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Brian Donaghy and Russell Jensen are investors with a mission. The Des Moines-area entrepreneurs represent an emerging group of philanthropists who want to offer something more than money to deserving organizations. The return on their investments of time, expertise and funds is measured in the smoky currency of social change.

In fact, they are looking for nonprofit organizations that have a mission, too: primarily helping working families fight their way through the challenges of having enough income to get by, maybe, but not enough to get ahead.

“There are families out there who are just a missed rent check away from spinning out of control,” said Shannon Cofield, president of United Way of Central Iowa.

Cofield helped bring Donaghy and Jensen together in 2006 as Social Venture Partners of Central Iowa, a philanthropic organization that makes no apologies for breaking the mold of charitable giving.

Donaghy and Jensen and 13 other investors, including former Meredith Corp. President and CEO Robert Burnett, in Social Venture Partners want to stick their noses into somebody’s business in order to effect a positive change. They will provide money, but they also offer their time, their advice and their business expertise. In return, they want to see some results.

They want to do more than “put a fresh coat of paint on the cracks,” Jensen said.

Social Venture Partners is part of a national organization that was launched in the 1990s by people who had made their fortunes in the computer industry.

They brought their “take a big risk” attitude toward business development into their philanthropic efforts. Like Donaghy and Jensen, they wanted to do more than write a check. At present there are 21 affiliates in the United States, two in Canada and one in Tokyo.

Cofield brought the concept to Donaghy and others through her work at United Way. She wanted to find a way to bring entrepreneurs into the local philanthropic fold.

To attract more adventurous givers, “we were going to have to kind of break the rules,” Cofield said.

Donaghy is a venture capitalist who launched his own nonprofit. Russell is an executive coach and consultant with a background in giving, but not so much in direct involvement outside of his church and working with youth athletic teams.

“It’s pretty cool to be part a group like this where every one of us has written a bunch of checks before. But, you get a room of entrepreneurs, successful business people, passionate people together, they have so much more to offer besides ink and paper and money,” Jensen said. “To be able to watch those folks latch on to this community issue or this priority, find a group or an agency, and collectively be able to see that there is something we can do.

“We can fund it. We can bring in people and resources to build this and to grow it and then when we back out of this investment, this group, this agency will be so much better equipped to serve 10 times as many people or to take this success model that they have and replicate it someplace else, to really make a difference – more than “here’s another couple of boxes for the food bank.’ That’s good, but it’s not enough.”

Donaghy is no stranger to social philanthropy. He started Patronae in 2005 with his wife, Julie, as well as Mike and Kim Stuart, in an effort to help women in developing countries learn a vocation, become self-sufficient and build some wealth in their communities.

The project, in which women made handbags that reflected their local cultures, operated in Guatemala, Thailand, India, Nepal, Bolivia and Mozambique.

“It was a successful model, but it was focused more on international needs and we wanted to refocus our efforts more locally,” Donaghy said.

Locally, Social Venture Partners has been going through a period of discovery, learning about the range of social needs and determining the best approach to serving them.

Their first project was Wildwood Hills Ranch, a 400-acre retreat near St. Charles in Madison County where children from Des Moines and other Iowa communities get a respite from problems such as abuse, neglect or poverty.

“We said, “Let’s do something here that’s going to have an echo,'” Jensen said.

Social Venture Partners considered a number of ways the operation could support itself financially, ranging from conventional agriculture to fish farming. Wildwood Hills Ranch did have a built-in moneymaker: an underused conference center. Social Venture Partners decided to focus on what was at hand.

The charity provided seed money to hire someone to manage and market the conference facility, which now caters to church groups, corporate gatherings and other events.

“What they weren’t doing well was marketing and sales and conference center build-out,” Donaghy said.

Last year, conference center revenues increased 60 to 80 percent, and generated about 10 percent of the ranch’s overall income.

Every $1,000 in revenue generated by the conference center provides a scholarship for a child aged 8 to 18 to attend a camping session at the ranch.

“These camps really change these kids’ lives,” Donaghy said. “You wouldn’t think a week out in southern Iowa would do that, but these are inner-city kids from Des Moines who haven’t seen a horse before.”

What Social Venture Partners brought to the ranch was “commitment on a hands-on level as well as a financial level,” said MaryLou Garcia, the ranch’s executive director.

“We outlined what some of our challenges and needs are and they matched skill sets from some of the Social Venture Partners,” she said, adding that the group also helped draft job descriptions and staff manuals, and advised on staffing levels to determine the appropriate time to add workers and remain “good financial stewards.”

Individual contributions from members of the organization have included a van and office dividers, Garcia said.

Social Venture Partners is ready to add members and projects. The organization requires a $5,000 annual contribution for two years, but it also requires a commitment to volunteer on-the-job talent, learn about philanthropy and help “build community.”

“We are committed to Central Iowa and the partner network,” Donaghy said.