By YOUNG MONEY Staff
1 July 2010

Venture capital is more commonly associated with California's Silicon Valley and highly leveraged millionaires investing in speculative tech ventures. The Omaha Venture Group, however, takes a slightly different approach, bringing a miniaturized version of the VC model to Midwestern non-profits.

Dusty Davidson describes his experience of OVG in a feature for the "Silicon Prairie News."

He depicts OVG's model of fundraising as a combination of nonprofit and venture capital techniques:

"Based on the venture capital model of investing, young professionals make small personal or employee-assisted donations - also referred to as seed money - that are then invested into the OVG Grant Fund. Each year, three Omaha private family foundations make a donation of their own that matches the fund's total."

The group leverages the resources of young entrepreneurs by pooling them together and then applying them to organizations that are near a "tipping" point. The return on investing in the OVG isn't direct financial gain, but it pays dividends in the Omaha community and helps bring young professionals together in a non-commercial network.

OVG is constantly recruiting and seeking new members, with more information available via Sarah Gilbert at sarah@omahafoundation.org.