she was voted the $15,000 Grand Prize Winner of Social Venture Partners (SVP) Tampa Bay’s Fast Pitch competition. Feeding Tampa Bay came in second place, garnering a $10,000 prize; Preserve the ‘Burg came in third with a $7,500 prize; and LiFT University won the audience choice, with a prize of $5,000. Previous participant, WellBuilt Bikes, won the alumni award of $5,000.

According to Casto, the money will go directly toward servicing more seniors in Tampa Bay, and hopefully help her transition to Saving Our Seniors full-time.

During her pitch, Casto described her experience as an occupational therapy assistant, and how it has shaped her mission with Saving Our Seniors. She told of Elizabeth, who suffered from a stroke and was left paralyzed on one side of her body. She couldn’t step into a shower or bathe herself. Denied by her insurance, other local nonprofits, and living on less than $800/month, she couldn’t afford a shower chair that cost over $100. So she was left unable to bathe, not just for a day, or a week, but for eight months.

When she finally got in contact with Saving Our Seniors, Elizabeth received her shower chair the next day.

“You might think that’s just a shower chair,” said Casto. “But that shower chair provided her the ability to bathe again. It gave her confidence, independence and a better quality of life.”

Casto sat down with the St. Pete Catalyst earlier this month to talk about her work. Click play below for the full interview.

On Thursday, October 25th, 10 Tampa Bay non-profits lined up in the wings of The Palladium in downtown St. Petersburg awaiting their turn at three (3) minutes to share their stories on how they’re making Tampa Bay a better place to live, work, and play and a chance at a slice of $60,000 in cash prizes. This year the ten organizations pitched their stories to an audience of over 400 at The Palladium in St. Petersburg, as well as to a panel of five judges, which included Joe Hamilton, Lakshmi Shenoy, Gentry Byrnes, Nikkie Capehart, & Rochelle Freidman Walk. After the three (3) minutes, judges had four (4) minutes to question each group.The questions were insightful and thought-provoking and enabled the groups to lay out plans to scale or how they operate. This year’s crowd was engaged and lively as they joined in audience voting as well as live “text to donate” options enabling them all to donate from their phones to the organization’s right from the audience. This year taking home first place of $25,000 was Shepherd’s Village, second place and $15,000 went to Sewn Apart, and the third place winner of $10,000 was Indi-Ed. Audience choice award went to Sailfuture, and this year a new award was given to a participant of Fast Pitch, alumni impact award of $5,000 was awarded to Keep St. Pete Lit.

WOW, where to begin? The inaugural Tampa Bay FastPitch turned into an amazing evening of community and innovation. After going through over 50 applications, 13 organizations from across the Tampa Bay area were chosen to participate in a 2 month accelerator program, ending in the pitch competition for $60,000 in unrestricted cash prizes. Each group had three (3) minutes to “pitch” their social enterprise to our panel of judges who then had three (3) minutes to ask their questions of the organization’s representative.

The energy was high, the food was great, and the drinks were flowing in Fletcher lounge at the University of Tampa. With the judges asking tough questions and the organizations all presenting such innovative ideas for our community, it was hard to pick an overall winner that evening.

After collaborating over the judging criteria, our panel consisting of Phil Casey, Rochelle Walk, James Tully, Tom Wallace, & Joe Hamilton chose Echo of Brandon as the overall winner for the evening taking home $25,000. Wheels of Success taking 2nd place with $15,000, and Gems placing 3rd with $10,000. The audience award went to Starting Right, now $5,000 and the accelerator participation award went to Tampa Bay Healthcare collaborative $5,000.

Our remaining participants all did an amazing job presenting their organization, we look forward to seeing how well they all progress in 2018!

Other nonprofits who participated included:

• University Area Community Development Corporation, which administers a Prodigy Cultural Arts Program to help at risk first through twelfth graders;
• Directions for Living, which is dedicated to providing life-saving services to residents through its innovative Peanut Butter and Jelly run;
• Bright Community Trust, whose mission is to create strong and vibrant neighborhoods;
  Enactus at University of South Florida, an organization that helps students develop their talents and make a difference in the Tampa Bay community;
• Just Learn, k-12 learning program that seeks to expose students to the planet’s biggest challenges like urbanization and food production;
• Keep St. Pete Lit, an organization promoting the greater St. Petersburg literary community;
  Inspiration Labs, the legal name for Tampa Hackerspace, where members have working space, training and tools to develop their creative projects; and
• The Well, which runs the WellBuilt retail store that sells and repairs bicycles to fund community rides, safety workshops and sliding scale repairs.
• Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative The Collaborative works to promote and advance the health and wellness of vulnerable populations through community collaborations.
• Starting, Right Now Starting Right, Now (SRN) engages a comprehensive, continuum-of-care approach to end the generational cycle of homelessness and poverty in unaccompanied youth attending high school in Hillsborough and Pinellas County.

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