During the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service, I was lucky enough to co-lead a roundtable on encouraging skills‐based volunteerism with Danielle Holly, the Executive Director of Common Impact, and Lindsay Firestone, the Director of Advisory Services at the Taproot Foundation. During the roundtable, we shared a set of resources to help participants build, grow, and measure the impact of skills-based and pro bono service. Danielle and Lindsay shared their work on the Readiness Roadmap, the product of a collaborative partnership between Taproot, Common Impact, Points of Light, and Capitol One.
Those of you who missed the conference have access to the full resources below. Designed for companies across many stages of their development, they will help you:
- Make the business case to build the internal support for a skills-based volunteer program
- Design a program that aligns with your company’s culture, its business & community goals
- Find nonprofit organizations that are ready to engage in skills-based projects
- Manage the program to ensure a great experience for your employees and partners
- Measure the program’s success across the metrics that matter to your company
Making the Business Case
- Demonstrating the Business Value of Pro Bono Service - Taproot Foundation
> Corporate case studies on the key business benefits of pro bono service - Measuring the Results, The Business Case for Skills-Based Volunteerism - Common Impact
> The business case for skills-based volunteering through a framework and case studies - Redefining the Solution - Capital One Financial and Common Impact
> Exploring the relationship between nonprofit capacity building through skills-based volunteerism - Skills-Based Volunteerism at Deloitte - Deloitte
> An overview of Deloitte’s industry-leading skills-based volunteer program
Designing a Skills-Based Volunteer Program
- Powering Pro Bono – Taproot Foundation
> The comprehensive resource for companies engaging their employees in pro bono service - Skills-Based Volunteering 101 E-Course - Points of Light
> An interactive overview of skills-based volunteering for companies and nonprofits - SBV 101: Getting Started - A Billion + Change
> An overview of some popular models for skills-based volunteerism
Finding the Right Nonprofit Partners
- Project Finder - Taproot Foundation
> An accessible catalog of over 100 of the most common pro bono projects - Skills-Based Volunteering 101: Getting Started - A Billion + Change
> A checklist to help companies get started in selecting the right project and nonprofit partner - Skills Standards - Taproot Foundation
> Skill-assessment for potential pro bono volunteers
Managing Skills-Based Volunteer Programs
- Designing for Impact – Taproot Foundation
> The most common obstacles and how to avoid them: a checklist and guide to managing successful pro bono projects - IBM’s Activity Kits – IBM
> Supporting materials such as presentations or educational modules, to prepare and equip volunteers to assist schools or community agencies - Implementation: Creating a Strong Skills-Based Volunteering Program - Points of Light
> A step-by-step resource to successful skills based volunteer projects - Nonprofit Readiness Roadmap – The Readiness Collaborative
> A free, online resource to help nonprofits successfully engage in skills-based volunteerism - Project Scoping and Definition Form - Points of Light
> An exercise to help define skills-based project scope - Skills-Based Volunteering 101 Handbook - Common Impact
> A guide to organizational and skills-based project readiness
Measuring the Impact
- Benefits of Skills-Based Volunteerism - True Impact
> Analysis of 36,000 employee volunteers on the benefits of skills-based volunteerism - CECP Valuation Guide, 2013 Edition – Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
> Defining and valuing skills-based service (See page 5) - Economic Impact of Volunteers Calculator – Points of Light
> Calculator for the value of volunteers across different professions - Powering Pro Bono: Pro Bono Evaluation – Taproot Foundation
> Getting started with evaluation and the pro bono hourly rate (see pages 25-28) - Readiness Roadmap’s Evaluation Tool – Common Impact
> Evaluation survey that calculates skills-based project success
Case Studies
- A Billion + Change webinars and pledge company spotlights
- Common Impact case studies
- Deloitte Community – It’s Our Business: Insights and Reflections on Doing Pro Bono Work
- Taproot Foundation case studies
- True Impact Pfizer Global Health Fellows Case Study