Social Venture Partners was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1997 by former Aldus Corporation president Paul Brainerd and several other leaders in the high-technology industry. The founders sought to build a philanthropic organization using a venture capital model, where Partners invest in innovation, and then actively nurture their financial investments with guidance and resources. As interest in this new philanthropic model grew, SVP organizations began sprouting up throughout North America. By 2001, a loose network had formed, and SVP International (SVPI) was created to support and advance this network.

As of the fall of 2007, there were 25 SVP affiliates and more than 1,700 partners across the network, in places such as San Diego, Vancouver, Portland, Tucson, Tokyo, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, St. Louis, New Mexico, Calgary, Central Iowa, Boulder, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Boston, and Delaware.

The key tenets of the SVP venture philanthropy model include long-term, highly engaged investments of money, resources and business expertise to develop the capacity and sustainability of local nonprofits (Investees).

In 2006 alone, the SVP network invested more than $21.6 million into 236 nonprofits and added more than 250 new Partners.

Social Venture Partners Rhode Island was organized in 2002 by a group of like-minded philanthropists – Lorne Adrain, Bari Harlam, Meredith Curren, Dave Mixer, Cindy Reed, and Andy Wallerstein – who wanted to use their business skills to build stronger more sustainable nonprofits. SVPRI affiliated with SVP International in 2004.