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Contributors
Leela StakeLeela is a director who helps businesses innovate, collaborate and communicate to be more successful. She’s based in San Francisco, has worked in six Asian countries and is interested in the relationship between long-term business success and community prosperity.
Laura PalantoneLaura is a member of our corporate communications team and is based in New York.
James RobinsonJames is a director who brings ten years of experience working on CR strategy and communications in New York, Beijing, and Jakarta. He looks at how CR is employed as part of broader business strategy and has a particular interest in the evolving role of technology and innovation in managing social and environmental issues.
Julie JackA director in APCO's New York office, Julie works on corporate responsibility with a focus on business strategy and emerging issues and trends. Her currents interests and work focus on sustainable agriculture and supply chain management, the integration of CR and financial communications, and CR in the consumer goods space.
Ellen MignoniEllen is a senior director and helped build APCO’s global corporate responsibility practice. She works primarily with APCO’s corporate clients on business alignment and corporate responsibility, stakeholder engagement and partnership development, and communication and outreach.
Billion + Change Goes to the White House
As I mentioned in this post, APCO Worldwide is a proud member of Billion + Change, a movement that is seeking pledges to establish the largest commitment of pro bono service in history. Spearheaded by Jean Case, B+C had a rocky start, but with more than 200 organizations currently on board and more than $1.8 billion of pro bono service already committed, I think it’s safe to say that B+C has hit its stride.
Earlier this week, I attended a B+C forum at the White House, where recognition was paid to current members of the movement, best practices were shared, and the tremendous impact associated with skills based volunteering was celebrated.
According to Jonathan Greenblatt, special assistant to the president and director, Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, skills based volunteering is approximately four times more valuable to an NGO than hands on volunteering. Now, that’s not to say that there isn’t great value associated with skills based volunteering – there absolutely is. But the value between the two is different.
Skills based volunteering enables employees to take on new management or leadership roles and develop useful business skills that they may not have exposure to otherwise. Getting these types of opportunities, along with the satisfaction of giving back, not only keep employees motivated, it keeps them happy – thereby helping with retention.
It’s clear that companies like IBM, Deloitte and Capital One* understand this concept. They each have best-in-class pro bono service programs that bring a great deal of value to surrounding communities and to bottom lines. So it makes sense that they are some of the largest supporters of B+C.
But they’re not the only ones getting involved. There are a number of small businesses that are signing on to B+C, recognizing that skills based volunteering programs and their benefits are not exclusive to large companies with a global employee base. One small business owner said that new business she acquired as a result of pro bono projects (thanks to an increase in profile and referrals) enabled her to grow her business by 42 percent. With returns like that, it’s no wonder the movement continues to grow.
*APCO client
Catogories Nonprofit Operations and Communications and tagged Billion+ Change, pro bono, service, skills-based volunteering, volunteering, White House
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