Pro Bono Volunteers from Small Business: A Growing Opportunity for Your Organization

You have heard it (we’re sure of that) and we ourselves have said it (many times) over the past few months: The numbers of skilled individuals seeking meaningful volunteer work has increased dramatically as millions deal with lay-offs or cut-backs and seek new skills to remain competitive in a challenging job market. But, what about those small business owners whose work has slowed down, but not closed down?  They, too, are seeking ways to meaningfully engage with the community, keep their employees busy, and cultivate marketable relationships for the future. 

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that many small business owners are turning to pro bono work to fight the economic slump and to foster new customer relationships.  “For a small business that has lost clients or seen revenue-generating projects dry up,” writes Raymund Flandez, “performing free work is a way to keep employees engaged while cultivating new relationships.” Whether it’s an architecture firm preparing preliminary designs for projects it hopes will be funded in the future or a catering company hosting a barbecue to showcase its cooking a few months before holiday party season, small businesses are increasingly turning to pro bono work as a means to engage in charitable giving, keep their employees active and motivated, and develop relationships that may blossom into future business contracts.

So, what does this new spin on volunteering mean for your organization? It means that there are others out there seeking to develop relationships and you can take advantage. 

Here are some tips to be ready and proactively cultivate these opportunities:

Identify opportunities for skilled pro bono professionals.

Have you looked comprehensively throughout your whole organization for opportunities for professional contributions from local small businesses?  In what ways could a local architect, graphic designer, writer, editor, carpenter, event planner, or business consultant, for example, engage with you for a discrete period and measurably help you achieve your mission while also gaining exposure for his/her business? Everyone in the organization should be involved in this conversation. If employees and volunteers are having difficulty brainstorming this issue, then simply ask, “Imagine that you had received a small grant to hire a skilled professional to help in some small way over the next 3 months and you found the perfect person to hire, who would that be and what would you want the outcome to be?” That should get the conversation rolling! For additional ideas, check out the Taproot Foundation, whose mission is to “strengthen nonprofits by engaging business professionals in service,” and peruse the case studies and types of pro bono work it provides.  And, if your organization fits the Taproot criteria, consider applying for a grant of pro bono service from Taproot!

Lead by example and inspire your whole organization position volunteer engagement as a priority.

As an executive, volunteer director, or program coordinator, you should inspire others and lead by example. Have you personally identified ways that you can use skilled volunteers to build your capacity? If volunteer engagement is to be a strategy for survival through these economic times (as it has become for some small businesses!) then you need to be the leader and share this information with others in your organization. Email this information, talk about it in meetings, set up incentives and acknowledge successes when other staff or volunteers cultivate new, skilled volunteers or pro bono workers with your nonprofit.

Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate.

So, once everyone is on board with the idea and you have a lengthy list of opportunities for pro bono services, how do you find someone? As always, we recommend starting with your existing circles of influence. Whom do you know in the small business world with these skills? Whom does your board know? Your staff? Your volunteers? Develop a short list of pro bono professional projects with brief descriptions of the scope of work, desired outcomes, anticipated outcomes, and benefits to the small business. (Will existing employees gain new skills by doing this work? How will the business be acknowledged? To what audiences will their business and the products of their work be exposed? In other words, what’s in it for them?) Be certain to share your pro bono opportunities with your constituents and with your local small business bureau, chamber of commerce, and volunteer centers. Networking groups (sometimes called “leads groups” or “tip group”) are a great place to share these opportunities. Send an ambassador to these groups and have them announce the projects as a marketing opportunity for local small businesses.  In addition to these methods of broadcasting your needs widely, it’s important to strategically cultivate relationships with specific businesses. Take the time to research and identify which individuals in specific businesses and larger companies serve as the link to pro bono workers and assign a nonprofit leader (staff, board member, or other high-impact volunteer) to be the liaison and negotiator with those “gatekeepers.” Check out additional tips to connecting nonprofits to available pro bono volunteers from the business world in the 2009 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT study.  

Follow our blogs to continue this conversation about the growing opportunities in corporate volunteerism and the exciting culture shift needed when volunteers from the nonprofit and the business worlds intersect. We look forward to sharing more – and learning more – with you. Have you engaged pro bono workers from local businesses or the corporate world? How did you find those individuals and how did both you and the business benefit? Post a comment and share your stories of success.