Skills-Based Volunteering

One of the most effective ways to inspire girls to pursue a STEM education and careers is to introduce them to professionals in the field. A partnership between North American automaker FCA US and the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation (MCWT) is making sure that young women ‘GET-IT’, which stands for Girls Exploring Together Information Technology.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced the launch of the 10th annual U.S. Strategy Challenge, the Firm’s signature skills-based pro bono volunteer program. The Strategy Challenge is in its fifth year in London. Over the next 10 weeks, teams of Morgan Stanley employees in New York and London will work with leadership teams at 14 nonprofit organizations to provide strategic recommendations to address their mission-critical challenges.

Rachel Hutchisson, vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy at Blackbaud, speaks with Jenny Lawson, president of Networks at Points of Light, about key trends affecting corporate engagement today.

To celebrate the first day of spring and the start of the community gardening season, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation today announced it final list of GRO1000 Grassroots Grant recipients, including thirty-four nonprofit organizations nationwide. The organizations awarded will use the funding to improve their neighborhoods through the development or enhancement of community gardens and greenspaces.

Junior Achievement USA® (JA) announced that it will honor Deloitte with a gold level 2016-2017 U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award for providing at least 15,000 volunteer hours to local Junior Achievement offices during the 2016-2017 school year.

Anyone who works in the nonprofit sector knows that women make up a significant part of its workforce and leadership – until you get to the top. Women currently account for 43 percent of the board seats among all nonprofits but only 33% of those seats at large nonprofits, defined as $25 million or greater in annual income.[1] At the staff level, this gap increases further -- women make up 45% of nonprofit CEOs but only 21% at large nonprofits, and they are compensated at 66% of their male CEO counterparts.

With tremendous global activism for women's equality, there is now, more than ever, a strong momentum to close the gender gap. At Common Impact, we recognize the need for gender parity across all sectors and are consistently working to hone our unique model of social impact to design programs that both engage and develop female leaders at all levels of their careers.

Common Impact, a nonprofit that pioneered corporate skills-based volunteering is collaborating with Fidelity Investments® to launch Tech Impact Week, its 3rd annual wide-scale flash consulting event where Fidelity Investments technologists utilize their expertise to support local nonprofit organizations in building their internal capacity and acumen. This year, the initiative is one of the largest to-date, spanning across 6 regions and pairing nearly 450 Fidelity Investments volunteers and 67 nonprofits, resulting in an anticipated investment of $550,000.

The Taproot Foundation's Advisory Services team works closely with companies to help them develop strategies to engage their talent in pro bono service. Our advisory practice was founded 10 years ago by Lindsay Firestone Gruber, Taproot’s Chief Program Officer, who saw the potential for companies to be more strategic about how they engage their people to help nonprofits succeed. Back in 2008, corporate pro bono was largely nascent outside of law firms and professional services companies. A decade later, the landscape of corporate pro bono is thriving. Kim Gillman, National Director of Advisory Services, sat down with Lindsay to reflect on the decade and to explore what’s next for the field.

Ten years ago, when Lindsay Firestone Gruber started Taproot's Advisory Services practice, the purpose was simple: to help nonprofits tackle their toughest challenges by connecting them to hard-to-reach corporate talent. A decade later, the landscape of corporate pro bono is thriving. Kim Gillman, National Director of Advisory Services, sat down with Lindsay Firestone Gruber, founder of Advisory Services and the current Chief Programs Officer, to reflect on the past decade and to explore what’s next for the field.