Bronx Beat
March 8, 2004
March 8, 2004
By Julie Kay
For the past nine years, Per Scholas, a Hunts Point nonprofit has been bridging the technology divide for residents of the Bronx, providing fully refurbished low-cost computers to more than 20,000 low-income families, while simultaneously training people to become well-paid computer technicians.
But when it comes to working with the companies that donate the computers in the first place, it has increasingly faced a divide of its own.
Enter the Taproot Foundation, an agency that bridges a different gap, dispatching volunteer teams of top-notch marketing professionals to nonprofits that can’t afford the high-tech advertising that has become increasingly critical to attract donors and participants. This January, after a rigorous application process, Taproot chose Per Scholas as one of 10 New York City nonprofits to receive a high-tech team. It is he first Bronx organization to receive a Taproot team.
Starting this month six marketing professionals will begin work with Per Scholas to create the organization’s dream brochure, one of four products that Taproot teams provide. Other products include Web sites, donor databases and branding.
“The expectation is that if you want to play like a corporation, you have to dress and look and act like a corporation,” says Plinio Ayala, president of Per Scholas. While computer companies often are attracted to his organization’s mission, he says, “the glossy brochure with six colors and all of the good stuff would help us get in faster.”
Taproot already has provided an estimated $4 million of volunteer technology services to nonprofits. Launched three years ago in San Francisco, it expanded to New York this January, partnering with the United Way of New York City. Over the next two years, the foundation plans to award services to a total of 60 New York City organizations with a total estimated value of $3.6 million.
The volunteers, who also go through a rigorous screening process, are just as eager to apply as the nonprofits that receive them, says Fred Fields, Taproot’s New York director. “There’s a common recognition that there are values beyond money,” says Fields. “There’s a feeling among people who are undeniably busy but may feel unconnected to the people where they live.”
Anne Olderog is one such volunteer. A 32-year-old strategy consultant with a degree from the Wharton School of Business, she gives her time as a mentor to high school students, but became increasingly interested in the idea of applying her skills to a whole organization. She now leads the team serving Per Scholas.
“The Taproot Foundation is an excellent vehicle,” says Olderog, who has already recruited a handful of intrigued professionals to volunteer.
Olderog is not the only one who is excited about the new partnership. Ayala can’t wait to have the finished brochure in his hands.
“It’s our ability on paper to play with the big boys and the big girls,” he says. “It will look so nice that people will want to open it and read our story.”
For the past nine years, Per Scholas, a Hunts Point nonprofit has been bridging the technology divide for residents of the Bronx, providing fully refurbished low-cost computers to more than 20,000 low-income families, while simultaneously training people to become well-paid computer technicians.
But when it comes to working with the companies that donate the computers in the first place, it has increasingly faced a divide of its own.
Enter the Taproot Foundation, an agency that bridges a different gap, dispatching volunteer teams of top-notch marketing professionals to nonprofits that can’t afford the high-tech advertising that has become increasingly critical to attract donors and participants. This January, after a rigorous application process, Taproot chose Per Scholas as one of 10 New York City nonprofits to receive a high-tech team. It is he first Bronx organization to receive a Taproot team.
Starting this month six marketing professionals will begin work with Per Scholas to create the organization’s dream brochure, one of four products that Taproot teams provide. Other products include Web sites, donor databases and branding.
“The expectation is that if you want to play like a corporation, you have to dress and look and act like a corporation,” says Plinio Ayala, president of Per Scholas. While computer companies often are attracted to his organization’s mission, he says, “the glossy brochure with six colors and all of the good stuff would help us get in faster.”
Taproot already has provided an estimated $4 million of volunteer technology services to nonprofits. Launched three years ago in San Francisco, it expanded to New York this January, partnering with the United Way of New York City. Over the next two years, the foundation plans to award services to a total of 60 New York City organizations with a total estimated value of $3.6 million.
The volunteers, who also go through a rigorous screening process, are just as eager to apply as the nonprofits that receive them, says Fred Fields, Taproot’s New York director. “There’s a common recognition that there are values beyond money,” says Fields. “There’s a feeling among people who are undeniably busy but may feel unconnected to the people where they live.”
Anne Olderog is one such volunteer. A 32-year-old strategy consultant with a degree from the Wharton School of Business, she gives her time as a mentor to high school students, but became increasingly interested in the idea of applying her skills to a whole organization. She now leads the team serving Per Scholas.
“The Taproot Foundation is an excellent vehicle,” says Olderog, who has already recruited a handful of intrigued professionals to volunteer.
Olderog is not the only one who is excited about the new partnership. Ayala can’t wait to have the finished brochure in his hands.
“It’s our ability on paper to play with the big boys and the big girls,” he says. “It will look so nice that people will want to open it and read our story.”
