With every new year, the challenges facing nonprofit organizations with limited resources continue to grow, especially with pressure mounting for the nonprofit sector to pick up where the public sector leaves off. Organizations also work in an increasingly complex environment where they must effectively manage their online and offline activities. Is your nonprofit equipped with the staff skills needed to handle what's ahead in 2013? If not, it might be time to consider pro bono support and make it an integral part of your organization's talent strategy.
What do we mean by pro bono service? The term "pro bono" is an abbreviation of the Latin term pro bono public, which directly translates as "for the public good." While most people think of pro bono as referring solely to free attorney services, pro bono services can cover any sort of services provided without a charge including professional services in technology, human resources, marketing, and yes, legal services.
At first glance pro bono seems to be just a fancier name for volunteering, but there are differences between the two. Volunteering focuses on the immediate needs of an organization and hands-on work, whereas pro bono services focus on the long-term needs of an organization and the contribution of skills-based or professional services. Here are some examples:
- A technology specialist in New York City helps to improve the user experience for volunteers at the nonprofit Chhaya by converting a volunteer application into a PDF form
- The Goodwill Industries collaborates with Levi Strauss every year so staff from Goodwill stores can learn retail best practices from Levi employees (see Powered by Pro Bono, p. 7)
To learn more about the pro bono marketplace and decide how your organization can take advantage of these services, join us at the Foundation Center for Powered by Pro Bono: A Meet the Author Event on Wednesday, January 9, 5:30-7:30 pm. This special event will be led by one of the leading experts on pro bono service, Aaron Hurst, founder and president of Taproot Foundation. According to its web site, Taproot Foundation has helped to deliver over $112,000,000 in pro bono services to date.
Learn from the experience of Taproot Foundation about different types of pro bono professional services and how your organization can organize itself to benefit from them. Sign-up today!
Stop by the Foundation Center library and look for Powered by Pro Bono (in the New Books section) to get a preview of the Taproot Foundation's best practices.
- Alyssa Pehmoeller
Nonprofit Services Fellow
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