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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

From the Desk of Linda B. Gornitsky, Ph.D.

Executive Summary

Introduction: Why Do We Do Pro Bono?

Methodology

Types of Pro Bono Observed

Trends and Illustrative Examples

Practices That Address Barriers to Pro Bono

Elements of Success

Conclusions

Select Case Studies From the Research

About LBG Associates

About LBG Research Institute

About the Authors

LBG Contact Information

LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute Publications

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Copyright © 2018 LBG Associates. All Rights Reserved.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

From the Desk of Linda B. Gornitsky, Ph.D.

Executive Summary


Methodology




Elements of Success

Conclusions

Select Case Studies From the Research



About the Authors

LBG Contact Information

LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute Publications ACKN

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Acknowledgments

This report would not be possible without the support of our sponsors and participants. Sponsors provided not only financial support but also invaluable contributions to the report content. Participating companies were interviewed about their pro bono programs and provided access to their nonprofit partners, which were also interviewed.

Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors ($7,500)Andeavor CorporationBooz Allen HamiltonJPMorgan Chase & Co.

Silver Sponsors ($5,000)Macquarie GroupTarget

Bronze Sponsors ($2,500)PIMCO

Participating Companies and Their Nonprofit Partners:

Adobe Systems Inc. & iSisters Technology MentoringAmerican Express & Brooklyn Children’s MuseumBooz Allen Hamilton & FIRSTCredit Suisse & FINCA InternationalDeloitteIBM & INTERSOSJPMorgan Chase & U-SNAP-BACMacquarie Group & The HOPE ProgramMorgan Stanley & Hamilton FamiliesPrudential Financial & KNOX HartfordSalesforce.org & Behind the BookWestpac Foundation & Vanguard Laundry Services

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From the Desk of Linda B. Gornitsky, Ph.D.President, LBG Associates and Founder, LBG Research Institute

In 2015, LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute published a report on pro bono called, “Balancing Pro Bono Supply and Demand: Challenges and Solutions from the Nonprofit Point of View.” The report helped corporations with active pro bono programs and those just getting started understand what nonprofits think about pro bono and what they need to succeed.

Since then, we’ve watched as pro bono programs have grown and changed. In framing this study, we sought to learn what was new in pro bono, or better yet, what was unique or innovative.

To that end, we solicited participation from companies with reputations for having solid pro bono programs—either companies we already knew or companies suggested by one of the pro bono intermediaries we contacted for their opinions.

As the research progressed, we discovered that while there wasn’t much we would define as “innovative,” pro bono has definitely grown and matured over the years. The companies we spoke to are always tweaking their programs—adding opportunities, involving more departments in the program, creating evaluation protocols and making other improvements. There is a lot to report on how these different programs operate and what contributes to their success.

The companies interviewed for this study represent a cross-section of ways to do pro bono. There is no one “right” way—rather it is what is right for that company, its employees and its communities.

We encourage you to share this research freely. And we’d love to hear your thoughts.

[email protected] 2018

Executive Summary


We noted six basic types of pro bono volunteer opportunities among the companies interviewed. Some of them use more than one model to increase the number of employees who can volunteer.

1. Loaned Employees2. On-Site Pro Bono Volunteers3. Virtual Pro Bono4. Open-Ended Consulting Relationship5. Marathons6. Skills-Based Volunteering

Trends

In the course of the interviews for this study, a number of trends emerged that are moving the practice of pro bono forward:

Increased Opportunities for Engagement Among the companies interviewed, the majority run a pro bono program that offers multiple ways for employees to volunteer. They design a portfolio of programs so that more employees can participate and more nonprofits can be served.

Companies Looking InwardWhile some companies’ pro bono programs started as ways to help nonprofit partners, more and more are focusing attention on the internal benefits of volunteering. If the internal and external benefits of pro bono were on two sides of a balance scale, today the scale seems to be tipping to a balance point—or even in favor of the internal benefits, particularly the benefits to employees.

Stronger Connection with Human ResourcesAs the talent development aspects of pro bono volunteering have gained recognition, corporate citizenship and human resources teams have been joining forces, with citizenship running the nonprofit side and talent development the employee side.

Deepening Strategic PartnershipsIt’s long been a best practice for companies to have a strategic partnership with at least one nonprofit. Pro bono is a way to deepen the relationship between the partners.

Competing for GrantsPro bono teams compete for grants that the nonprofit can use to implement the project that the team worked on or even for other projects. Participants report that the competitive aspect is an additional motivation for both volunteers and nonprofit staff to excel.

Using Third PartiesThird parties, such as Taproot Foundation, Pro Bono Partnership, Bridgespan, Common Impact, Team4Tech, Catchafire and Pyxera Global, among others, are providing services that take some of the work of running a pro bono program off the citizenship staff.

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How We Define Pro Bono

Pro bono volunteerism is the donation of professional services that utilize the professional and technical skills of the volunteer and for which the recipient nonprofit would otherwise have to pay. It gives nonprofits access to the business skills and experiences they need to develop and implement sound business strategies, increase their capabilities and improve their organizational infrastructure.

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Increased Focus on Outcomes and ImpactCompanies rely on surveys of both parties to understand the impact of the project. Employees are asked about their development goals and how they plan to use their enhanced skills in their jobs. Nonprofits are asked not only about their experience with the volunteer team, but also about the deliverable and implementation plans.


In our previous research on pro bono from the nonprofit point of view (see page 61) we asked the nonprofit participants about the challenges of taking on a pro bono volunteer. In this study, we asked both parties about the challenges—the corporation’s challenges in running its pro bono program, and the nonprofit’s challenge in working with that corporation’s volunteers.

We were pleased to see that some of the solutions suggested in the earlier study are being implemented by many of the companies studied. These include:

Challenge #1: Getting Started With Pro BonoSolution A: Offer Short-Tem OpportunitiesSolution B: Provide a Menu of Pre-Scoped Projects

Challenge #2: Finding the Time to Work With a VolunteerSolution: Thorough Volunteer Preparation for an Intensive Engagement

Challenge #3: Funding the ImplementationSolution: Competitive Grants

Elements of Success

Following are the elements of success that the companies participating in the study shared :

1. Senior Management is Supportive and Involved2. There is a Partnership with Human Resources/Talent Development3. Volunteers Are Well-Prepared for the Engagement4. The Amount of Time Volunteers Contribute is Well-Defined

Conclusions

The companies we interviewed are continually evaluating their pro bono programs to create connections between the company, its employees and nonprofits in the community for the benefit of all stakeholders.

How are companies improving their programs? In a number of ways:• Expanding the opportunities for more employees to serve• Setting development goals for employee volunteers • Increasing their commitment to evaluation• Using the expertise of intermediaries to vet nonprofits and scope projects• Making it easier for nonprofits to take on pro bono volunteers

Pro bono is a powerful statement about a company’s commitment to social purpose. The growth and evolution of pro bono programs is welcome news for employees and nonprofits alike, both of which benefit greatly from the pro bono experience. We expect that pro bono programs will continue to evolve, depending on the needs of the company and its employees, as well as the nonprofits being served. We also expect that the elements of success will continue to ring true and provide a valuable guide for any company beginning or expanding its pro bono programs.

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PART 1: Pro Bono Today


Why do we do pro bono? There is the simple answer—because we want to help nonprofits thrive. And then there’s the big picture answer—because we want to make a positive impact on the company, employees and communities. We want, to use the current buzzword, to serve a social purpose.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s 2018 letter to CEOs was all about “purpose.” His call to action to companies wasn’t to urge greater philanthropy. It was to awaken corporate CEOs to the benefits of leading with purpose. He wrote, “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”

How does this relate to pro bono? Pro bono is just one way a company can show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Yes, Fink was thinking grander things than pro bono for all, but it’s the little things that add up to that positive contribution.

Corporate citizenship professionals have understood the power of purpose all along. In crafting their programs, they have looked at all stakeholders—shareholders, employees, customers and communities—and how they can be impacted. When done well, pro bono activates a powerful chain of benefits for all stakeholders.

The community side of the benefits is obvious. The goal of pro bono service is to help nonprofits build capacity and operate more efficiently or effectively. When that goal is achieved, the community benefits from increased or enhanced services delivered by the nonprofit to its target audience. Perhaps the service is more meals served, alleviating hunger for more people. Or maybe the service is more tutoring for at-risk kids, who then do better in school in the short and long term, increasing the chances that they will pursue a higher education and move up the socio-economic ladder.

The benefits to employees can also be significant, if the company makes leadership and professional development the focus of the employees’ participation. The research shows that this is happening more and more. Anecdotally, employees selected for pro bono are high-performing, high-potential professionals that the company wants to cultivate for executive positions. Besides building skills, the pro bono experience infuses employees with that sense of purpose people crave. They connect with the company’s purpose as well as their own. That’s powerful stuff.

The effect on the employees who participate starts the chain of benefits that many practitioners believe ends with a more successful company. More engaged employees means better products or services, more or happier customers, higher profits and satisfied investors. If you think you’ve heard this before, you have. The business case for corporate social responsibility revolves around the tangible and intangible benefits of allocating resources to CSR activities, like pro bono.

That’s the magic of pro bono. It can do so much for so many. It’s why we do pro bono. For the greater social good…the positive contribution to society…for the sense of purpose it brings to employees…for what it tells the world about the company.

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The Power of Pro BonoLooking to show purpose? Pro bono has the power to touch many stakeholders:

Nonprofits:• Increased capacity, effectiveness and

efficiency• More services producing more impact in

the community• Bettering lives for nonprofit target

audienceEmployees:• Developing skills though experiential

learning• Instilling sense of purpose in future

leaders• Creating greater connection to the

companyCompany:• Developing purpose-driven leaders• Enhancing corporate reputation• Recruiting and retaining employees• Increasing appeal to responsible investorsShareholders:• Growing corporate profits • Having the satisfaction of investing in a

purpose-driven company

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Methodology

We interviewed 12 companies and 11 nonprofit partners to get deep into the details of the programs and the particular projects. We asked in-depth questions of each participant. The interviews lasted between 45 minutes and one hour.

The companies were asked about:• Their model of pro bono service• The benefits and challenges of the model• How employees are chosen to serve• How nonprofits are chosen to receive volunteers• What aspects of their model are unique or innovative• How program evaluation is conducted, both qualitative and quantitative• What contributes to the program’s success• How the program has evolved over time

The nonprofit partners were asked about:• Their relationship with the company• The specific issue the pro bono engagement addressed• Why they decided to work with pro bono volunteers• What resources they had to commit to the project • Their experience with the volunteers• Satisfaction with the deliverable• Any challenges they had during the project• Implementation plans following the project• The value of pro bono service as compared to cash grants• Whether they would accept pro bono help again

All companies and nonprofits had the opportunity to read and approve the case studies that appear in Section 2 of this report, beginning on page 25.


The research revealed some commonalities in how pro bono is practiced today. We noted six basic types of pro bono among the companies interviewed.1 Some of them use more than one model to increase the number of employees who can volunteer.

1. Loaned EmployeesIn this model, an employee or team of employees are released from their regular jobs and embedded full time in the nonprofit. The volunteers may already be local to the charity, or may be relocated in order to serve.

2. On-Site Pro Bono VolunteersThe pro bono volunteers function as “loaned” employees, but they are not released from their day jobs. Instead, they are expected to work on the pro bono project in addition to their regular work. They may work on the project during the workday, on their own time, or a combination of both.

3. Virtual Pro BonoIndividuals or teams are assigned to pro bono projects but do not work on-site with the nonprofit. They may visit the nonprofit or be completely virtual.

4. Open-Ended Consulting RelationshipPerhaps the deepest partnership of all is when a company offers ongoing pro bono services based on its nonprofit partners’ immediate needs. In this open-ended relationship, the company communicates regularly with its partners about their issues, and then supplies employees with the expertise the charities need.

5. MarathonsEmployees meet with nonprofits, sometimes at the company offices and sometimes at the nonprofit site, to work on a problem for a defined period of time. These marathons are most commonly a half-day or one-day commitment.

6. Skills-Based VolunteeringWhile not strictly considered pro bono volunteering, many companies offer skills-based opportunities to a broad range of employees. Employees can volunteer to do mentoring, conduct mock interviews or resume writing workshops, or use their professional skills in other ways.

1 This discussion of pro bono models is not meant to be exhaustive, nor can it be. Pro bono models evolve and change as company needs change.

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Pro bono volunteerism is the donation of professional services that utilize the professional and technical skills of the volunteer and for which the recipient nonprofit would otherwise have to pay. It gives nonprofits access to the business skills and experiences they need to develop and implement sound business strategies, increase their capabilities and improve their organizational infrastructure.

How We Define Pro Bono

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We’ve been researching pro bono programs as well as working with clients on designing and refining their programs for many years. In the course of the interviews for this study, a number of trends emerged, trends that are moving the practice of pro bono forward. Below we describe the trends and give examples from the research.

Increased Opportunities for Engagement

Among the companies interviewed, the majority run a pro bono program that offers more than one way for employees to serve. They design a portfolio of programs so that more employees can participate and more nonprofits can be served.

Having a portfolio of programs is about more than adding capacity, though. It is recognizing that every employee has the skills and capabilities to do some type of pro bono work if they so choose. Junior employees can team up with more senior ones, which in itself is a learning experience, especially when they are from different lines of business, functions or locations.

Adding skills-based volunteering to the mix gives employees another way to serve. It enables them to become more involved with the nonprofit—much more than painting a wall—and also helps them stretch themselves personally and professionally. Spending a few hours doing mock interviews, for example, helps them relate to the nonprofit’s mission, pass on their knowledge, and feel fulfilled by helping others.

On the nonprofit side, some just aren’t ready for a full-blown pro bono project. They can still benefit from the professional expertise of employees, but through smaller projects or one-day service events. Let’s say that in the vetting process, the company determines that the nonprofit isn’t quite ready to take a loaned employee. Instead, the company can offer its services in a different way, the way that meets the nonprofit where it is.

These multi-level programs have opportunities that require different time commitments from employees and the nonprofits. So at the “top” are the embedded Loaned Employee programs, in which employees dedicate themselves to the nonprofit for weeks or months at a time. In the “middle” would be employees who commit to a project but not full time, and at the “bottom” would be short-term pro bono, such as one-day or half-day marathons. We’re defining these levels in terms of time, not employee commitment to their assigned project. The companies realize that all of these types of pro bono have value to employees and nonprofits.

Prudential, JPMorgan Chase, Adobe and Booz Allen Hamilton all have multiple types of pro bono for their employees.

The Match Process: Nonprofits to Employees, or Employees to Nonprofits?

There’s no right or wrong way to match employee volunteers with nonprofits in need. Generally, companies either first identify employees they want to volunteer or first identify nonprofits that need pro bono help. From there, a match of employee skills and nonprofit needs is made.

Companies focused on talent development may choose to identify employees they want to participate, assess their skill sets, determine the employees’ development goals, and then search for a nonprofit with a need that matches the skills and goals of the employee or employees. Others reach out to their nonprofit partners to learn their needs first, and then seek employees who can help. At times, the process is simultaneous—and then the two pools of employees and nonprofits are matched up.

Prudential’s program has three different types of pro bono, in order of increasing time commitment:

1. Half-day Scopeathons, in which employee volunteers work in teams of three to five to help nonprofits create a Statement of Work (SOW) for a project that addresses an important issue.

2. Full-day Marathons, in which the volunteer team takes a SOW that has been reviewed and discussed ahead of the event and helps the nonprofit put steps in place to address the challenge.

3. Three- to Four-Month Pro Bono Engagements. These engagements are capacity-building projects that go from SOW to implementation. These teams may be larger than for the Scopeathons and Marathons, depending on the needs of the project and availability of staff.

JPMorgan Chase runs a portfolio of pro bono and skills-based volunteering (SBV) programs:

1. Field Service Corps, a three-week immersion program for teams of employees working on location at nonprofit partners in select cities.

2. Virtual Service Corps, in which teams of five employees work with a nonprofit over six to 12 weeks on a capacity-building project. Volunteers average two to five hours per week working on the project.

3. Accelerate, a three-hour speed consulting session between employees and nonprofits embedded in a management training program for emerging leaders.

4. Skills-based Volunteering, in which employees work with nonprofit clients on career readiness.

Adobe has four levels of pro bono opportunities to maximize the opportunities to participate and for nonprofits to get the help they need:

1. Pro Bono Residency is Adobe’s talent development pro bono opportunity. Managers nominate high-potential employees, who then complete an application. If accepted, the employee works two to five hours a week for six months on a nonprofit’s strategic issue.

2. Team4Tech is a nonprofit that brings tech volunteers into underserved communities. Adobe is one of their corporate partners. Ten Adobe employees are selected each year for a two-week in-country volunteer experience. Projects have included integrating technology into classrooms and training teachers to use that technology.

3. The Pro Bono Design Challenge is a one-day event that uses the talents of Adobe’s Experience Design Team to help nonprofits apply design thinking to a problem. Adobe employees—experienced designers and others—participate in cross-functional panels that analyze problems and propose solutions using design thinking.

4. A Custom Pro Bono Matching Platform that helps employees and nonprofits make their own matches. Nonprofits submit projects and employees apply to work on them. Employees can even work on these projects during the workday, as long as they have manager approval. Adobe is expanding the platform beyond the initial U.S. rollout.

Booz Allen Hamilton has a three-tiered program that combines pro bono and skills-based volunteer opportunities:

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1. Pro Bono Consulting Engagements are run exactly like a paid consulting engagement. Consulting teams are formed like any other, with a project manager tapping employees with particular skill sets as they are needed. The only difference is that the community involvement budget “pays” the bill. Projects are charged to community involvement at the retail rate. And like any other consulting project, there is a budget for each project.

2. The Leadership Excellence for Senior Associates program is a hybrid of pro bono and skills-based volunteerism. It is fundamentally a talent development program, in which selected senior associates work with a nonprofit on a clearly defined problem. The senior associates also have specific goals related to their work. Unlike the pro bono consulting engagements, this volunteer work takes place after hours. Booz Allen’s Learning and Development team runs this program.

3. A Pro Bono Project Portal is available to all employees. Nonprofits can post opportunities in the firm’s volunteer portal and employees can search for projects that interest them. The company provides the portal and the employees and nonprofits make their own connections.

Companies Looking Inward

While some companies’ pro bono programs started as ways to help nonprofit partners, more and more are focusing attention on the internal benefits of volunteering. If the internal and external benefits of pro bono were on two sides of a balance scale, in the early days of corporate pro bono, the scale was tipped in favor of the external benefits, particularly the benefits to the nonprofit. Today, the scale seems to be tipping to a balance point—or even in favor of the internal benefits, particularly the benefits to employees.

Yes, pro bono increases employee engagement—but so does traditional volunteering. Unlike traditional volunteering, though, pro bono service can play an important part in talent development. By definition, pro bono volunteer projects harness the professional skills of employees. In practice, employees can be assigned to projects that not only use the skills they have, but also deliberately stretch them. Pro bono is an effective way for employees to gain leadership and managerial skills as well as

Big Leaps Forward Through Embedded Volunteerism

Embedded volunteers devoting themselves full time to a nonprofit partner can help the charity make big leaps forward. Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase both have full-time loaned employee programs and both have had excellent results.

FINCA International, a microfinance, social enterprise and research institution, received a Global Citizens Program team from Credit Suisse to work on a standardized project management (PM) system for its FINCA Impact Finance Network of microfinance and community banking institutions. FINCA’s network is far-flung, spanning 21 countries, employing more than 10,000 and serving more than 800,000 clients. Project management was conducted in many different ways across the network. Three Credit Suisse employees, including two certified project management professionals, were assigned to the project. The project had three parts: research how PM was being done across the FINCA organization and identify any existing best practices; recommend how to introduce a simple but scalable and standardized PM framework; and conduct workshops to build PM capacity within the network. FINCA reported that the project met or exceeded its expectations. Since the project concluded in late 2016, the organization has made considerable progress, even dedicating a staff member to the project. Credit Suisse laid the foundation for a global PM framework, FINCA said, that will have a long-lasting impact on the performance of the organization. (For further details on Credit Suisse and FINCA’s partnership, see 35.)

JPMorgan Chase’s partner, U-SNAP-BAC, was equally pleased with its embedded team of employee volunteers. U-SNAP-BAC promotes neighborhood development and stability through home ownership education, affordable rental units and homes for sale to low- and moderate-income buyers in Detroit. It hosted a team of four JPMorgan Chase employees, whose project was to recommend an ownership structure for a “greenway” that U-SNAP-BAC was planning for a plot of land in the city. The team researched viable options for the “greenway,” assessed the local demand for urban farming and developed a roadmap and supporting toolkit to execute the recommended ownership and organization structure. U-SNAP-BAC’s executive direector Linda Smith said, “Having the JPMorgan Chase team work with us was one of the best decisions I have made. My team was better than any I could have hired.” (For further details on JPMorgan Chase and U-SNAP-BAC’s partnership, please see page 41.)

enhance their functional skills.

Companies that embrace the talent development power of pro bono do more than just send high-potential employees into the field. At Credit Suisse, successful applicants for the company’s Global Citizens Program (GCP) must have clearly defined learning objectives related to the volunteer service. The individuals’ ability to learn through a stretch assignment and their ability to succeed when immersed in a new environment are key considerations for all potential GCP participants. Plus, when the volunteers return to work, their debriefing includes an exploration of how they can apply what they learned to their jobs at Credit Suisse.

Employee selection for Prudential’s pro bono engagements is run entirely by the talent development group. Team leaders are recruited from the company’s Enterprise Executive Development Program (EEDP), the firm’s flagship development program for senior executives. The EEDP members are then tasked with staffing the pro bono teams from among high-potential employees at lower levels in the company. Like Credit Suisse, Prudential wants to know that employees are able to apply their acquired skills back at their jobs. Its evaluation tools measure increases in leadership competencies, such as critical thinking and transforming strategy into action. For example, 90% of employees said they were able to use the pro bono experience to establish a clear vision and strategy, and 86% said they felt they were able to add value by applying critical thinking skills.

Macquarie’s Community Impact program is specifically designed to give selected managers and senior managers an opportunity to gain skills. It is run by the Macquarie Group Foundation, with business heads and human resources involved in selecting the participants and defining skills to target. Each project has a Senior Sponsor, who has deep subject matter experience, and a project manager. The volunteers are trained in how to scope a project, their roles and responsibilities, communications, and other things they need to know to be a successful volunteer.

Employees aren’t the only ones who can develop capabilities through pro bono. For Booz Allen, the projects themselves offer the firm the ability to increase or highlight its expertise. Some of Booz Allen’s pro bono projects are “proof of concept” projects, in which the firm can expand its capabilities while serving a greater purpose. These projects that align with business and nonprofit needs are a win-win for the firm and the nonprofit. For example, Booz Allen worked with nonprofit FIRST on new business intelligence tools using FIRST’s and public data. The success it had with that project (see page 32) benefits FIRST and also builds the visibility of the firm’s data analytics and technology capabilities.

Stronger Connection with Human Resources

With the increasing focus on the talent development benefits of pro bono comes a deeper connection between the corporate citizenship and human resources teams. Citizenship and HR have not always had a shared definition of employee engagement, and in some companies they may still not. But as the talent development aspects of pro bono volunteering have gained recognition, the two departments have been joining forces, with citizenship running the nonprofit side and talent development the employee side.

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Cash or Pro Bono?

All the nonprofits interviewed were asked if they would have preferred cash over pro bono services to address their issue. The question is a difficult one, easier to answer in hindsight than prior to the engagement.

In reflecting on their projects, nearly all of the nonprofits said that the pro bono engagement was more valuable than getting a grant to hire a consultant. Many noted that the reputation of their corporate partner opened doors for them in some way, such as in fund-raising for implementation. Others felt that the relationship with the corporate partner made the volunteers more invested in the project than a paid consultant. In a few cases, particularly for the smaller nonprofits, they felt that “cash was king” because it allowed them the flexibility to hire whomever they felt best met their needs in terms of skills and timing. Overall, however, all the nonprofits appreciated the significant impact the volunteers had on their organization’s operations and success.

As mentioned above, Prudential’s talent development team is in charge of volunteer recruitment, as is Booz Allen’s talent team for its Leadership Excellence for Senior Associates program. Human resources representatives are also always on the team that interviews prospective volunteers at Credit Suisse. Volunteers selected for JPMorgan Chase’s Field Service Corps and Virtual Service Corps programs must have HR’s blessing.

JPMorgan Chase credits its strong relationship with human resources and talent development as one of the reasons for its success. Service Corps teams include at least one HR professional as a volunteer. Those individuals, having experienced the power of pro bono, can testify to the value of the program, becoming advocates within HR and talent development that some companies just don’t have.

Deepening Strategic Partnerships

It’s long been a best practice for companies to have a strategic partnership with at least one nonprofit. A strategic partnership, by definition, involves investment of resources on both sides—well beyond cash. Pro bono is an excellent way to deepen a strategic partnership.

But why limit deeper engagement to just one or two nonprofits? Pro bono is a perfect way to increase engagement with other organizations in the company’s portfolio. Many of the companies in this study will only send pro bono volunteers, particularly loaned employees, to strategic nonprofits they already support.

Credit Suisse’s Global Citizens Program targets those nonprofits working in its focus areas of education and microfinance. These are long-term partnerships for the firm, and Credit Suisse lends its expertise in banking to help them solve business challenges and succeed in their missions.

JPMorgan Chase takes the same view: Help long-term nonprofits succeed—not just in a particular program, but as an organization. It assesses the needs of its long-term nonprofit partners and applies its employees’ skills to increase effectiveness. That’s a highly simplified summary of how the company’s philanthropic Program Officers in the field recruit partners for its Service Corps.

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Treating Nonprofits Like a Paying Client

While all pro bono volunteers are expected to have a positive working relationship with the nonprofit they serve, two companies in our study take it one step further. Booz Allen Hamilton and Deloitte, two well-known consulting firms, treat their pro bono recipients exactly the same as paying clients.

In Booz Allen’s case, the pro bono projects are billed at retail rates to the firm’s community involvement team, which has an annual budget for these projects. At Deloitte, the consulting fees are billed to the line of business that originated the project. The two firms staff the projects as they would for a paying client—sourcing talent as required and assigning them to the project for the long or short term, depending on when their skills are needed. A project manager, which in Deloitte’s case is a partner, principal or managing director, is responsible for putting together the team and completing the project on time and within budget. In both cases, Booz Allen and Deloitte expect their volunteers to deliver the same quality of work to its nonprofits as they do to their regular clients.

The nonprofits appreciate this. FIRST, a nonprofit that engages young people in mentor-based STEM programs, worked with a team from Booz Allen on building more robust business intelligence tools in the course of two projects. The FIRST staff member interviewed said that the way the first project was handled—with seamless transitions as volunteers with different skill sets entered and exited the project—was important to the project’s success and made FIRST more than willing to engage with Booz Allen on the second project.

Australia-based Westpac Group and its philanthropic foundation are extremely hands-on with its social enterprise and community partners. Every Community Grant recipient (about 200 of them) is assigned a local employee who serves as a Community Ambassador. The ambassador is empowered to offer those grantees a range of non-financial resources, including pro bono and skills-based volunteers. Social enterprises that are recipients of the Westpac Foundation’s Social Scale-Up grants ($300,000 over three years) are assigned business mentors. The mentors meet with the enterprise quarterly to track progress and identify needs that Westpac can fill—such as pro bono or skills-based volunteers. This fosters a transparent relationship between Westpac and its Social Scale-Up grantees and allows them to be open and honest about their challenges.

Competing for Grants

For Morgan Stanley, American Express and Macquarie, having employee pro bono teams compete for grants for their nonprofits is an integral part of their service programs. Morgan Stanley’s Strategy Challenge culminates in presentations from all teams at Morgan Stanley’s headquarters in New York. The teams are competing for grants that the nonprofit can use for implementation or other projects. Participants report that the competitive aspect is an additional motivation for both volunteers and nonprofit staff to excel.

American Express’s Serve2Gether Consulting Challenge uses a similar competitive model. American Express has constructed a list of pre-scoped pro bono projects, such as building a digital marketing strategy or conducting peer benchmarking. Nonprofits and social enterprises apply for help with one of the specific projects. If selected, American Express sends a team for a 10-week period. At the end, the teams pitch their project to a set of judges, the winner of which receives a $25,000 grant.

Volunteers in Macquarie’s Civic Edge program, which is at its heart a talent development program, work in teams with nonprofits over 10 weeks. At the end, each team can pitch its deliverable to a judging panel. The project demonstrating the most innovative and effective solution wins a $10,000 grant for the nonprofit.

Using Third Parties

Third parties, such as Taproot Foundation, Pro Bono Partnership, The Bridgespan Group, Common Impact, Catchafire,Team4Tech and Pyxera Global, among others, are providing services that take some of the work of running a pro bono program off the corporations. They also have special expertise in working with nonprofits,

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An Open-Ended Consulting Relationship in Practice Westpac Group, a financial institution based in Australia, uses the open consulting relationship model of pro bono. The Westpac Foundation, its philanthropic arm, leverages the skills of its employees through committees called “Probono Skills Panels.” Each panel has a particular focus, such as finance and risk; human resources; marketing/communications; and IT/digital. Between10 and 30 employees sit on each panel and they serve for at least 12 months. The panels meet every six weeks to review new requests from its nonprofit and social enterprise partners as well as progress on existing projects. The panel members have deep networks in the company, which they tap to solicit pro bono volunteers.

In practice, that means that Westpac can respond to the changing needs of its nonprofit and social enterprise partners. Vanguard Laundry Services is a commercial laundry social enterprise that Westpac supports with grants and pro bono help. Vanguard has used Westpac employees to help with employment contracts, marketing support for launch events, and negotiating better utility contracts. Vanguard CEO Luke Terry meets with the Foundation regularly to discuss the progress of the laundry and his most immediate needs. The Foundation then identifies the internal resources to assist him. Terry said that working with Westpac was like having the entire company behind him. “Not only was the Foundation’s early support vital in attracting other supporters, but its pro bono program helped us develop a new website, write employment contracts and do graphic design—things we would never have been able to do on our own.” (For further details on Westpac and Vanguard’s partnership, see page 53.)

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understanding their issues, assessing readiness, and scoping projects to specific timeframes, which help make those projects more successful.

Prudential, Adobe, Macquarie and American Express all use the Taproot Foundation. Prudential uses Taproot to work with its nonprofit partners to determine their needs, conduct preliminary scoping calls and help out with its Scopeathons and Marathons (the Pro Bono Partnership also helps with the Marathons). Adobe uses a customized Taproot+ platform, which employees use to find pro bono and skills-based volunteer projects to do on their own.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase also use third parties to help define the issue and scope the pro bono projects. Bridgespan interviews and recommends the nonprofits to receive Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge Grants, and also conducts the post-project evaluations. JPMorgan Chase contracts with Pyxera Global to scope and scale its Field Service Corps projects to the three-week timeline and Common Impact to evaluate nonprofit submissions for its Virtual Service Corps.

Increased Focus on Outcomes and Impact

Every company wants to know if the goals of a pro bono project were met, for both the employee and the nonprofit. Companies rely on surveys of both parties to understand the impact of the project. Employees are asked about their development goals and how they plan to use their enhanced skills in their jobs. Nonprofits are asked not only about their experience with the volunteer team, but also about the deliverable and their implementation plans. The best evaluation protocols conduct longitudinal studies of the nonprofits, checking in with them after six months or more to learn what has happened. Morgan Stanley’s protocol is to contact the nonprofit after one year to learn if progress has been made. If not, it asks why. If there has been progress, it checks in again after two years and again after three years. This system gives Morgan Stanley valuable information on outcomes and impact. Having good data on a pro bono program provides, if it is ever needed, proof of a positive return on investment or justification for additional investment.

Having good data on the success of a pro

bono program provides, if it is ever needed, proof of a positive

return on investment or justification for

additional investment.

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How Did We Do? Assessing Impact

Nearly all of the companies in this study survey both employees and nonprofits after the pro bono engagement. Two of the companies shared their survey instruments with us so we could see the broad themes of their assessments.

In these surveys, questions are rarely yes/no; rather, most questions measure levels of agreement or disagreement with statements and some are open-ended for further explanation.

For the employees, the surveys cover:• Application/selection process• Project preparation and support• The experience itself• Personal development and engagement• Nonprofit and community impact• Level of satisfaction with the program overall

The personal development and engagement questions are key to assessing whether the volunteer’s learning objectives were achieved. Question formats include rating the improvement in different skills (such as delegating, project management, and managing client relationships) as a result of the pro bono experience as well as asking for a level of agreement with statements such as “This experience helped me increase my ability to effectively work with and lead a team.”

For the nonprofits, the surveys cover:• Preparation level of the volunteer(s)• Quality of the services the volunteer(s) provided• Effectiveness of the working relationship• Time commitment of the nonprofit versus expectations• Quality of the deliverable• Estimation of impact of the deliverable• Level of satisfaction with the program overall

Most of the questions for the nonprofits are also rating scales, measuring level of agreement with statements, coupled with open-ended opportunities to elaborate on the ratings. For example, two important questions are to rate the level of agreement with the statements, “The corporate volunteer(s) successfully supported my organization as was outlined in the scope of work,” and “I feel that I will be able to use the work that they created or the guidance they provided.” The nonprofit can then elaborate on its answers.

Other good open-ended questions are:• What did the project achieve that benefitted your organization?• What difference did the project make?• What was of greatest value to the organization?

Ultimately, the specific questions will match the objectives of each corporate program, but the above provide a taste of how some companies structure their post-project evaluation surveys.

Practices That Address Barriers to Pro Bono for Nonprofits

In our previous research on pro bono from the nonprofit point of view, we asked the nonprofit participants about the challenges of taking on a pro bono volunteer. In this study, we asked both parties about the challenges—the corporation’s challenges in running its pro bono program, and the nonprofit’s challenge in working with that corporation’s volunteers.

Not much has changed in terms of the challenges—overwhelmingly both parties cite limited resources as the biggest challenge—so it’s not informative to enumerate them here. However, the previous study did suggest some ways to address these challenges, which we were pleased to see being implemented by some of the companies studied.

FROM OUR PREVIOUS STUDY: HOW CORPORATIONS CAN HELP

Challenge #1: Getting Started With Pro BonoSolution A: Offer Short-Term Opportunities

Marathon-type pro bono events, whether one day or half a day, are a way for nonprofits to dip their toes into pro bono. They require a limited time commitment and yet can have a high return on that investment. Prudential offers two of these opportunities—a half-day Scopeathon, to help nonprofits create a Statement of Work (SOW) for a project that addresses an important issue, and full-day Marathons, in which employee teams take an existing SOW and help their nonprofits put steps in place to address their challenges.

JPMorgan Chase and Adobe also have short-term opportunities. JPMorgan Chase’s is called Accelerate, which is a three-hour speed consulting session between employees and nonprofits embedded in a management training program for emerging leaders. Adobe runs a one-day Pro Bono Design Challenge, which uses Adobe’s Experience Design Team and other Adobe employees to help nonprofits apply design thinking to a problem.

Challenges Solutions

Getting Started • Provide educational resources• Suggest a small, discrete project as a start

Finding the Right Help

• Provide candidates for the nonprofit to choose from• Assess candidates’ affinity to the nonprofit’s mission

Finding the Time• Make sure the volunteer is sensitive to the issue and not causing additional work or asking for . . immediate feedback or turnaround on project work• Provide additional help, such as administrative help or funds for a temp

Keeping the Project on Track

• Allow employees to attend meetings or work on the project during the workday without repercussions

Funding the Implementation • Include a grant or additional pro bono help for implementation

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Solution B: Provide a Menu of Pre-Scoped Projects

American Express’s Serve2Gether Consulting Challenge and IBM’s Impact Grants are both based on a set of pre-scoped projects that use the companies’ core competencies to address nonprofit needs. American Express sends out a call for applications to nonprofits once a year in which they are invited to select a specific type of service. There are seven types of projects that focus on marketing and outreach and two types in people management/human resources (see page 29 for details). Taproot assisted American Express in defining the projects. This makes it easier for a nonprofit to get started in pro bono. Instead of a potentially long process of identifying a need and scoping a project to address that need, the nonprofit can review the options internally and decide which project best addresses their concerns. They also know exactly what they are getting when entering into the pro bono agreement.

IBM Impact Grants are a portfolio of 25 grant offerings, all pre-scoped and packaged for ease of use. Grants are available in capacity-building, change management and project management, strategy growth, business analytics and more (see page 38 for details). IBM believes that having its grants pre-scoped and packaged helps it deliver pro bono more effectively and efficiently. And, as with American Express, nonprofits can review the offerings and apply for the one that matches its needs. The company does some custom projects as well, since some nonprofits have needs that don’t quite match the pre-scoped offerings.

Salesforce.com’s pro bono service focuses on helping nonprofits use the company’s CRM software more effectively. So while the projects are not pre-scoped the way American Express’s and IBM’s are, the employee volunteers are experts in the product, which makes it easier to assess the nonprofit’s needs and address them. Volunteers can conduct training or provide technical assistance or even help customize the system.

Challenge #2: Finding the TimeSolution: Thorough Preparation for an Intensive Engagement

Whether they do it themselves or employ a third-party, the companies in this study make sure both the volunteers and the nonprofits are ready for an intensive engagement, such as a loaned employee. Prudential, for example, has its nonprofits work with an intermediary to properly scope the project for the timeframe and the Prudential employee resources available. This helps ensure that everyone’s time is used wisely.

JPMorgan Chase also has an intermediary work with the nonprofits to prepare them to receive the Field Service Corps members. It helps them scale the project to the timeframe of the engagement and conducts a six-week, virtual pre-work training for the nonprofit team.

Macquarie Group’s Community Impact program includes comprehensive training for volunteers on how to scope a project, their roles and responsibilities, communications, keys to success, and more. The Community Impact projects have six distinct stages (see page 44 for details), which help keep the project on track and minimize scope drift, a primary source of frustration and failure of pro bono projects. The Macquarie Group Foundation staff check in with the pro bono teams after each stage is completed, which is another way the projects stay on track.

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The Advantages of Local Volunteers

The participating companies use a combination of local, relocated and virtual volunteers. All of these volunteers can be successful, but the nonprofits that received local volunteers noted some distinct advantages:• The volunteers already knew and understood the

social issues in the local community• Meeting face-to-face was easy• Volunteers with different skill sets could easily be

brought in as needed• The volunteers had the resources of their office at

their fingertips• The volunteers did not need to use space at the

nonprofit

Challenge #3: Funding the ImplementationSolution: Competitive Grants

Not having funds to implement a pro bono deliverable is a source of frustration for nonprofits. No company can guarantee funding for every pro bono recipient, but three of the companies in this study offer the opportunity to win a grant. Recipients of a Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge volunteer team, an American Express Serve2Gether Consulting Challenge team, or a Macquarie Civic Edge team can present their project results to a judging panel to win a cash grant to assist with implementation or for another purpose. It’s is a powerful motivator for both the volunteers and their nonprofit partners to produce a deliverable that can win the competition.

It is worth noting that some nonprofits in this study also received cash grants through the companies’ Matching Gifts and Dollars for Doers programs. The pro bono volunteers directed their matches and volunteer grants to the organizations they served.

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Elements of Success

The companies in the study were chosen because they have successful pro bono programs. Some programs have long histories and others are relatively new. All have evolved over time, adding and subtracting elements as the companies learn what works for them and their employees.

In our interviews, we asked corporations why they believe their programs are successful. We also asked the nonprofits why their pro bono experience was successful. For the nonprofits, success was always related to the quality of the volunteer or volunteers. For the corporations, success was a blend of elements that helped the pro bono program thrive, including:• Senior management support and involvement• Partnership with human resources/talent development• Effective volunteer preparation• Defined amount of time employees volunteer

Senior Management Support and InvolvementExecutive support is important for any corporate citizenship program to thrive. Active involvement is even better. In this study group, the companies have demonstrated senior management support for pro bono. Support from the top is especially important for immersion programs that take employees out of the workplace for extended periods of time. At Credit Suisse, the panel that interviews potential Global Citizens includes senior managers from the Foundation, human resources and a business unit. At Booz Allen, senior leadership is very involved as advisors to the pro bono program. Capital One’s pro bono program is run at the line of business level and the executives and managers in that LOB are deeply involved.

Partnership with Human Resources/Talent DevelopmentAs noted previously, human resources and talent development in particular are playing a larger role in pro bono. We observed that the more involved HR is in the process, the more formalized the development goals for the volunteer. It’s taking the leap from “we know pro bono is good for our employees’ skills development” to “let’s define what we want our employees to learn and measure whether they have learned it.”

Take Prudential, for example. Its talent development group is in charge of recruiting team leaders from among its Enterprise Executive Development Program, who then recruit high-potential employees to serve on the teams. The volunteers have development goals and are evaluated against those goals after the project. Macquarie Group’s Civic Edge program is part of its Macquarie Directors Program, a learning and development program for new senior vice presidents run in conjunction with the talent team. Program participants can volunteer for two- to three-month pro bono projects, coordinated by the citizenship team and an intermediary. Like Prudential, the volunteers have specific development goals.

Effective Volunteer PreparationWe already noted that having volunteers and nonprofits who are fully prepared for the engagement really helps all parties better manage the time commitment. It also makes sense that effective preparation leads to better results. A number of nonprofits interviewed for this study were extremely impressed with how well their volunteers were prepared for their assignment and felt that it made a big difference. Linda Smith, executive director of U-SNAP-BAC in Detroit, commented that the volunteers from JPMorgan Chase were “better than any I could have hired. They were very well prepared and did not require any handholding.”

Loaned employee programs have the most rigorous preparation programs. Pre-work can include cultural education, research on the nonprofit and the social issue it targets, how to work with a nonprofit, plus setting up a schedule of activities for the project. Projects are almost always scoped before the volunteers arrive, which allows them to hit the ground running.

For nonprofits, success was always related to the quality of the

volunteer(s). For corporations, success

was a blend of elements that helped the pro

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Defined Amount of Time Employees VolunteerIn nearly all cases, the company defines how many hours the volunteers are expected to contribute each week to the project. Of course loaned employees give all their time while on the project, but in most cases, pro bono is part time—during the workday, on personal time, or a combination of both. Morgan Stanley requires the deepest personal time commitment, at 20 hours per week above the employee’s existing responsibilities. More typically, pro bono volunteers donate three to five hours per week.

Some companies also define the number of weeks a project can last. JPMorgan Chase’s Field Service Corps program has a six-week, pre-engagement training and then a three-week engagement. Macquarie’s Civic Edge and American Express’s Serve2Gether are both 10 weeks long. Macquarie’s Community Impact program is even more specific, assigning particular tasks to specific weeks (see page 44 for more information).

Defining the commitment—in terms of hours per week and number of weeks—not only helps scope the project properly upfront, but also sets expectations for every party before the project even begins.

Defining the time commitment upfront sets expectations for everyone before the project even begins.

Conclusions

As we said earlier, we started this journey seeking innovative pro bono programs. While we didn’t uncover anything particularly innovative, we did find a lot to be excited about.

The companies we interviewed are continually evaluating their pro bono programs to create connections between the company, its employees and nonprofits in the community for the benefit of all stakeholders.

How are companies improving their programs? In a number of ways:

Expanding OpportunityCompanies are finding new ways to involve more employees through different levels of pro bono, from loaned employees to custom matching platforms that help employees and nonprofits find each other. Consequently, more nonprofits are getting the help they need.

Setting Development Goals for Employee VolunteersMore companies are getting serious about using pro bono as a leadership development tool for high-potential employees. Employees have specific development goals for the project they are assigned to and then they are debriefed post-project on how they will use their new skills on the job.

Increased Commitment to EvaluationNearly every company in this study surveys employees and nonprofits immediately after the engagement. But many of them are taking evaluation a step further and conducting surveys as far out as three years to track how the nonprofits are benefitting from the pro bono project.

Using Expertise of Intermediaries to Vet Nonprofits and Scope ProjectsRunning a pro bono program is time-consuming. Hiring a third party with particular expertise in working with nonprofits takes the load off the corporate staff, which can then focus on recruiting employee volunteers.

Making it Easier for Nonprofits to Take on Pro Bono VolunteersWhether they realize it or not, some companies have taken actions that have addressed the challenges nonprofits reported in our previous study. Offering short-term opportunities like marathons, providing a menu of pre-scoped projects, making sure volunteers are well prepared, and offering a chance for an implementation grant or further pro bono work for implementation all address obstacles to pro bono.

Pro bono is a powerful statement about a company’s commitment to social purpose. The growth and evolution of pro bono programs is welcome news for employees and nonprofits alike, both of which benefit greatly from the pro bono experience. We expect that pro bono programs will continue to evolve, depending on the needs of the company and its employees, and the nonprofits being served. We also expect that the elements of success will continue to ring true and provide a valuable guide for any company beginning or expanding its pro bono programs.CO

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While the research did not reveal any

particularly innovative practices, it still found a lot to be excited about.

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PART 2:Select Case Studies from the Research

Adobe Systems Inc. & iSisters Technology MentoringAmerican Express & Brooklyn Children’s MuseumBooz Allen Hamilton & FIRSTCredit Suisse & FINCA InternationalIBM & INTERSOSJPMorgan Chase & U-SNAP-BACMacquarie Group & The HOPE ProgramMorgan Stanley & Hamilton FamiliesPrudential Financial & KNOX HartfordWestpac Foundation & Vanguard Laundry Services

Adobe Systems Inc.Adobe Systems Inc. is a software company based in San Jose, CA, that specializes in creative, marketing and document management solutions. It employs more than 15,000 people worldwide. The company uses four methods of delivering pro bono service to nonprofits, from a long-term, multi-employee Pro Bono Residency to one-day Pro Bono Design events.

In the Pro Bono Residency, two employees work with a nonprofit for six months on a priority issue. The nonprofits, either former partners or organizations aligned with Adobe’s mission, are invited to apply for pro bono help. They complete an application form that asks them to articulate their strategic priorities and needs. The Adobe program management team reviews the applications and chooses the organizations with needs that fit Adobe’s core competencies and that were very clear on what they needed and why.

The Residency is a talent development program, in which managers nominate talented employees with five to twelve years of work experience. The nominated employees complete an application that asks them why they want to participate and what they would like to accomplish. Successful applicants are clear on their motivation, such as personal or professional development, and demonstrate a commitment to making the project a success. Ultimately, the volunteers are matched with a project based on their skills and, if possible, interest in the nonprofit’s cause.

The volunteers devote between two and eight hours a week helping the nonprofit define the issue, brainstorm solutions and complete a project to address the issue. The company completed 10 of these projects in 2017.

The second opportunity for employees is a pro bono abroad program with the nonprofit Team4Tech. Via Team4Tech, Adobe sends volunteers to schools and educational institutions around the world for a two-week in-country experience. Projects revolve around integrating technology into classrooms and training teachers to use that technology. Adobe employees apply for one of 10 annual spots—two projects with five team members each. With their managers’ approval, the selected applicants complete six weeks of training (two hours per week) before leaving for their in-country experience. Adobe covers the Team4Tech program fee for all participants.

The third opportunity is a customized Taproot+ platform from the Taproot Foundation that matches employees and nonprofits. It is “pro bono for all,” in which nonprofits submit projects and employees apply to work on them. Employees can work on these pro bono projects during the workday with the permission of their managers, who are looking at these projects as opportunities for the employees to develop their skills. The platform was a solution to meet increased demand from employees and nonprofits as well as a way to increase the geographical reach of the pro bono program. It began in the U.S. but is being expanded to Adobe’s employees in India and the UK.

The fourth opportunity is the latest addition to Adobe’s Pro Bono Initiative. The Pro Bono Design Challenge is a one-day event that uses the talents of Adobe’s Design Team to help a nonprofit apply design thinking to a problem, such as “How do we enhance our donor experience?” The Adobe designers facilitate teams of cross-functional employees who analyze the problem and propose solutions using key design thinking principles. Each team presents their solutions at the end of the day. The nonprofits benefit from hearing multiple viewpoints and potential solutions to their problems.

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Helping Government

Adobe has participated in Civic Bridge, a pro bono program from the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation that connects employees from participating companies to work with city agencies on critical issues. In 2016, an Adobe team used its expertise to help the city’s youth foster care system digitize their systems. A team went in and devised a road map for the agency to move from its paper-based system of tracking more than 1,200 cases to an electronic one. Projects like these show that pro bono doesn’t have to be just for nonprofits—public agencies can benefit from pro bono volunteers as well.

Benefits and Challenges of the Model

Adobe’s philosophy of “pro bono for all” maximizes the opportunities for employees to participate and for nonprofits to get the help they need. It is not without its challenges, though. First, having such a varied portfolio of programs requires significant program oversight, which can be challenging given limited staff bandwidth. Second, communicating what each program is about and who it is appropriate for can be challenging. Third, the impact on the nonprofit community is hard to determined because, except for Team4Tech, there is no particular social issue that the company is targeting. However, as a broad four-pronged program Adobe feels that the growing demand for pro bono from both its employees and nonprofits is an indicator of success.

Evaluation

Adobe always surveys both employees and the nonprofit to measure the impact of its programs. The Residency program is rigorously evaluated to determine outcomes and impact of the services provided. Nonprofits are surveyed at the close of the project and six months later about how the project increased the organization’s efficiency, effectiveness or reach—the three key ways the program aims to impact the nonprofit. The employees are queried on their skills development as well as how the experience affected their overall experience and satisfaction as an Adobe employee. Team4Tech and the Design Challenges follow similar evaluation processes, including an assessment of how much participants learned about design thinking in the process. For the other pro bono projects completed through the Taproot+ platform, it is harder to evaluate their impact given that they are shorter-term projects and are completed independently. However, a brief survey is sent to the employee and nonprofit to assess immediate outcomes. To encourage employees to report their independent pro bono work, Adobe offers the nonprofit a $1,000 grant and donates Creative Cloud licenses when the employee completes the provided Statement of Work document.

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: iSisters Technology Mentoring, Ottawa, ON, CanadaMission: Our mission is to develop and deliver technology programs and mentor women in collaboration with our community partners, to build awareness that enhances opportunities to connect women in need with technology, through mentoring.

iSisters Technology Mentoring Inc. (iSisters) is a small registered charity located in Canada’s national capital, Ottawa. iSisters is a low cost, high impact organization with a proven track record of sustainability. Its long-term goal is to build sustainable community partnerships and increase partner capacity to deliver relevant programs to women and youth in need.

iSisters’ programs drive social and economic change at the local level by empowering women in need—often young mothers—with digital literacy and job search skills they need to gain employment or build their own business.

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• Promotes “pro bono for all”• Rigorous evaluation of impact on nonprofits and employees• Tracks impact on the company’s reputation and employee retention• Teams with an existing in-country pro bono organization for one of its offerings— Team4Tech

WHAT’SNOTABLE ABOUT ADOBE

With just one paid staff person, a part-time Executive Director, the prospect of getting professional services was appealing. Through a former Board member with a friend at Adobe, iSisters was invited to apply for pro bono assistance. It submitted two applications; one for a Marketing and Communications Strategy project and the other for Information Technology, Data Collection and Analysis. The Data Collection and Analysis project was accepted. The purpose of the project was to gather impact data on program participants and graduates, both qualitative and quantitative, on how their education, employment, and lives were bettered by participating in the iSisters programs. In the process, the organization would not only reconnect with a decade of iSisters program participants and graduates, but also obtain metrics vital to the organization’s growth.

Two Adobe volunteers were assigned to the project. The volunteers put in whatever time was required, according to iSisters, for about six months. Early on, the volunteers and the Executive Director realized that their goal was overly ambitious. Since many of iSisters’ learners were in women’s shelters when they participated in the programs, locating graduates, even three or six months post-program, was going to be extremely difficult. In the end, they focused on determining the right measures of success, and then formulating questions to ask in pre- and post-surveys of current learners.

What is Next?

Like the Adobe volunteers, the single iSisters staff member had to go above and beyond to dedicate time to the project. It was well worth the effort, though.

The organization continues to benefit from Adobe’s contribution. First, the volunteers directed their volunteer grant awards to iSisters totaling nearly $4,000 of unrestricted funds. Second, the Adobe project manager continues to volunteer with the organization, working on implementation as well as new projects. She is helping iSisters develop a Continuous Improvement Assessment Plan, which will guide the organization’s evaluation and measurement efforts, as well as providing strategic planning support. Her involvement, the Executive Director said, has made it possible for iSisters to move forward faster than it had thought possible.

It is the continued volunteer time and grant awards that have really made the difference for the organization. That’s not something every organization gets as a result of a pro bono project, but for iSisters it has been a great bonus.

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“The greatest source of impact thus far has been the opportunity to tap into a source of talent—individuals like Jane and Abdul—with skills, experience and the drive to improve and contribute to their communities. Adobe’s Pro Bono Initiative provides organizations like iSisters with an incredible experience dividend: a source of time, talent and expertise to help tackle our most difficult challenges.”

—Linda Milton Perreault, Executive Director, iSisters Technology Mentoring2016 Adobe Pro Bono Project Recipient

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American ExpressAmerican Express’s Serve2Gether Consulting Challenge matches selected nonprofits and social enterprises with teams of five to seven employees on short-term consulting projects to address a specific organizational challenge or opportunity identified by the nonprofit client. The program, which has been in place for many years, takes place annually during a ten-week period, beginning in March and ending in June. Over 200 global nonprofits applied in 2016 and approximately 35 to 40 were chosen.

Nonprofits apply online for specific projects. Selected organizations must commit staff resources of three to five hours per week over the 10-week period to work with their assigned consulting team. All New York-area employees are eligible to apply online and are selected based on the merit of their applications. Employee teams also commit a similar number of hours to work on their projects, primarily during the workday.

The projects for which a nonprofit can apply are predetermined and highly scoped by Taproot. Once the employee team has been put in place, it discusses the project with the nonprofit partner directly. Each project has a blueprint that the teams populate for their project type. The team may make some changes to the scope if it feels that the existing version does not adequately address the challenge at hand. The nonprofit signs a consulting agreement and American Express is not responsible for the product delivered.

The nonprofit can select from the following pre-scoped projects depending on the business challenge that it wants to address. Projects are available in the categories of Marketing and Outreach, and People Management/Human Resources

Marketing & Outreach Projects

• Key Messages & Brand Strategy: Succinctly articulate your mission, describe programs/services, and develop differentiated positioning from your peer organizations

• Digital Marketing Strategy: Determine how you can best utilize digital channels (e.g., mobile, search engines, blogs, and social media) and digital marketing to achieve your objectives

• Building Customer Relationships: Develop strategies to deepen your relationships with existing clients/audiences to further engage with your organization

• Targeting New Audiences: Develop strategies for targeting important new clients/audiences and successfully engage them in your work

• Financial Strategy: Improve your financial tracking or modeling approach. The team will suggest improvements and/or create new tools for budget tracking, cost analysis and/or forecasting

• Peer Benchmarking: Map your competitive landscape by creating a set of detailed profiles for a select group of peers

• Opportunity Analysis: Develop a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to provide an in-depth look at the overall environment in which you operate or a specific organizational opportunity/challenge

People Management/Human Resources Projects

• Human Resources Capacity Build: Assess your HR and talent management capabilities to define the right approach to link improved HR practices to your broader organizational goals

• Performance Management: Identify HR strategies to increase productivity by setting target goals and managing staff progress

A unique feature of this program is that, at the end of the consulting engagement, the teams compete to receive seed funding of up to $25,000 from American Express, which is granted to their nonprofit partners to begin implementing the recommendations resulting from these consultations. Teams that are not selected get a $2,500 grant.

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Benefits of the Model

The Serve2Gether model has a number of benefits, according to the company. They include: • The team-based approach allows for networking and the opportunity to work with new colleagues• There is an executive coach and vice president-level sponsor for each project• Employees at all levels receive exposure to senior leadership• The projects are time-bound (10 weeks)• There is a clear set of possible projects from which to choose that reflect the skills of American Express

employees• The program is competitive and open to all employees• The teams pitch their nonprofit and deliverable to a set of judges to win a $25,000 implementation grant for

their organization

Challenges of the Model

While the model has proven to be very successful, there are some challenges that it faces occasionally. For example, American Express needs to ensure employees with the right skills have the capacity to apply and participate. And when an executive coach is not available, a vice president-sponsor becomes accountable for the project.

Evaluation

The goals of the program are community impact and employee engagement. To that end, employees and the nonprofits are surveyed at the conclusion of the engagement as to their satisfaction with the experience. Some output/outcome measures are collected such as number of nonprofits and employees participating, number of employee hours delivered and the value of the pro bono service. Evaluation is a not a priority, though. The survey results are not tracked in a database, for example, and there are no pre-determined KPIs or impact measures.

American Express feels that the Serve2Gether projects tend to be very successful because they are highly scoped so the nonprofit knows what it is getting and the team understands what is involved in the deliverable. In addition, employees’ skill sets reflect the needs of the nonprofits. The competitive pitch element is unique and provides an opportunity for the teams to see their recommendations implemented.

• Projects run at the same time every year, between March and June• All American Express employees can apply to serve• Available projects are pre-scoped and nonprofits apply for a specific project• Employee teams compete for a $25,000 grant for their nonprofit

WHAT’S NOTABLE ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: Brooklyn Children’s MuseumMission: A pioneer in education, Brooklyn Children’s Museum was the first museum created expressly for children when it was founded in 1899. Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s mission is to provide first cultural experiences for children and families that inspire curiosity, creativity, and lifelong love of learning.

New management at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum felt that the museum had lost some of its core brand values and needed a new visual identity and clearer messaging, but they did not have the funds to hire a consultant to do the work. Instead, they reached out to the Serve2Gether Consulting team “to revisit and refine its branding and messaging to attract new visitors, showcase new programs and spaces and help the museum remain competitive in the crowded marketplace of family and cultural institutions.” The goal of American Express’ work was to develop key brand messages and a creative design brief that the Museum could then use to raise funds to hire a consulting firm to execute on the recommendations.

The American Express team consisted of five participants. The team leader guided the overall project while each team member was responsible for a different aspect of the assignment. There was a specific process in place with finite deliverables that were presented on time. Overall the project took less than two months to complete.

On the nonprofit’s side, the two people working with the team were the President/CEO and an executive vice president.

The experience was very positive and the CEO considered it a success because the deliverables were excellent and enabled the Museum to leverage them for fundraising purposes. In fact, the Museum raised $50,000 from donors and the team won an additional $25,000 grant from American Express to execute on the new brand identity strategy. They were also able to leverage a relationship with a long-standing partner and believe the experience helped strengthen the bond between the two organizations. The value of the American Express name helped them fundraise because prospective donors recognized the quality of the product produced.

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Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton is a global consulting firm focused on strategy, technology and engineering headquartered in McLean, VA. It serves both public and private sector clients in a wide variety of industries, including defense, health, energy and international development, and has more than 23,000 employees. It has a long history of applying its expertise to help build nonprofit capacity and contribute to social sector solutions through pro bono and skills-based volunteer services to nonprofits.

Booz Allen uses a three-tiered service model, which includes pro bono consulting engagements and two skills-based volunteer programs, one for selected employees (a hybrid model of pro bono and skills-based volunteering) and one that every employee can access.

With the pro bono consulting engagements, the employees proceed exactly as they would with a paying client. They charge their time at the retail rate like a regular client engagement, but the client, in this case, a nonprofit organization, does not get charged. There is a budget for this pro bono work, which includes all time and administrative costs.

The nonprofits selected to receive pro bono consulting might be existing partners or new partners recommended by leadership or employees. The most important qualification to receive this help is that the nonprofit’s need aligns with a Booz Allen area of interest and the firm’s capabilities. In some cases, these are “proof of concept” projects, in which the firm can expand its capabilities while serving a greater purpose. More often, these projects serve to highlight specific areas of expertise. For example, the project might be building an evaluation tool for a nonprofit. This clearly benefits the nonprofit, but it also builds the visibility of Booz Allen’s data analytics and technology capabilities. These projects are also staffed like any other—a project manager is assigned and a team built based upon the skills required to complete the work. The team members might work full time or part time on the project, as they are needed.

Booz Allen’s Leadership Excellence for Senior Associates program is a hybrid of its pro bono and skills-based offerings. While it is fundamentally a leadership development program, the talented senior associates selected function much like pro bono consultants in that they work as a team on a clearly defined problem with specific goals for themselves and their nonprofit client. Much of this volunteer work is done outside the workday, however. This program is run by the Learning and Development Team at Booz Allen and the firm’s senior leadership is very involved as project champions and advisors. These projects represent an active learning opportunity and application of leadership training for rising firm leaders. In some cases they provide the senior associates with their first opportunity to engage directly with high-caliber community leaders through interviews of and presentations to nonprofit boards of directors.

The third tier is open to all employees. Nonprofits can post skills-based volunteer needs in the firm’s volunteer portal and employees can search for projects that interest them. Employees might be asked to help with a communications plan or a data analysis project. The nonprofits and the employees make their own connections using the portal provided by Booz Allen.

Benefits and Challenges of the Model

As a professional services company, the three-tier model is appropriate and beneficial to the company, reflecting its entrepreneurial and flexible culture. Managing it, though, requires flexibility in financial planning. Pro bono costs vary based on the type of services provided and the recipient organization.. There is no defined number of these projects a year nor a defined per-project cost. It is hard to predict when a project that meets the requirements will appear although the community involvement team purposefully and proactively engages in discussions and negotiations with firm leaders to identify opportunities closely aligned to business priorities. Of note, the projects that do surface will have different staffing needs.

It is a positive, though, that both senior leadership and the Learning and Development Team are deeply involved in the pro bono and hybrid project work. The community involvement team does not have to find the volunteers, for example, as business leaders are selecting the team members. They are also sending the message that pro bono work is just as important as any other client. It isn’t filler work for employees with down time or work that can slip in favor of a paying client.

Evaluation

Qualitative feedback suggests that there is impact on the nonprofits, volunteers and the firm at all three tiers. Organizations that have received pro bono consulting report that they appreciate that they are treated like paying clients and that they are very impressed by the skills and professionalism of the Booz Allen consultants. The Leadership Excellence program has a formal evaluation protocol, in which nonprofits are surveyed three times—at the close of the project, six months out and one year out—to find out how the project went and if the recommendations were implemented. In the future, the firm will look at the impact on retention and promotion for employees who participate.

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: FIRSTMission: The mission of FIRST® is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation and that foster well-rounded life capabilities, including self-confidence, communication and leadership.

Booz Allen Hamilton and For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®) have had a long and deep relationship. Booz Allen is a FIRST Strategic Partner, which is the highest level of corporate partnership for the organization. Booz Allen contributes cash, pro bono services, employee volunteers for FIRST events and mentors for robotics teams. To date, the firm has done two pro bono projects for FIRST. Both focused on building better business intelligence tools, with the second project building on the first.

FIRST needed a tool that could more easily analyze the wealth of data they have on their participants gathered through registration. Although it has a data analysis team, ad hoc questions were taking a lot of time to process and it knew there was a better way. The Booz Allen team interviewed the FIRST staff about what they wanted and needed. They then reviewed off-the-shelf solutions, including interviewing the vendors and running tests. Once the software was chosen, a member of the Booz Allen team completed the data integration and training.

• Pro bono consulting projects are billed to the community involvement budget at the retail rate• The Learning and Development Team partially funds the talent development-focused program• Pro bono projects are selected based on their alignment with business and nonprofit’s needs and capabilities for a win-win with the nonprofit and the business• Three tiers of service allow for employee engagement outside the selective programs

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For the second phase of the FIRST pro bono project, one of the key goals was helping FIRST derive insights from a fusion of public and private data. FIRST’s data were combined with public data to build a dashboard that could be used to identify areas for growth. For example, the tool is able to show heat maps of participation overlaid on a U.S. map. It shows where there is a target population but little penetration, and can even highlight regions where local companies are located that might want to sponsor or provide mentors for FIRST events. The information from the dashboard allows FIRST to drive toward increased participation across the full progression of its programs from K-12, introducing more students to the possibilities of a career in a STEM field.

Two Keys to Success

FIRST was extremely pleased with the work of the Booz Allen consultants. They felt that the Booz Allen team worked seamlessly with the FIRST staff, and that the hand-off of the first tool from Booz Allen to the organization went smoothly. It also felt that the there were natural transitions between volunteers as the skill sets needed at different points in the project emerged. It did, as Booz Allen always wants, feel as if they were a paying client, and that was important to the success of the initial project and the willingness to engage with Booz Allen volunteers again.

The projects were also successful because FIRST was prepared to invest in the recommended solutions. It has already budgeted for the software they needed for the business intelligence tool, which meant that the pro bono volunteers could see the project through to implementation. Now, all team participation reporting comes from the new tool—all the key metrics such as team registration and number of student participants—as well as ad hoc queries and more sophisticated analyses.

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“I have been a volunteer with FIRST and other STEM programs for the past 18 years of my academic and professional career. Having had the opportunity to drive both phases of the pro bono project with the organization gave me a chance to share my enthusiasm for its mission with the other volunteers, and further re-ignited my own passion for the field, in seeing the next generation rise to greater heights. It was also personally rewarding on two fronts, as I came see how our work positively impacts not only FIRST but also how it benefits Booz Allen.”

—Ari Hamalian, Lead Associate and Advanced Analytics Strategist, Booz Allen Hamilton

Credit SuisseCredit Suisse, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is a multinational financial services company that operates in more than 50 countries. The firm offers a range of financial products and services, including in wealth management, investment banking and retail banking.

One of Credit Suisse’s skills-based volunteering programs is the Global Citizens Program (GCP) which enables suitably qualified employees to share their expertise with their partners in education and microfinance. The GCP was piloted in 2010 and rolled out in 2011 with the goal of “promoting the transfer of skills and knowledge between our people and social organizations through skills-based volunteering.” Proposed projects are usually accomplished by one or two dedicated Credit Suisse employees working locally (in-country) within a defined period of time—usually two weeks but potentially up to three months. The Credit Suisse GCP manager supports the partners in identifying and refining the project briefs to properly scope the project. Up to 70 projects are offered to employees each year and the average number of employees going on assignment is approximately 50.

Employees who have been at Credit Suisse for at least two years at managerial level and have their line manager’s approval may volunteer their skills by applying for specific assignments. The first step is to complete an on-line written application which, if they are short-listed, is followed by a telephone interview by an interview panel made up of senior management comprised of representatives from the Credit Suisse Foundation, Human Resources and a business unit. To be successful, candidates will need to have clearly defined learning objectives alongside their volunteer service. The employee’s skills and their ability to learn through a “stretch” assignment as they are immersed in a new environment are key factors that are considered when being matched to the project with the partner.

Once the match is made, the employee and the partner prepare for the engagement. Both employee and partner are prepared for their respective roles as volunteer and host. The employee prepares a schedule of activities for the week and requests relevant meetings, carries out research, etc. On the logistics side, risk, health and safety and other requirements such as vaccinations and visa applications are carried out for the particular location.


The GCP employee application and interview process is thorough and therefore time-consuming, which is part of the reason for limiting the scale of the program. Furthermore, as it is intended to add value to the bank’s grant partners, the number of partners which participate are naturally limited. And of course the fact that the program is highly competitive also provides a “filter” limiting the number of volunteers.

Evaluation

At the end of the assignment, the GCP managers debrief with both the volunteer and the partner about the experience. The volunteers’ debriefing includes an exploration of opportunities for them to apply their learnings back at the company. Although Credit Suisse does not formally track the long term impact of the project on the partners, the willingness of partners to “repeat” host projects at multiple locations indicates that they consider this a valuable investment of their time.

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Success

The program is unique among financial institutions and the key to its success, according to Credit Suisse, is two-fold: firstly the assignments meet a real need of the partner and secondly, the right volunteer is matched to the project: he or she must have the right personal competencies as well as flexibility and resilience to succeed. These volunteers will find themselves out of their element and dropped into a totally different working and cultural environment often far from home. It is also critical that the employee has the full support of his or her line manager.

The company feels that the program’s unique quality is the deep and long term investment in its partners which combines grant funding with skills-based volunteering. And because the program focuses on local operations of global organizations, there are many more opportunities for impact than only at national or international headquarters.

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: FINCA International, Washington, DCMission: To alleviate poverty through lasting solutions that help people build assets, create jobs and raise their standard of living.

FINCA International (FI) seeks to improve the livelihoods of the world’s poor through microfinance, social enterprise and research. The purpose of FINCA Impact Finance, FI’s network of financial service institutions, is to be an unconventional community-based bank that profitably and responsibly provides innovative and impactful financial services to enable low-income individuals and communities to invest in their futures. The FINCA Impact Finance network of microfinance and community banking institutions (referred to as subsidiaries) operate in 21 countries, with over 10,000 employees serving over 800 million clients.

With its network spanning the globe and with extremely limited resources, FINCA desired to develop a standardized project management (PM) framework for the organization to better manage its resources and provide greater visibility to management and stakeholders into FINCA projects globally. Three Credit Suisse volunteers were recruited, including two certified project management professionals (PMP), to support the network’s efforts to conduct an assessment of existing PM practices and to set the foundation for developing a PM framework that was catered to the unique and challenging environments where FINCA operates. The volunteers’ task was to reach out to FINCA staff and collect data on how projects were being managed at the different subsidiaries and to identify any existing best practices. The second part of the deliverable was to recommend how to introduce a simple but scalable and standardized PM framework across the network. The third was to conduct workshops to build project management capacity with the understanding that very few subsidiaries have a dedicated project manager.

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• Deep, long-term partnerships with nonprofits• Focus on local impact• Immersion of employee volunteers into global locations• Clearly defined learning objectives for employee volunteers• Post-project debriefs to find ways to apply employee learning back to their jobs at Credit Suisse

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The volunteers interviewed staff from FINCA’s headquarters and select subsidiaries in order to learn more of how PM was being handled by subsidiary teams. Their interviews highlighted the differences across subsidiaries with regard to PM skills and materials in place. The volunteers recommended that the network begin with the development of a toolkit starting with a standardized project charter and project status report. The volunteers suggested that once these reports were in place, other areas of PM governance could be addressed.

Workshops were held with staff in Washington DC, Dubai, Georgia and Pakistan covering leadership and representatives from headquarters and the Eurasia, Latin America and Middle East/Southern Asia regions. The goal of these sessions was to introduce a shared vocabulary for PM in the organization and thereby improve the understanding of the fundamentals of PM. Because Eurasia had demonstrated some of the strongest knowledge of PM across the network, the volunteers used the Eurasia workshop in Georgia as an opportunity to develop a standardized project charter and status report template, which formed the basis of FINCA’s ongoing PM work.

FINCA’s Contributions

Perhaps the most important contribution from FINCA was time. FINCA devoted staff time for the interviews—both at the DC headquarters and at the subsidiaries in the field. The Director of Operations was the main liaison, holding biweekly calls with the Credit Suisse team and facilitating communications with other staff. The organization also helped cover some expenses of the Credit Suisse team once they were on the ground in Washington. It also chose to pay for one team member to go to Georgia to facilitate a workshop, an activity that was not part of the original scope of the project but which FINCA saw the value in adding and funding.

A key challenge of the project, FINCA believes, was that the Credit Suisse volunteers had to collaborate as a team across many time zones and find the time to bond and work together effectively without having met each other before. It was helpful that the volunteers were from a well-known company. Being a volunteer from Credit Suisse added to their credibility.

Overall, FINCA said the project met or exceeded its expectations in all aspects. The Georgia workshop was particularly successful as it made unanticipated progress on practical pieces of the project management framework. Since the project concluded in late 2016, FINCA has made considerable progress toward its goal of standardizing PM, dedicating a headquarters staff member to the project and supporting her PMP certification. She has since recruited champions around the network and is conducting PM workshops to further build capacity.

Devising a standardized PM system is the type of project a nonprofit could assign to a paid consultant, if it had the funding. In this case, FINCA already had Credit Suisse volunteers work on other projects in the past with good results. It ended up being an ideal project for Global Citizens volunteers, and FINCA is grateful for the volunteers’ support in establishing the foundation for a global project management framework which will have long-lasting impact on the performance of the organization.

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IBM

IBM Impact Grants began in 2009 as a pilot and the program has expanded to 400 to 500 grants per year worldwide. The program offers grants of consulting expertise and software to strategic educational and not-for-profit organizations. This is one way that IBM delivers its core capabilities to NGOs, thus helping them solve some of society’s toughest problems.

There is a portfolio of 25 grant offerings, which are packaged for repeat usage and made available to the nonprofits. These include offerings focusing on: capacity building, such as leadership development; change management and project management; strategy growth, such as strategic planning; web presence and social media; business analytics; and security and resiliency. Packaging the offerings enables IBM to deliver them more effectively and efficiently. In addition to the packaged offerings, the company will provide custom grants that are tailored for the organization’s specific needs and represent some of the most innovative applications of IBM’s technology.

There are multiple ways in which a nonprofit may be selected to apply for an Impact Grant. Local IBM citizenship managers, who develop partnerships with organizations in their communities, may encourage them to apply for a grant. Or they may identify a nonprofit that they have not worked with previously but feel that it is an influencer in the region and suggest that it apply. Or a nonprofit may approach IBM directly and ask for help. In this case, the manager will vet the organization to determine if it is strategic and if IBM can meet its needs. Once the needs are understood and the grant is scoped, it goes through an approval process, which usually involves the regional executive but in some instances requires approval from a corporate executive.

The citizenship staff plays an important part in identifying the right project or scoping a custom one. They listen to the needs of the nonprofit and decide which offering will best meet those needs—or whether a custom grant is required if there is no appropriate offering—and how to bring in the appropriate IBM talent. Each offering has a purpose, methodology, output and evaluation of success. It also has a contract that outlines the activities for the nonprofit. A project’s success is dependent on selecting the right offering for that nonprofit. If the grant is custom, then the project’s scope needs to be determined and reviewed to ensure that IBM can produce the deliverable, and a contract is drawn up. The corporate team is often called upon to help with the scoping and to provide other forms of support.

Hundreds of employees worldwide have been identified as possible pro bono consultants for the Impact Grants program. Citizenship staff reaches out to appropriate consultants to see if they have the skills, interest and availability to work on a project. The delivery of projects generally ranges from two to six weeks, with the start and completion dates agreed upon by the nonprofits and consultants. The consultants work on their projects at their worksite during the workday the way they would for any paying client. The citizenship manager awards the grant, collects feedback and manages the engagement and the relationship.

Benefits of the Model Some of the benefits of the model include:• Allows nonprofits to access IBM’s capabilities that they would otherwise not be able to afford• Helps nonprofits advance areas that are of mutual concern• Creates strong partnerships between IBM and its nonprofit grantees• Gives consultants opportunities to participate in unique projects that serve the community• Strengthens IBM as a thought leader in addressing societal challenges and working with the nonprofit sector

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The model has some inherent challenges, one of the key ones being that it is highly labor intensive. Each engagement involves many discussions with the nonprofits to ensure that the right offering is selected, as well as helping the organization articulate its goals and collect the appropriate metrics. A complementary challenge involves communications. Often the nonprofit and IBM use terminology that is not readily understood by the other party. On IBM’s side, the consultants may be using technology terms that are unfamiliar to the nonprofit. On the nonprofit side, it too often has a specific language and approach to how it is addressing the issue at hand that is unfamiliar to IBM staff. To ensure success, it is important that all communications be clearly understood. A further challenge, which is true for all pro bono volunteer initiatives, is finding the “right” consultant—i.e., one who has the required skills or expertise, is available and can commit the necessary time. A final challenge is aligning local grants to the country’s or region’s most prominent societal issues, to ensure that the right grants are being made to support progress on those issues.

Evaluation

IBM uses surveys to collect feedback. An initial survey, completed at the start of the grant, documents the nonprofit’s goals for the engagement. A second survey, done at the end of the grant, collects feedback on quality and satisfaction. Six to twelve months later, a final survey collects data to measure how well the initial goals were met.

Employee feedback is captured directly from the project participants by the grant manager who then shares it with the corporate team.

Success

The projects tend to be very successful because:• They address key community/social issues that are strategic for the company and have the buy-in of senior

management, and that are important locally• They are scoped properly with expectations and goals clearly defined • The consultants are matched to projects based on their expertise and are using and enhancing their business

skills• The values of the program, as for IBM citizenship initiatives in general, are consistent with those of the

company—putting the client first, creating innovative solutions and driving for client success• The citizenship managers across the world are well trained and highly qualified to do this type of work

• Impact Grants can be pre-packaged or created custom for a particular nonprofit’s challenge• Projects address community and social issues that are strategic for the company• Consultants work on the project as if it were any other client assignment• Local citizenship managers coordinate the program, including recruiting volunteers

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Pro Bono in Action

Nonprofit: INTERSOSMission: INTERSOS is an Italian humanitarian organization on the first line that works all over the world bringing assistance to people in danger such as victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts.

INTERSOS contacted IBM to ask for its support with its current priority—capturing the health and demographic data of the large number of immigrants arriving from North Africa and making it accessible to other agencies as they move locations. The solution needed to be user-friendly and accessible from mobile devices.

The project took place over five months. It began with preliminary meetings to identify specific needs, which were then followed by meetings to scope the project and discuss operational issues. The team working on the project consisted of five people from INTERSOS, three IBM consultants and two local citizenship staff. Although the IBM team did not work full time on the project, they were so highly motivated by the issue they were addressing, that they ended up doing more work than was required. Creation of the first phase of the app went quickly; however, the fine tuning that took place in versions two and three took longer. The final solution was an app that allows doctors to collect data and a web application to store and retrieve sensitive information. It was developed by the IBM Italy Smart Solution Lab, is hosted in SoftLayer, and uses the database IBM Business Media Share (BMS).

The nonprofit considered the project to be a success because it filled a critical gap in collecting and circulating data on migrants. The app is also being used for other purposes such as monitoring unaccompanied minors.

One challenge was the agency’s lack of internal capacity to talk the same language as IBM consultants. Since then the nonprofit has hired someone who is more technologically savvy. Another challenge concerned privacy issues. INTERSOS is cooperating with the Minister of the Interior regarding this issue but IBM was most helpful in insuring that the database responded to all of the legislative requirements.

When asked if he had a choice between getting the pro bono services he did or getting cash to “buy” these services in the marketplace, he preferred using the IBM consultants because it saved him from having to recruit a consultant and also because the IBM name carries a lot of weight. The Minister of Interior is interested in the app because it was developed by IBM. Overall, he was very happy with the project and “it didn’t feel like a pro bono volunteer experience.”

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JPMorgan ChaseHeadquartered in New York City, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a global financial institution and one of the largest banks in the U.S. It has more than 240,000 employees worldwide and operations in more than 60 countries. The company’s stock is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a portfolio of pro bono and skills-based volunteering (SBV) programs that provide opportunities for employees with different skill sets and experience levels as well as for nonprofits with different needs and readiness for pro bono help. All of its pro bono/SBV programs are designed to deepen the company’s relationship with its long-term nonprofit partners, build their capacity and provide leadership development for its employees.

The company’s signature pro bono program, which requires the most commitment from employees and the nonprofit partners, is the JPMorgan Chase Field Service Corps. It is a three-week immersion program for teams of 12 to 16 employees working on three or four discrete projects. Employees are nominated for the program and go through a rigorous selection process. They can come from any line of business or any region. Nominees, who are usually mid-level managers or first-level executives, must have at least three years of experience at the company, have superior performance evaluations and have the support of their direct manager and human resources. They also need to possess certain personal characteristics, such as resilience, ability to adapt to a new environment, comfort with uncertainty, strong verbal communications skills and an interest in working with a nonprofit.

The nonprofits are identified from among the company’s grantees by Corporate Responsibility’s (CR) Program Officers overseeing target cities. These managers assess the organizations in their portfolio, looking for those that have: a strategic need; an interest in having pro bono help; the resources to commit to the project; and the support of the organization’s leadership. They also consider the skill sets of the volunteers that have already been selected for Service Corps.

A third-party nonprofit intermediary, PYXERA Global, works with the selected nonprofits to properly scale the project to the three-week timeframe. It also conducts a six-week, virtual pre-work training to help the employ-ees prepare for deployment to a new location and a new work environment. Once the JPMorgan Chase team arrives, everyone is prepared to hit the ground running.

Virtual Service Corps

Employees can also apply to serve in the company’s Virtual Service Corps. Teams of five employees work with a nonprofit over six to 12 weeks on a capacity-building project. Volunteers average two to five hours per week working on the project.

Like the immersion Field Service Corps program, the nonprofits are primarily selected from among JPMorgan Chase’s existing philanthropic partners. Unlike the immersion Service Corps, though, volunteers don’t have to be nominated—they can apply on their own for the program. They just need to be a full-time employee who is in good standing. If selected, they need the approval of the direct manager and human resources.

The Virtual Service Corps is always taking project submissions and employee applications. A different third-party nonprofit intermediary, Common Impact, evaluates the nonprofit submissions and works with them on scoping the project. Employee volunteer teams are formed from the successful applications and then work begins. There are about 25 virtual projects completed a year.

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Evaluating Impact

For on-site and Virtual Service Corps projects, both volunteers and nonprofits complete surveys at the close of the project. Both sides are asked about the deliverable and their satisfaction with the experience. The volunteers are asked about their skill development as well as personal growth. For example, they are asked if they felt they formed new relationships, if they feel more connected to the company and its CR work, and about their experi-ence with their team.

The nonprofits are queried on the anticipated impact of the project, such as projected gains in efficiency or ca-pacity. They also complete surveys six months after completion for virtual projects and nine and 12 months after completion for on-site Service Corps grants to check on implementation and impact.

Challenges

Although JPMorgan Chase’s programs are working well, they are not without their challenges. Evaluation is al-ways hard, as the company wants to make sure that the program is beneficial for and has an impact on both the nonprofit organizations and JPMorgan Chase employees. Therefore, all the stakeholders’ expectations have to be managed well. It’s not always easy to “right-size” the requests from the nonprofits and match them with em-ployees who also have time constraints. Sometimes there is an imbalance of supply and demand and employees and nonprofits have to wait, particularly for virtual projects. And while there are four full-time JPMorgan Chase employees dedicated to managing the Field and Virtual Service Corps, the infrastructure to handle the requests and funnel them to the third-party service providers is currently manual and could be improved, according to the company.

Overall, the programs are successful for a number of reasons. First, the company’s senior leaders are behind the program and support all employees, including those that are revenue-generating, leaving their jobs for three weeks, in the case of the Field Service Corps. There is also very strong collaboration between the Corporate Responsibility staff and the human resources and talent development teams. In fact, Service Corps teams usually include a human resources staff member, who can personally testify to the value of the program post-project.

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: U-SNAP-BAC, DetroitMission: U-SNAP-BAC (United Streets Networking and Planning; Building A Community) was incorporated in 1987 by a consortium of seven neighborhood organizations and four business associations to revitalize the east side of Detroit. Its mission is to empower residents to impact the future of Detroit’s eastside. Through coalition building, resource development, joint planning and programming, U-SNAP-BAC will promote eco-nomic growth and neighborhood improvement.

• Strong buy-in from senior leadership for pro bono volunteerism• Deep relationship with human resources and talent development• Level of cash support and pro bono support for nonprofits are considered separately—one does not influence the other• Pro bono supports long-term relationships with nonprofits—not a hit-and-run• Active stakeholder management of expectations

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To accomplish its mission, U-SNAP-BAC promotes neighborhood development and stability through home ownership education, affordable rental units and homes for sale to low- and moderate- income buyers through the City of Detroit’s Neighborhood Stabili-zation Plan. It also counsels homeowners facing foreclosure.

JPMorgan Chase and U-SNAP-BAC have been partnering for years on different aspects of the nonprofit’s mission, in particular on the organization’s financial capability and community development work.

U-SNAP-BAC applied to JPMorgan Chase for pro bono help on a new project: establishing a “greenway” in a five-block strip on Bar-ham Street that has deteriorated into a row of abandoned homes and dumping grounds. The vision is more than beautification—it includes farm plots for urban gardeners—and the project will be called the Barham Farmway.

The organization won a $150,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to purchase the land from the Detroit Land Bank, but needed help on the best ownership structure of the farmway and a roadmap to accomplish the recommended structure. U-SNAP-BAC identified a number of different models, but did not have the resources to research the pros and cons of each model. It did have a grant to hire a consultant to head up the project, but no additional funds for a due-diligence team. JPMorgan Chase Service Corps provided that team to conduct the broader analysis.

U-SNAP-BAC was assigned a team of four employees from around the country. None of them were from De-troit, but they arrived well prepared. The Executive Director at U-SNAP-BAC had provided them with a lot of information prior to their arrival and participated in a number of preparatory calls.

The Executive Director was pleased with the team she was assigned. Initially, she thought she would be getting a team of investment or business bankers, which she thought might be a challenging adjustment to the setting of a nonprofit. Instead she got a team with different skills and experiences, including a finance analytics director, a mortgage finance relationship executive, a branch manager, and a human resources professional. She and the HR team member also talked about issues outside the scope of the project, which was highly beneficial. The JPMor-gan Chase and U-SNAP-BAC team also spent time together doing fun things on the weekends, which helped them bond. In fact, they remain in touch and consider each other family.

Because the team was embedded in the organization for three weeks, the nonprofit’s main contribution was its Executive Director’s time. While the hired consultant was tasked with directing and supervising the JPMorgan Chase’s team, the Executive Director and her connections to the development community in Detroit were key to helping the team understand both greenways in general and the Detroit community specifically. She arranged for them to tour other greenways, conduct focus groups with the community, meet with the U-SNAP-BAC board and staff, and city housing officials. Using the data gathered during these meetings the team was able to research viable options for the “greenway,” assess the local demand for urban farming as well as develop a road-map and supporting toolkit to execute the recommended ownership and organization structure.

Today, the greenway project continues to move forward with five farmers taking free leases on plots in the neighborhood. However, there are external structural challenges and current policy frameworks that have impacted the implementation feasibility of the recommended ownership structure of the Barham Farmway. Still, U-SNAP-BAC was extremely pleased with the research and the final deliverable that the JPMorgan Chase team provided. Even though the uncertainty of potential ownership structure has slowed the process, U-SNAP-BAC moves forward with the pro bono team’s work helping to inform future decisions.

“Having the JPMorgan Chase team work with us was one of the best decisions I have made. My team was better than any I could have hired. They were very well-prepared and did not require any handholding. I was impressed with the resources the company provided them as well. They had their own ‘war room’ with computers, printers and everything they needed to work on our project. The team’s presentation on the project was incredibly impressive.”—Linda Smith, Executive Director, U-SNAP-BAC

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Macquarie Group FoundationMacquarie Group, a global financial services company headquartered in Sydney, Australia, has a number of dif-ferent pro bono models. Some occur on an ad hoc basis and are business- or employee-driven. The Macquarie Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, supports two specific models that are more strategic in that the projects are aligned with specific HR and business development goals. The two programs are called Community Impact and Civic Edge.

Community Impact

This branded program is offered once a year. Under this model, business heads are asked to identify their learn-ing and development goals such as giving manager-level associates an opportunity to lead a team. This program is restricted to managers and senior managers who have significant experience in their areas of business. Each project has a senior sponsor, who has deep subject matter expertise, and whose role is to attend the kick-off meeting, help with recruiting and serve as an ambassador. There is also a project manager who manages the project and regularly checks in with the team. The Foundation and the business select this manager.

The Foundation recruits employees by sending emails and asking the businesses to nominate viable candidates. It recruits nonprofits by reaching out to its current and past nonprofit partners asking them to assess their chal-lenges for the upcoming year. The goal is to find organizations that are in need of the selected employees’ skills. Once a match is found, associates are trained on how to scope a project, their roles and responsibilities, commu-nications and the secrets of success, among other things. The projects range from eight to 12 weeks, with most averaging 10 weeks. All of them are team-based, with no fewer than three local people on a team. Employees are asked to devote three to five hours per week during the workday to their projects.

Each project has six stages:• Kick-off meeting—on-site meeting with the nonprofit partner (Day 1)• Discovery—data gathering; may revise the scope of work (1 week)• Design—brainstorm solutions; develop an approved plan for the deliverables (2 weeks)• Development—develop the final deliverable (3 weeks)• Deliver and Train—provide tools and training to implement the solution and present to the board (1 week)• Debrief— reflect on impact and accomplishments (1 week)

The Foundation checks in with the teams after each phase is completed. In addition, the team leader sends a one-page update to the Foundation.

Civic Edge

Civic Edge is part of a learning and development program that is offered to SVPs at Macquarie, in which the participants can opt to volunteer at a local nonprofit to practice the competencies they are learning. The project teams consist of four to seven people with a coach and take place over a 10-week period. At the end of the project, each team has the opportunity to pitch their deliverable to a judging panel. The project demonstrating the most innovative and effective solution wins a $10,000 grant for its nonprofit.

Challenges

The Foundation made the decision to go deep rather than wide, meaning that only a limited number of employ-ees are being engaged. Each of the current programs requires a lot of time including recruitment of volunteers, project scoping, measurement and scale.

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Evaluation

Each project is evaluated from both the nonprofit and employee perspectives. At the end of the project, employ-ees are sent a survey asking process questions as well as whether they achieved their learning and development goals and any competencies they might have been working on. They are also asked to attend a focus group. The nonprofit’s survey focuses on process and impact.

Pro Bono in ActionPartner: The HOPE Program Mission: HOPE empowers New Yorkers to build sustainable futures through comprehensive training, jobs, advancement and lifelong career support.

The HOPE Program’s focus is not only on helping people gain jobs, but also on helping them stay employed and grow in their careers through additional educational opportunities as well as applying for advanced positions. HOPE was about to acquire Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) a social enterprise 501(c)(3) that provides job training to low-income South Bronx residents in the areas of green construction and building maintenance. The rationale was that this organization would contribute to HOPE’s ability to fulfill its mission while also helping to diversify its revenue base.

Although the acquisition had not yet taken place, HOPE wanted to get a head start on thinking about the in-tegration of SSBx into its existing financial management structure and processes. Potential deliverables included identification of key areas of financial management that will be affected by the acquisition and detailed recom-mendations outlining how HOPE might adapt its current financial management practices to account for the new social enterprise.

On the Macquarie side, this was an ideal project and employees with specific financial and consulting skills were tapped to volunteer on this project. There were six employees with diverse financial backgrounds on the team who worked on the project for about three months. The Foundation also asked Taproot to train the nonprofit and volunteers on subjects such Nonprofits 101 (for the volunteers) and how to work with employees (for the nonprofits). During the kick-off meeting, the scoping of the project was reviewed.

The deliverable was a chart of accounts, which consisted of codes that can be applied to both revenues and ex-penses. When the merger finally occurred, the on-site bookkeeper used the work Macquarie did to create best practices. HOPE was very satisfied with the deliverable and outcomes. Reasons for the success included:• The team members communicated well with the nonprofits and always made themselves available• The right people were involved on both sides• The HOPE CFO knew what she wanted and took the team’s advice and ran with it • The project was well scoped and could be completed in eight weeks • The project was aligned with the employees’ skills sets

The challenge on the nonprofit side was the time commitment. It can be a drain on the person who needs to provide the information required. The extra work needs to be fit in around everything else that a resource-con-strained organization needs to do. Another challenge had to do with the way nonprofits and for-profits approach their finances. Some nuances of nonprofit finance was missing on the Macquarie side, which employees had to stretch and learn on their own.

• Programs are focused on talent development and run in conjunction with human resources• Community Impact projects have six defined stages, which helps keep them on track• Employees are trained in how to work with nonprofits• Civic Edge projects teams can compete for a $10,000 grant

WHAT’SNOTABLE ABOUTMACQUARIE

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Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. With more than 50,000 employees in 1,200 offices globally, the Firm demonstrates its commitment to the local communities where employees live and work through philanthropy, volunteering and public works. In 2009 the company launched an innovative pro bono program that leverages the expertise of its top talent and the experience of nonprofit partners for maximum community impact. The Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge, now in its tenth year, is a prestigious program dedicated to solving critical strategic challenges through a 10-week collaborative process.

The Strategy Challenge is executed competitively, ensuring that all parties are highly engaged and motivated. Non-profits are invited to apply by referral of employees or clients. Interested organizations must complete a compre-hensive RFP designed to determine that the proposed project is appropriate for the skills of Morgan Stanley em-ployees and that the nonprofit is prepared to attack the problem. The company is looking for projects that address a key strategic issue and require the skills sets of its employees, such as research, data analysis and modeling. The nonprofit must demonstrate the commitment of senior leadership, dedicate a staff member to work with the pro bono team for 10 to 15 hours per week for the duration of the project, and plan to take action on the issue in the short term. Applicants are narrowed down to 25 top candidates, which are then interviewed by The Bridgespan Group to determine the final nine projects that will be staffed. Morgan Stanley also runs this program in London but there are slight variations suited to the needs of that location.

The nine project teams are drawn from all business units across the Firm based on the specific needs of the se-lected projects. Candidates for the highly coveted spots are selected from a pool of employees nominated by their business units in acknowledgement of high performance and significant work experience (typically between five and 12 years).

A thorough interview process ensures the final teams have the appropriate diversity of skill sets and experience to execute the challenge and commitment to pursuing the project vigorously, applying 20 hours a week above their existing responsibilities. The final teams of four employees and a senior advisor are custom matched to the nine nonprofits, which have been coached by the third-party on how to get the most out of the pro bono service.

Morgan Stanley wants the employees who participate to use the opportunity for professional and personal de-velopment. The Strategy Challenge provides these high performing employees the opportunity to meaningfully engage with a nonprofit and experience the satisfaction of impactful community development. Some volunteers remained involved with the nonprofit they served after the program was complete. Employees who have partic-ipated demonstrate their enthusiasm for the program, frequently nominating their own direct reports for future project as appropriate. Managers are eager to recommend their top employees for the esteemed program.

Evaluation

Because the Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge aims to provide concrete, implementable solutions to critical is-sues, a key criteria for selection is the determination to take action on a strategic solution in the immediate future. The same third party that helps screen the nonprofits also tracks progress for up to three years after participation. One year after the Strategy Challenge completion, nonprofits are contacted to determine the progress made on the recommendations provided. If there has been no progress, there is follow-up to determine why. Those who have made progress will be approached again at the two- and three-year marks. On average, about 75% of the nonprofits move forward with all or some of the team’s recommendation. For those that do not, the main barrier is a lack of funding, staffing changes, or environmental factors outside of the organization’s control.

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Success

Morgan Stanley is proud of the Strategy Challenge program’s success over the past 10 years. Currently the pro-gram is designed with nine nonprofits and 36 employees per year in the U.S. The program has been run in other U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, although it is currently focused on the New York Metro Area. In 2014, the program expanded to London, launching with five projects and 25 employees.

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: Hamilton Families, San Francisco, CAMission: Hamilton Families’ mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organi-zation is nationally recognized for its homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programs.

Hamilton Families operates in San Francisco, applying a number of approaches to both prevent and end homeless-ness. Founded in 1985 as The Hamilton Family Center to provide overnight family shelter in the Haight-Ashbury section of the city, the organization has since grown to include homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing and transitional housing for families.

Hamilton Families was invited to apply for the Strategy Challenge in 2014 with no prior grantee/partner rela-tionship with Morgan Stanley. The invitation came at a time when homelessness was on the rise in San Francisco and the waitlist for family shelter housing was lengthening. The organization was conducting a strategy evaluation, specifically regarding Rapid Re-Housing, a multi-pronged program that helps homeless families find new housing as quickly as possible.

At the time of the invitation, the Executive Director was fairly new and the organization, in forming its strategic plan, had determined that its Rapid Re-Housing program had been very successful in achieving its goals. The time had come to determine whether to increase investment in Rapid Re-Housing as a way to reduce the waitlist for family shelter housing.

Hamilton Families was committed to providing the staff time and doing the preliminary work required for the suc-cess of the project. At the same time, the Morgan Stanley team came in and conducted extensive research, includ-ing interviews with staff, community stakeholders and subject matter experts across the country. Hamilton Families assigned the Director of Programs and the Program Director for First Avenues/Housing Solutions as the nonprof-it’s key staff members for to the project. They, along with other staff, spent a great deal of time on this work above their normal responsibilities. Finding that time was a challenge for the nonprofit.

• Competitive program encourages innovative solutions from the firm’s top performers• Comprehensive Request For Proposal (RFP) and third-party evaluation of applicants• Intense commitment from volunteers required—20+ hours a week above their regular jobs• Requirement that nonprofits commit staff time of 10 to 15 hours per week• Up to three-year evaluation of impact on the nonprofit

WHAT’SNOTABLE ABOUTMORGAN STANLEY STRATEGYCHALLENGE

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Hamilton Families was extremely pleased with both the Morgan Stanley team assigned to their project and the resulting recom-mendations. The volunteers had a very strong leader who man-aged time and tasks, keeping the project on track. There was a very specific timeline and clear goals for each phase of the project. The nonprofit staff felt that the data analysis skills that members of the pro bono team brought were outstanding and contributed heavily to the success.

Additionally, the project provided a much more comprehensive analysis of the nonprofit’s business structure than was requested. In analyzing the question of whether to increase investment, the team determined that the organization needed to restructure in order to meet its goals. Hamilton Families had to streamline the appli-cation process and response strategies used to re-house families. Making these changes was essential to future growth.

Since the conclusion of the project, Hamilton Families has restruc-tured as recommended by the Morgan Stanley team, increasing productivity nearly 300% in two years. The number of families assisted grew from 80 in 2014 to 225 in 2016. Hamilton Families has continued to reference the Strategy Challenge document in addressing subsequent challenges. The experience was enormously influential on the organization. In fact, it feels that it got a better result than if it had hired a paid nonprofit consultant to work on the same issue. If there were another strategic issue to address and the staff time to address it, Hamilton Families would welcome another chance to work with a Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge team.

The Benefits of a Competition

Knowing the program would culminate in a competition, the Morgan Stanley/Hamilton Families team shared a deep motivation to excel on all fronts. In addition to the drive to solve the problem, the opportunity to compete and present their recommendation as the best solution inspired innovation and passion.

The experience of the final event at Morgan Stanley’s headquarters in New York was an education in itself, according to Hamilton Families. It included networking with other nonprofits and Morgan Stanley staff, and watching the teams present.

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Prudential

Prudential Financial, a U.S.-based insurance and financial services firm, has about 49,000 employees worldwide. The company is based in Newark, NJ, with offices around the U.S. as well as in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Its pro bono program is relatively young—just three years old. The program was designed with three goals in mind:• Create impact in the community by working with nonprofit partners on capacity-building projects• Cultivate relationships between employees and nonprofits in their communities• Develop high-potential talent by focusing on projects that build key leadership skills

Prudential’s pro bono program has utilized three different types of pro bono opportunities:

1. Half-day Scopeathons, in which employee volunteers work in teams of three to five to help nonprofits cre-ate a Statement of Work (SOW) for a project that addresses an important issue.

2. Full-day Marathons, in which the volunteer team takes a SOW that has been reviewed and discussed ahead of the event, and helps the nonprofit put steps in place to address the challenge.

3. Three- to Four-month Pro Bono Engagements. These engagements are capacity-building projects that go from SOW to implementation. These teams may be larger than for the Scopeathons and Marathons, de-pending on the needs of the project and availability of staff.

Only Prudential’s existing community partners are eligible to receive pro bono services. The process for match-ing community partners with pro bono volunteers is the same whether the project will be a half-day, a full day or longer term. Once a location and time frame is selected, the company goes to work matching potential volun-teer skill sets with the needs of its community partners in that location. Prudential has relationship managers for all of its community partners, who are deeply familiar with each nonprofit and its needs. The relationship manag-ers let their nonprofits know that they will be contacted by the Taproot Foundation, which is tasked with collect-ing information on which nonprofits are interested in pro bono and what issue or issues they need to address. Taproot reviews the challenges each nonprofit submits, and works directly with the organization to determine if it is the right fit for the pro bono opportunity they are applying for. If deemed appropriate, Taproot then works with the nonprofit to flesh out the scope of work to ensure it can be accomplished in the timeframe allotted and with the Prudential employee resources available. Taproot then recommends the projects that both suit the timeframe of the planned event (half-day, full day or longer), match the skills of the potential volunteers at that location and that it believes the nonprofit is ready to tackle successfully.

Once the projects are selected, Prudential’s talent development group takes over. A key part of the overall pro bono strategy is to identify high-potential and high-performing employees and use the engagements as a lead-ership development opportunity. With that in mind, high-potential and high performing employees are asked to serve as team leads for each project. Prudential has a program called the Enterprise Executive Development Program (EEDP), the firm’s flagship development program for senior executives, whose members are selected based on their leadership potential. The EEDP members have extremely demanding jobs, and are thus called upon to serve as team leaders or ambassadors for pro bono. They then recruit high-potential employees below them and across other businesses to serve on the team.

The relatively small pool of talent does make it hard to grow the program. In 2016, there were a total of 125 pro bono volunteers from 13 different business and corporate centers engaged in three Marathons and five long-term projects that engaged 32 nonprofits and small businesses. The company is happy with slow and steady growth, though. It is more important that the development goals for the volunteers and the impact goals for the nonprofits are being met.

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Resources are always the biggest challenge for companies running pro bono programs. For Prudential, using a third party to recruit nonprofits and recommend projects saves the company time and is the right solution for them. The problem of a small talent pool of potential volunteers was resolved by asking the EEDP members to be ambassadors and team leaders, and having them tap the talent below them for the hands-on work.

The company also had to be flexible in its choice of audience and partners for its longer-term pro bono engage-ments. At the start of their pro bono journey, Prudential was focused on helping small businesses in its head-quarters city of Newark, NJ. It engaged a partner with significant connections in the small business community to help, but realized the organization did not have the capacity or expertise to facilitate the scoping work required to facilitate pro bono activities. Due to this gap, Prudential decided to start a new relationship with a more seasoned organization in the space, Taproot. At that time, however, Taproot was not working with small business organizations, forcing Prudential to shift its pro bono work to target nonprofit partners for the 2016 year while they looked for a better-suited organization to handle the small business needs.

Evaluation

Prudential is dedicated to measuring results against its stated goals and is continually refining its evaluation practices. For employees, the company is looking for evidence of increased engagement, a better understanding of the challenges that nonprofits in their communities face and enhanced business skills and leadership compe-tencies development. Leadership competencies are a cluster of skills the company utilizes to measure employee performance, such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and the ability to transform strategy into action.

Nonprofits are surveyed immediately after the project is completed and at three and six months out. The non-profits are asked about their overall satisfaction with the engagement, the Prudential team that worked on the project, if the recommendations were implemented and, most importantly, if any of the anticipated impacts were achieved. Those impacts might include greater reach, more efficiency, increased revenues or decreased costs.

On both employee and community partner sides, the evaluation results show that the goals of the program are being achieved. For example, 90% of employees report they are able to use the pro bono experience to estab-lish a clear vision and strategy (as compared to only 27% of employees who report the same results after com-pleting a standard hands-on volunteer opportunity), and 86% feel they’re able to add value by applying critical thinking skills (as compared to only 30% of employees who report the same results after completing a standard hands-on volunteer opportunity). Similarly, the nonprofits engaged have reported the following anticipated im-pacts: 54% expect an increase in effectiveness, 33% expect increased reach, 54% expect increased revenues, and 8% expect reduced costs.

Success

Overall, Prudential’s pro bono program has been successful because there is deep commitment to talent de-velopment at the top of the company and belief in the development benefits of that pro bono volunteering. Limiting the program to community partners has also been beneficial, as the relationship managers know the partners intimately and can guide the project selection when necessary. For example, a partner might request help with a marketing plan, but the relationship manager knows that there is other work to be done before the organization is ready to create and execute a marketing plan. This information is invaluable in making sure non-profits get the right help. Taproot has also been an important partner, according to Prudential. Its expertise in assessing nonprofit needs and knowing what can be accomplished in the different project time limits has been essential to the company.

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Pro Bono in Action

Partner: KNOX Hartford, Hartford, CTMission: Using horticulture as a catalyst for community engagement, KNOX forges partnerships between residents, businesses and government, providing leadership to build stronger, greener, healthier and more beautiful neighborhoods in Hartford.

KNOX Hartford is a small nonprofit dedicated to beautifying public spaces in Hartford, CT, while building com-munity engagement. KNOX has been one of Prudential’s nonprofit partners ever since Prudential employees saw a KNOX crew working on improving a concrete park in the company’s neighborhood. The company offered to help, and its involvement catalyzed changes to that space, transforming it into a skate and public art (graffiti) park.

In the fall of 2016, KNOX was asked if it would be interested in participating in a one-day pro bono marathon. The issue at the top of the organization’s list was growing one of its sources of revenue, which had been declining.

KNOX has two sources of revenue: donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, and paid contracts for landscaping work. The City of Hartford is a large client for those services, which use unemployed, previously incarcerated Hartford residents to do the work—an added benefit to the community. The City started making waves of budget cuts, and those included landscaping contracts. The organization needed a plan to replace that work with new clients and grow the fee-for-service revenue in general.

Five Hartford-based Prudential employees, KNOX’s Executive Director and its Advancement and Marketing Director sat down for a full day to develop two deliverables. The first was a solid business development plan that would keep them focused after the pro bono project was over, and the second was clear direction on where to find new clients, specifically identifying the types of organizations that would be most beneficial and pinpointing specific organizations to target.

Prudential’s volunteers were extremely knowledgeable, according to KNOX. They took a much wider view of the problem than KNOX had, even dedicating time to discuss issues surrounding its budget and endowment. KNOX also felt that it was a bonus that the volunteers were local. They understood the Hartford area and its challenges, and could more easily build the list of potential clients than a volunteer from elsewhere.

At the end of the Marathon, KNOX was pleased with the deliverables. Since then, it has been able to generate new revenue using the recommendations in the plan. For example, one recommendation was to approach hous-ing agencies for work. That led to an $80,000 contract. A recently hired grant writer has also taken on the task of researching other housing agencies to approach for contracts. The organization did note that it was fortunate that they had already decided to add staff, as without the additional hands it would have been impossible to implement the recommendations.

• Multiple levels of pro bono service• Deep partnership with Talent Development staff• Support of most senior executives• Very specific goals for employee growth• Forward-thinking measurement statistics• Evaluation of impact on both employees and nonprofit

WHAT’SNOTABLE ABOUTPRUDENTIAL

Looking back, KNOX felt that engaging the pro bono project was not only a way to get help with a problem, but also a way to increase its engagement with Prudential overall. Pruden-tial funds five hands-on volunteer projects with KNOX a year, contributing $15,000 annually. After the pro bono project, one volunteer joined the KNOX board. This person is already familiar with both the challenges and the proposed solutions, and can continue to advise the organization going forward.

Ultimately, KNOX felt like they got better advice than if they had hired consultants to do the same work. They have hired consultants in the past, but the Prudential people produced better results. First, they really understood the financial issues the organization was facing and were already in tune with the City of Hartford and familiar with potential new clients. Also, the paid consultants, in KNOX’s experience, did not understand the region’s nonprofit landscape and KNOX’s position in Hartford. KNOX said it felt that there was a true friendship with Prudential, one that allowed everyone to be candid without worrying that anything they might say would jeopardize financial support. While a cash contribution is always welcome, KNOX felt that in this case, the time spent with the Prudential volunteers was extremely valuable in helping the nonprofit generate new sources of revenue.

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Prudential CARES— Skills-Based Volunteering For All

Pro bono service is not available to the general employee population at Prudential, but skills-based volunteering is. Through the Prudential CARES website, which runs on the third-party Benevity platform, employees can search for skills-based opportunities at company-endorsed and supported nonprofits. Volunteer-led Community Engagement Councils across the country manage volunteer opportunities that have been curated with Prudential’s partner organizations and are approved by the Office of Corporate Social Responsibility. In 2016, 11% of all volunteer hours were spent on either skills-based or pro bono projects.

Westpac Foundation

Westpac Group is a large financial institution headquartered in Australia, providing personal and commercial banking and other financial services in Australia and New Zealand. The company’s primary philanthropic arm is the Westpac Foundation. In addition to making grants, the Foundation leverages the skills, expertise and resourc-es of the Westpac Group to provide extensive pro bono volunteer and other non-financial support to its social enterprise and community partners.

By tapping into the 40,000 employees at the Westpac Group as mentors and skilled volunteers, the Foundation can take a hands-on approach to working with each grantee to identify its unique needs and can provide capac-ity-building support in a wide range of areas, such as financial and risk management, leadership, business devel-opment, marketing, technology and innovation. The goal is to foster deep, long-term partnerships with all of the organizations it supports to increase their financial sustainability, organizational effectiveness and social impact.

There are two major components to the program:• Community Grants, in which 200 local grassroots nonprofits are awarded grants of $10,000 and are con-

nected with local employees who serve as community ambassadors. These ambassadors are able to offer a range of non-financial resources to the grantees.

• Social Scale-up grants, in which employment-generating social enterprises are awarded grants of $300,000 over three years. Five of these grants are made each year. The Foundation connects each of these major grantees with business mentors from the Westpac staff. The mentor meets with the organization quarter-ly to track progress on key financial and social impact metrics, as well as to proactively identify any specific capacity-building needs, such as legal support, HR advice or marketing help. This fosters a very transparent relationship in which pain points are openly discussed and managed.

Scaling the Model

To scale skilled volunteering across the Westpac Group, the Westpac Foundation created a number of Probono Skills Panels that meet every six weeks to review skilled volunteering requests, report back on existing projects, and use their networks to recruit new volunteers. Each panel focuses on a particular area, such as Finance & Risk, HR, marketing/communications and IT/digital, and has between 10 and 30 members. A senior professional with strong internal networks in his or her area chairs each panel, and members must commit to serving for at least 12 months. The benefits of the panels are:• They provide an efficient and coordinated approach to skilled volunteering opportunities and can quickly

recruit highly engaged and skilled volunteers • They support meaningful skilled volunteering opportunities that enhance the personal and professional de-

velopment of employees • They provide an increased ability to measure and track the value of pro bono work by skill area/job• They foster collaboration and networking across the various business units

Employee volunteers are recruited through an internal website that advertises volunteering projects, an internal Yammer page (similar to Facebook), or through direct solicitation by the Foundation staff. Approximately 1,000 employees subscribe to the platform and get regular updates on volunteer opportunities. With so many em-ployees interested in skilled volunteering, it is never a problem to recruit talent for the pro bono projects.

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The Foundation also taps into the Probono Skills Panels to help with grantmaking. For example, the Finance & Risk Probono Skills Panel performs all of the due diligence for the Social Scale-up Grants. It reviews shortlisted applications and provides the Foundation with a detailed SWOT analysis and rating. The panel also has the op-portunity to meet with applicants to ask clarifying questions, which provides greater context to their reviews. The process helps the Foundation: • Develop a strong awareness of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats inherent in each of the

applicant’s respective business model• Provide specific feedback to applicants, enabling them to get a better understanding of how a financial

institution like Westpac reviews their business plan and financials• Highlight areas in which Westpac can help improve the social enterprise’s financial and risk management via

skilled volunteering

Applicants agree the panel review is rigorous but it also builds capacity, with 90% of organizations agreeing that it helped them prepare for other investment/grant opportunities and strengthened the financial and risk elements of their enterprise.

Benefits of the Model

The company has employees with broad skills sets across the country so there is a wealth of employees to tap. The Foundation staff also spend time networking internally so they can find the right resources (financial and people) to meet each nonprofit partner’s requests. Some of the diverse volunteering needs have included a Farsi-speaking banker to provide financial literacy training to refugees and an expert in location planning to assist with a feasibility study into the ideal site for a social enterprise to expand its hospitality operations.

The Foundation also leverages Westpac Group’s relationships with professional services organizations that see the benefit in supporting community organizations that the bank backs. For example, a legal firm provided more than $100,000 in pro bono legal help in 2017.

Evaluation

Nonprofit partners are surveyed about their experience, just as employees are. Westpac collects key financial and organizational capacity metrics as well as impact metrics from the nonprofits. It also tracks the number of jobs created by the social enterprises it supports.

Challenges

One challenge is the intermediary role that the Foundation plays, with just one staff member acting as a central contact point for hundreds of volunteering opportunities. Currently there is no opportunity for the nonprofits to post their own volunteer openings, but that will change in the near future as the Foundation adopts a differ-ent operating platform.

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• Helping nonprofits where and when they most need it• Developing deep and ongoing relationships with the nonprofit partner• Its flexibility—having regular calls with the nonprofit and being able to change the type and level of support depending on the outcome of the discussions• Helping nonprofits secure new business across Westpac and other companies• Access to different parts of the bank— The Foundation helped facilitate a $1.5 million equipment finance loan from Westpac for its nonprofit partner Vanguard Laundry Services

WHAT’SNOTABLE ABOUTWESTPACFOUNDATION

Two other challenges are managing the increasing demand for skilled volunteering from Westpac employees and teams, and creating a range of programs that have the capacity to offer a wide range of structured and flexible volunteering opportunities. The Foundation strives to make sure that there are different offerings for different stages of an individual’s volunteer journey—from novice to experienced volunteer. A novice can be paired with a more experienced volunteer to build their understanding of effective mentoring and the nonprofit sector. And a more experienced volunteer can move into more strategic volunteering roles with the proper support and training in nonprofit management and governance.

Success

The keys to the success of Westpac Foundation’s pro bono program are:• Having a large base of community organizations/grantees that can benefit from the growing numbers of

employees interested in volunteering• Providing a variety of structured volunteering programs that people can contribute to that link directly with

their skill sets, e.g., Skills Panels• Recruiting for projects is easy because of the size of the company and because many projects can be per-

formed remotely• Having a staff person at the Foundation whose sole responsibility is managing the program

Pro Bono in Action

Partner: Vanguard Laundry ServicesMission: Vanguard Laundry Services is a commercial laundry social enterprise that offers employment op-portunities and career advice for people who have experienced mental illness. Along with its primary mission to provide paid employment, it is also trying to create a positive attitude in the broader community toward people with mental health issues.

The social enterprise is based in Toowoomba in regional Queensland, Australia. The relationship began when Vanguard CEO Luke Terry met a local Westpac branch manager at a community fun run. The manager suggested Terry apply for a $10,000 Westpac Foundation Community Grant, and he was awarded a grant in 2013 to devel-op the business model for the laundry. This proved to be the beginning of a deep relationship between Vanguard and the Foundation. In 2015, as the laundry was raising funds for its establishment costs, Westpac Foundation provided another grant of $100,000 to fund a project manager.

Over the years, Terry has been very active in sourcing a range of non-financial support via the Foundation, in-cluding HR advice to draft an employment contract, marketing support for launch events, and business networks to grow sales opportunities. The process of getting this support has been quite informal. The CEO meets with the Foundation on a regular basis to provide updates on the progress of the laundry enterprise and to discuss his most immediate needs. The Foundation then identifies the internal resources to meet those needs. For example, the CEO wanted to invite the Prime Minister of Australia to attend the opening of the laundry. When the PM agreed, Terry reached out to Westpac for PR and logistical help. The PR team put together the press conference, organized the photo shoot and a marketing manager traveled to the site to oversee the day’s events. Another time, when Vanguard felt its electricity and gas bills were too high, Terry was put in touch with senior energy procurement experts who assisted in renegotiating the rates on Vanguard’s behalf.

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Success of Relationship

The deep relationship and ability to conduct multiple projects at the same time are keys to the success of this relationship. The Foundation is very flexible and has made the CEO feel part of its team. He doesn’t have the time to write proposals, so he sends the Foundation a wish list each month and then the Foundation recruits employees to work on these imme-diate needs. Once he is introduced to the project head, he tries to meet with him/her within two weeks of the introduc-tion to discuss the scope of the project and timeline. Also, because the person who is responsible for the pro bono pro-gram at the Foundation has this as her sole responsibility, she is able to dedicate her time to making the projects successful and cultivating deep and long-lasting relationships.

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“Imagine you have a corporation of 40,000 people behind you – that is what it’s like working with Westpac. Not only was the Foundation’s early support of the Vanguard Laundry vital in attracting other supporters to the project; but its pro bono program has helped us devel-op a new website, write employment contracts and do graphic design – things we would never have been able to do on our own.” —Luke Terry, CEO of Vanguard Laundry Services

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LBG Associates is a woman-owned consulting firm focused on designing, implementing, and managing social responsibility and employee engagement programs and initiatives. Founded in 1993 by Dr. Linda Gornitsky, LBG Associates is committed to providing clients with creative and innovative solutions in a personal, professional, cost-effective, and timely manner. LBG Associates drives social change through: • Advice to help companies develop strategic, innovative programs that help communities become better places to live and work • Implementation of strategies, programs, policies, and procedures, especially for companies with limited time and/or expertise • Research on cutting-edge issues, groundbreaking trends, “best practices,” and pressing social needs and concerns • Training that equips practitioners with the knowledge and skills to become “strategic thinkers” and to grow and advance in the field of corporate community involvement Advice, implementation, research, and training represent LBG Associates’ philosophy about advancing socially responsible business practices. Although steeped in research and scientific methodologies, the firm’s approach to corporate community involvement is more of an art than science, more creative than formulaic.

Specific Services Provided In response to clients’ needs, LBG Associates’ services include the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of entire community outreach/citizenship programs. The firm helps clients establish and maintain images as good corporate citizens and socially responsible companies by offering custom-tailored services in the following areas: • Foundation and corporate giving • Employee engagement (giving and volunteerism) • Strategic relationship development • Strategic communications development • Special events planning and sponsorships • Research and benchmarking capabilities • Program evaluation • Training and staff development

Contact us at:LBG Associates245 Long Close RoadStamford, CT [email protected]

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LBG Research Institute was founded in 2006 by Dr. Linda B. Gornitsky, a leading consultant in corporate philanthropy and community involvement. The Institute has been serving the profession as a source of public and client-driven research, most notably in the areas of workplace giving, employee engagement and corporate philanthropy in today’s challenging economy.

Among the Institute’s programs is the Thought Leader Forum, an invitation-only gathering of corporate citizenship leaders who meet to discuss the “big ideas” in citizenship today.

Research reports published by the Institute include: • Workplace Giving Works: Make It Work for You • Motivating Volunteering in Tough Times (with LBG Associates) • Corporate Giving in the New Economy

Contact us at:LBG Research Institute245 Long Close RoadStamford, CT [email protected]

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About the Authors

Linda B. Gornitsky, Ph.D., President, LBG Associates and Founder, LBG Research InstituteDr. Gornitsky is president and founder of LBG Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in the development of strategic corporate citizenship and employee engagement programs, benchmarking, community attitude and evaluation studies, image-building/communications campaigns and efficient management practices.

Prior to establishing LBG Associates in 1993, Dr. Gornitsky developed and managed strategic contributions programs for Citibank and Pfizer.

Dr. Gornitsky publishes on various aspects of corporate citizenship and has completed over 12 groundbreaking studies on subjects such as volunteerism, the environment, disaster relief and diversity. The most recent ones are on pro bono from the nonprofit point of view (2015), global employee engagement (2014) and the building blocks of a successful volunteer program (2012).

She is an adjunct professor at NYU and was a faculty member at the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. She was a member of the faculty of the Points of Light Corporate Institute and an evaluator for the Civic 50. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and organized a conference on global corporate citizenship.

Dr. Gornitsky is the president and founder of LBG Research Institute, a corporate citizenship think tank and serves on the boards of Jewish Family Service and UJF in Stamford, CT. She was honored for her commitment to her local community in 2007 and 2016.

She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology at City University of New York and holds a Master of Philosophy, Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, all in psychology.

Donna Devaul, MPPM, Vice President of Research, LBG Associates and Executive Director, LBG Research InstituteDonna Devaul is vice president of research for LBG Associates. In this role, Ms. Devaul has conducted research for clients on all aspects of corporate community involvement, including workplace giving, employee volunteerism, corporate giving and more. She is the author of numerous research studies, including “Global Employee Engagement: Challenges and Solutions,” “Secrets to Creating High-Impact Strategic Partnerships,” ”Corporate Giving in the New Economy” and “Workplace Giving Works! Make It Work for You.” In addition to her position at LBG Associates, Ms. Devaul is Executive Director of LBG Research Institute, where she is responsible for membership, marketing, research and administration.

Previously, Ms. Devaul was director of marketing for Irving Levin Associates, Inc., a privately held newsletter publisher in Norwalk, CT. There she was responsible for the marketing strategy and execution of all marketing programs, and the daily operations of the firm. Prior to joining Levin in 2001, she held marketing positions at Simba Information, a Primedia company, and Money magazine, a Time Inc. publication. Her editorial credits include managing editor of Catalog Age magazine, where she won regional and national editing awards. While at Levin, she won marketing awards from both The Newsletter on Newsletters and the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation.

Ms. Devaul is a magna cum laude graduate of Hamilton College and holds a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale University.

Contact Us

Linda B. Gornitsky Ph.D.PresidentLBG Associates245 Long Close RoadStamford, CT [email protected]

Donna DevaulExecutive DirectorLBG Research Institute245 Long Close RoadStamford, CT [email protected]

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LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute Publications

To request a publication, visit our website at www.lbg-associates.com, email us at [email protected] or call 203-325-3154.

Balancing Pro Bono Supply and Demand: Challenges and Solutions From the Nonprofit Point of ViewWhile pro bono is the fastest growing employee engagement program, according to CECP’s 2015 Giving in Numbers report, anecdotally it appears that the supply of volunteers is outpacing the demand for their services. If corporations want the promise of pro bono to be fulfilled, it is critical that the companies that supply these volunteers understand why nonprofits don’t take advantage of corporate talent.

LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute went directly to nonprofits to ask them why. With the support of corporate sponsors, including Platinum Lead Sponsor JPMorgan Chase, LBG surveyed nonprofits about their experiences with pro bono volunteers, what the challenges were and the solutions they had found for these challenges.

The study identified five top challenges nonprofits face when taking on a pro bono volunteer and suggests solutions that corporations can employ to help the nonprofit use their volunteers more effectively and guarantee the creation of a successful pro bono program for itself. For a free copy of the report, visit http://www.bit.ly/lbgprobono.

Global Employee Engagement: Challenges and SolutionsLBG Associates has completed an important research study that does what no previous study on Global Employee Engagement has done - tell you how real companies solved real problems they encountered taking their employee giving and volunteer programs overseas. This 57-page report reveals the three biggest challenges of global engagement and the solutions multinational companies employ to minimize them.The report is FREE thanks to the generosity of Microsoft Corp. Download it at www.lbg-associates.com/publications/

Building Blocks of an Inspired Employee Volunteer ProgramIn this series of three white papers, LBG Associates explores three crucial building blocks—the three “R”s—of an employee volunteer program: • Recruiting • Recognition • Reporting

We surveyed 47 major U.S. companies to find out what is working in each of these areas today These white papers will show you how to build (or renovate) your EVP for maximum success. Together they will answer these crucial questions: • What is the most effective way to get employees to volunteer for the FIRST TIME? • What makes them want to volunteer again? • What recognition tactics really get employees excited about volunteering? • What incentives increase reporting volunteer hours the most? • How should I structure my Dollars for Doers program for maximum success?

Secrets to Creating High-Impact Strategic PartnershipsLBG Associates defines a strategic partnership as a mutually beneficial relationship and investment of resources between a nonprofit and a company that results in a community involvement program that aligned with the company’s corporate citizenship strategy, brand and business goals.

Is having a strategic partnership for you? The answer is most likely YES. Even with limited resources, CI professionals can produce programs that make positive changes in the community and build business value.

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This report lays out LBG Associates’ recommendations for building strategic partnerships, outlines the key steps to follow, and and provides best practices to enhance success. The report includes 24 case studies of successful partnerships with insight from both the corporations and their nonprofit partners. Learn from IBM, Moody’’s, American Express, AMD, Seventh Generation, Verizon, Western Union, Merck and 16 others about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

These is no other report that can guide you through the process. The report includes the 13 Steps to Success and a checklist to guide you on the journey and help avoid missteps and mistakes.

Motivating Volunteering in Tough TimesIn these tighter times, many companies are viewing employee volunteerism as a cost-effective way to continue to make an impact in their communities. But what is motivating employees to volunteer right now? If you don’t know, or haven’t checked in with your employees to find out, you may have some surprises in store.

We understand that there’s an urgent need to help companies make crucial decisions about ways to bring their volunteer programs more in line with today’s economic realities—and employees’ needs and desires. This research study from LBG Associates and LBG Research Institute is designed to provide you with that help, by answering the following questions:

• Are employees more driven to volunteer during this recession, or are they so depressed that they are in a state of inertia? • Are employees afraid to use workday-based programs, such as skills-based, pro bono, or paid time off, for fear of losing/jeopardizing their jobs?

Just what is inspiring employees to volunteer during these challenging economic times? LBG’s new research report is unique in that it includes both the voice of the employee volunteer manager AND the employee. By comparing research from both groups, this study provides a much-needed and robust view of today’s volunteering landscape.

The Green Effect: How Community Involvement Is Embracing EnvironmentalismThe Green Effect: How Community Involvement Is Embracing Environmentalism, reveals the top environmental trends and practices among 51 of today’s leading corporations—and includes a unique self-diagnostic tool that helps determine if a company is a Peridot (becoming green); a Jade (green in many business and community involvement practices); or an Emerald (extremely green). It also includes eye-opening findings on perceptions of for-profit/nonprofit partnerships, based on in-depth discussions with nine green NGOs.

This report shows a wide range of research findings from the participating companies, addressing topics such as: • Whether respondents believe being green is part of their corporate culture • What metrics are being used to measure companies’ environmental footprints • How product design and manufacture have been greened • How environmental practices vary among the Peridot, Jade and Emerald companies • How charitable giving is affected by the green movement • Median green giving levels • The critical role employees play in promoting environmentalism • How companies are communicating their environmental activities

The Green Effect also includes more than 25 case studies showing how research participants are “walking the talk” and executing their environmental commitments—in both operations and community involvement activities. With its landmark research findings, case studies, and proprietary self-diagnostic tool, The Green Effect: How Community Involvement Is Embracing Environmentalism is a much needed, one-of-a-kind resource guide for the next step in community involvement: going green.

Trends & Best Practices in Corporate Community InvolvementTrends & Best Practices in Corporate Community Involvement presents the extensive findings of a comprehensive survey of the community involvement programs of 35 major U.S. corporations. Originally designed to update LBG Associates’ 1998 Best Practices in Corporate Community Relations report, this landmark community involvement study goes well beyond the 1998 report, and is unprecedented in its scope, detail and analysis.

The report examines the following topics in detail: • The business case for corporate citizenship • Structure and governance of the CI department and the foundation • Charitable giving program types and budgets • Employee-directed giving • Employee volunteerism • Sponsorships, memberships and signature programs • Disaster relief • Measurement and evaluation • Communication

Each section of this report comprises three sections: • Overview: Provides a broad look at the topic and information about the section’s contents. • Survey Results: Details the statistical findings derived from the responses to the survey questions for each topic area, including numerous charts and tables that can be easily used for benchmarking a company in very specific community involvement areas. • Trends & Best Practices: Highlights the significant trends revealed by the survey participants’ responses, plus provides recommended best practices.

With its 130-plus pages of benchmarking data, trend analysis and best practice guidelines, this report is more than a reflection of the state of community relations: It is a tool for companies looking to gauge their CI performance, and a reference that can help elevate community involvement/community relations activities to an even higher level.

Global Community InvolvementAs Corporate America becomes more international in scope and the focus on philanthropy and corporate citizenship grows, many companies are seeking assistance in developing a global community involvement program or enhancing/modifying their U.S. program for expansion overseas. This research report is designed to provide that assistance.

Global Community Involvement examines the global CI practices of more than 20 U.S. multinationals (MNCs), 40 of their overseas locations in 15 countries, and the practices of foreign companies. The study covers a number of community involvement areas and includes details on: • The business case for community involvement • CI department structure • Charitable giving • Employee volunteerism • Sponsorships and signature programs • Disaster relief • Measurement and evaluation • Communication

In addition, more than 20 pages are devoted to detailing the current tax legislation and the philanthropic and volunteer activities in a number of countries--including Australia, China, India, Poland and many others.

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Global Community Involvement is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in building or sustaining a global CI program. The findings of this study have resulted in the development of a best-in-class paradigm for global giving that will help companies deal with the complex challenges involved in developing a global CI program.

The Standards of Excellence for Corporate Volunteer ProgramsThe Standards are the result of over four years of intense research and have been compiled with input from hundreds of community relations professionals, corporate senior executives and non-profit leaders. Comprehensive, yet flexible, The Standards serve as a framework that enable companies to build highly successful volunteer programs; programs that achieve a high level of employee participation and generate specific benefits for companies, their employees and the communities in which they live and work.

The Self-Diagnostic Tool (“The Tool”) allows community relations managers to evaluate their programs against The Standards.

White Papers

To request a free publication, visit our website at www.lbg-associates.com, email us at [email protected] or call 203-325-3154.

Corporate Pro Bono ReadinessWondering if your company is ready to start a pro bono program? The Nonprofit Collaborative, composed of Taproot Foundation, Common Impact, and Points of Light, asked LBG Associates to conduct a survey to assess corporate readiness for pro bono services with the intent to increase the effectiveness of these initiatives. This free report will help you evaluate whether it is time to begin a formal pro bono program and what you need to be successful in that endeavor.

Pro Bono Service: The Business CaseResearch commissioned by Capital One in partnership with the Taproot Foundation and conducted by LBG Associates reveals a solid business case for pro bono service, presenting evidence of the benefits that pro bono service programs bring to companies, their employees, and nonprofits. The highlights of the findings among employees, their managers, and senior executives are presented in this free document.

Employee Engagement: VolunteerismHow are companies using volunteerism to engage employees? LBG Associates conducted a focus group on this topic at the Charities@Work conference in April 2012. This free white paper summarizes the findings and gives insight into the tactics that are getting employees out and volunteering.

Employee Engagement: Workplace & Corporate GivingHow do companies use workplace and corporate giving to engage their employees? LBG Associates conducted a focus group on this topic at the Charities@Work conference in April 2012. This free white paper summarizes the findings and gives insight into what is popular and successful right now.

Issue Briefing Disaster ReliefTo help prepare your company for the full scope of disaster relief, LBG Associates has prepared this free issue briefing that provides an overview of disaster management and relief; discusses trends that we’ve found from our research during the past 15 years; and outlines our guidelines for disaster relief best practices.

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