Last night we launched our third taprootfoundation.org along with a refreshed visual identity. The new site and strategy integrate our Service Grant and Pro Bono Action Tank programs into a single site and under the single Taproot brand.
This site is the first Taproot site that truly expresses our mission and values, and I am thrilled to share it with you and get your feedback. This is also the first in a series of initiatives you'll see from us as we gear up for our ten year anniversary and launch into our second act.
A special thank you to all the amazing pro bono work done to make this new brand strategy and site a reality.
Here are some quick links to highlights on the new site:
A new section for pro bono leaders that shows the current state of pro bono service, highlights interviews with leaders in the pro bono service movement and provides the latest resources for making pro bono service reliable, effective, and accessible
In my second post, I'll suggest some ways to engage in hybrid law and business pro bono consulting that can be more effective than either on on its own.
The main deliverable of my Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at the University of Washington in Seattle is a "legal and business audit." This mimics the kind of "due diligence" investigation and analysis that a prospective investor, lender, or acquirer would undertake before deciding whether to invest in, lend to, or acquire the company. But in ELC's case, it is done for the entrepreneur's eyes only.
The value is that we work across the entrepreneur's total business vision and value proposition. With the experience of our pro bono supervising attorneys and business consultants, we can help the entrepreneur think about issues that may not have occurred to them yet. We can also help vet the value proposition--or even spur the entrepreneur on to unearth the value proposition that may currently be hidden in their business vision and marketing. All of this is equally applicable to the nonprofits we serve. In fact, sometimes nonprofit founders don't think about themselves as being "in business" or needing a "value proposition." But because funds and goods or services are in play, they really are running a kind of business.
But to think comprehensively about a profit/nonprofit enterprise, one has to be able to see how legal and business decisions affect each other. Neither should be done in isolation from the other. In the ELC we encourage students to "cross train" even while primarily developing one skill set. JD/MBA students are in the best position to do this. But all students can do it to different degrees. At the very least, persons specializing in one piece of the law-business consulting space should have a working understanding of the other pieces. All professionals should strive to meet their counterparts "halfway" by minimizing their own jargon and attempting to understand that of the others.
A coupe of examples to get you started:
Choice of entity decisions. Corporations, limited liability company, partnership, or nonprofit organization? Today's Gen X and Gen Y entrepreneurs are thinking about ways to do good and do well. Basically, whatever will solve a pressing problem they are focused on. They are not wed to preconceived notions of what is "charitable" and what is "for profit." So, professionals helping them can best do so by: 1) being open minded; 2) taking the time to truly understand both the problem the entrepreneur is trying to solve and the solution she is proposing; and 3) understand how the legal structure and law behind each entity type will make it better or worse suited to advancing the entrepreneur's solution; and 4) work with the entrepreneur to understand their compensation needs and expectations.
Building and
protecting the brand. The enterprise's brand is bigger than just its name
and logos. It's a whole story about the venture that positions it in the market
and communicates its vision, values, and mission. Nonprofits need a brand and
story just as much as do for-profit ventures. At the same time, protecting the
brand can be tricky. Trademark law generally only covers the name, logos, and
other specific symbols used as trademarks by a firm. Copyright can cover longer
written materials. Design patents could be used for purely ornamental features
of manufactured products (if any). But legal protection for the "look and feel"
of a website, or other intangible aspects of the brand, is less certain.
Therefore, it is paramount for lawyers to understand the breadth and value of
the full brand (and brand story) and for marketing and branding consultants to
understand how and where the brand can be legally protected. Working together,
they can build the strongest possible brand that is also well protected, so
that all the hard work will not simply be taken by someone else.
That's it for now. As always, comments are welcome.
Sean M. O'Connor is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic at the University of Washington. As the creator of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, he is a leader in university pro bono service.
On Monday, June 28th Catchafire, a new nonprofit, is launching in New York City. Catchafire is looking to kick off $300k in marketing projects for 50 nonprofits.
We are excited to welcome Catchafire to New York City and to the field of pro bono service. There is so much need in New York City, and across the country, for pro bono marketing services.
At Taproot, we are overwhelmed by requests for marketing services in New York City, and it will be great to know that there is another resources for these great organizations.
Catchafire is hosting a launch party on June 28th. If you are in town, please join them, and help celebrate this win for the New York City community.
Catchafire Launch Party
When: Monday, June 28th, 7:30pm-10pm
Where: The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St, 2nd Floor
If you were to see a John Hancock look-alike, a headband-sporting marathon runner, and a hard hat- rocking contractor at a cocktail reception for business professionals in New York City, you might think that some audacious party-crashers had somehow breached security. If you guessed that this eclectic mix of people were actually at Taproot's "Celebrating Pro Bono: An Evening of Revelry" reception, you'd win a prize.
Atop the Hudson Hotel overlooking the Manhattan skyline, over
sixty corporate leaders and corporate social responsibility
professionals gathered on June 1st to celebrate corporate pro bono
engagement and the social impact it's had on the nation's communities.
These corporate leaders represented a broad array of industries - from
professional services firms to consumer products - and the cross-sector
conversations that marked the evening represented a significant
milestone for the pro bono movement. The reception's attendees shared
successes and strategic questions regarding pro bono, celebrated the
impact of their pro bono programming, and crafted visions of new
possibilities for pro bono and partnership driven social impact.
Still wondering how John Hancock and company slipped past security? The evening boasted eight actors mingling with the crowd in costumes representing each of the eight defined pro bono program models. The actors distributed faux-Polaroid pictures to the crowd, which depicted each of these respective pro bono program types-
Marathon: A company pools human capital resources on a pro bono project within a short, predetermined time frame (typically an intensive 24 hours) to delver a mass volume of deliverables.
Signature Issues: The combination of formal pro bono work with additional corporate assets for the purpose of leveraging significant internal resources against a specific social issues.
Loaned Employee: An employee is granted a sanctioned and compensated leave of absence to pursue a pro bono project.
Functional Coaching & Mentoring: Employees match up with their nonprofit peers, form a relationship, and share functional expertise.
Standardized Team Projects: Individuals are placed on teams, each with specific roles and responsibilities. Each project is scoped and structured around a standard deliverable based on the needs of the nonprofit partners.
Open-Ended Outsourcing: A company makes its services available to a specific number of nonprofit organizations on an ongoing, as needed basis.
Sector-Wide Solutions: A company creates deliverable pro bono that can be applicable to all nonprofits across the sector.
General Contracting: An entity coordinates and oversees internal and external resources, promoting cross-sector collaboration to address a specific special problem.
The models coupled with relevant and salient comments by the evening's hosts, Deloitte, Capital One and Taproot, spurred conversation among the guests about varying forms of pro bono and the suitability and adaptability of each one of the specific corporate settings.
"Celebrating the pro bono movement at our 'Evening of Revelry' was
an incredible experience. It was exciting to see hte variety of
corporate and professional services firms represented," said Jamie
Hartman, Vice President of External Affairs at the Taproot Foundation.
"Only two years ago, a celebration of corporate pro bono would have
been premature, with many corporations just beginning to understand
what pro bono meant for non-lawyers. Since then, the conversation of
pro bono in the corporate sector has shifted to focus on how more pro
bono can be done and done better - an indicator of the vitality and
momentum of the movement. I'm excited to see what the next couple of
years will bring us in pro bono innovation."
If John Hanock and a marathoner can model current pro bono programs
today, it's exciting to imagine the characters that will people the
next celebration representing new forms of pro bono driven social
impact. What sorts of "party-crashers" do you imagine will join the
ranks in the coming years?
Taproot Foundation's "Celebrating Pro
Bono: An Evening of Revelry" was made possible by Visionary Sponsors
Capital One and Deloitte, Catalyst Sponsor Booz Allen Hamilton, and
Trailblazer Sponsors Merck, Allstate, and FD.
Justin Gimotea is a Corporate Relations Fellow at the Taproot Foundation.
A short while ago, we launched a set of features on our intranet aimed at creating a more connected community of pro bono consultants. You can read a bit more in this blog post from last month.
Since then we have seen a flurry, albeit a small one, of discussion. It's been so exciting to see our pro bono consultants interacting with each other that we decided to spotlight a couple of our favorite posters.
Note: Our online community is currently open only to our screened and registered pro bono consultants. If that's you, join in! Lend your expertise!
Skip Winitsky - Taproot Foundation Account Director in New York
(This is how Skip appears to us, because we don't have his photo. Make sure you upload yours here!)
Skip is a marketing consultant specializing in branding, messaging, and digital media strategies. He has completed two projects as an Account Director and currently has two more under way.
Skip posted a question about meeting in-person as opposed to virtually and got 20 thoughtful responses including:
"Meeting in person: Working as a project manager for Taproot, I preferred to have the initial team (Taproot team only) meeting in person. I found that this was a better way to get to know the team members, have them get to know me and exchange ideas..."
"We have weekly check-in calls and once the project meat starts, we meet about every 3 weeks or as needed. Virtual is good for discussions, but when it comes to the content of a project, it's much better to meet in person, because then you have an instant connection to what you are talking about and looking at."
Skip also asked another question about staffing project teams. It gets right to the heart of his role as an Account Director. We are thrilled to see so much discussion about such an important part of the Service Grant process. Below is one great answer:
"My approach to staffing is simple. I focus on the team, experience and passion.
First, I determine what skills will create the most effective and well-rounded group of individuals. This will ensure that there aren't major gaps in skills. Don't forget to assess yourself!
Second, I make certain the volunteers I contact complement each other by selecting a range of industries, work experience, and Taproot status (veteran vs novice).
Finally, when I talk to them I seek their passion! Does this project align with one of their interests/passion points? Would the role be a challenge to help them fill a career gap? Why do they want to help?"
This discussion is still open, so please weigh in!
Skip doesn't just ask questions. He answers them too, addressing topics such as keeping teams on track and modifying the Discovery process in projects.
Why does Skip post questions and answer? "It helps the movement and it helps others do better work."
Gail Koff, Future Taproot Foundation Account Director in the Bay Area
Gail is retired and enjoying her travels around the world. In her professional life, she owned an HR consulting business for 23 years. She is eager to lead one of Taproot Foundation's HR projects, but so far been unable because of her travel schedule. By posting questions, comments and suggestions, she is able to contribute to Taproot without being staffed on a project.
In preparation for her first project with Taproot, she posted a question about creating a sense of urgency on projects. She got some great responses. Among others, we love this one:
"I think it always helps to engage people on a one-on-one basis. Help them [the members of the nonprofit you are working with] feel that this is 'their' project, and that they are experts in the nonprofit field, and we are the tools they can use to communicate their expertise. We can make them look good! And if that fails, I have tried homemade chocolate chip cookies."
Gail has also used her extensive experience as a consultant to weigh in on questions others have posed. "I felt I could add value because of my experience working in the public sector and answering questions has allowed me to stay engaged with Taproot."
Gail and Skip represent very different perspectives on participating in our online community, but the result is still the same: they are engaging with their peers in a way that will benefit their projects, Taproot Foundation clients, and the pro bono movement.
Natalya "Natasha" Matusova is a Product Development Fellow at the Taproot Foundation.
Every year we see hundreds of projects done for nonprofits by our pro bono consultants through our Service Grant Program. When you review the deliverables, regardless of the type of project, there are clearly projects that are manufactured and those that are inspired.
The manufactured work meets the client's objectives but lacks that leap of creativity and insight to exceed expectations. It does the right analysis and the process is solid, it just misses the transformational wow.
Having talked to folks from a range of paid professional services firms, even the top firms find this kind of transformational work the expectations and not the norm.
What has emerged is that inspiration typically comes from an unexpected experience. There is an interaction with a client or a client's client that sparks a new idea or insight. It wasn't what the team was looking for, but it suddenly makes everything click.
The trick then for a consultancy is to manufacture unexpected experiences for your consultants to increase the odds of insights forming. On the flip side, it requires the client to think about how to expose a third party to an environment and set of stake holders that doesn't produce expected experiences.
Aaron Hurst is the President and Founder of Taproot Foundation.
Yesterday, I took my four year old daughter to a play in Soho. We arrived a little early and decided to poke around in some of the stores.
Standing in front of one of the boutiques, she asked me, "how they make those people" pointing to one of the mannequins in the window.
I confessed that I wasn't sure but laid out my best guess. I then asked her how she thought you made them.
"You kill a person. Paint them with nail polish, and then chop off their head," she said matter of factly.
It was clearly upsetting to her as five minutes later she followed up with- "what does it feel like to kill someone?"
"Yikes, kid- I don't know. I've never killed anyone," I replied and then paused. "Terrible, I suppose. Very sad."
It is amazing how people fill in the blanks when they lack information. It had never occurred to me to look at mannequins through her eyes and realize they could be seen as dead people, much like the stuffed zebras and bears at the Museum of Natural History.
Someone in our office recently shared that when her team lacks information from Taproot's leadership, they often fill in the blanks with the worst case scenarios. Hearing how far my daughter took her imagination, her hypothesis- really illustrated that a lack of information is often more dangerous than too much information. It makes a great case for management transparency.
That said, this all gives me an idea for a movie script starring Ben Stiller- "A Night at Barney's." I'll let you fill in the plot line.
Aaron Hurst is the President and Founder of the Taproot Foundation.
I recently attended ABA's Equal Justice Conference as a presenter for the Back to School: Tapping into Law, Graduate, and Professional School Programs workshop. During the conference I was able to attend many panels and workshops focusing on pro bono. While there were many intriguing conversations over the four days, one especially caught my attention with talk of "those Gen Ys."
During the Q&A section of this workshop, an audience member asked, "but aren't you talking about Gen Y?"Aren't they selfish and entitled? How do they react to pro bono?"
The room was immediately buzzing. Hands flew up.
Pro Bono Coordinators from law schools across the country spoke about their first hand accounts with students. It turns out Gen Y is not only willing to do pro bono work, but they want to do pro bono work, and most importantly, they expect to do pro bono work.
Pro Bono Coordinators from law schools across the country spoke about their first hand accounts with students. It turns out Gen Y is not only willing to do pro bono work, but they want to do pro work, and most importantly, they expect to do pro bono work.
Why? Gen Y has been raised volunteering. At the very least they started volunteering in high school, and have continued service and community involvement throughout their college and now post-graduate careers. No one in the room could speak to any Gen Y students refusing to do pro bono work, or not enjoying it. In fact, this generation is so willing to get involved, the largest obstacle they face when creating pro bono programs is gaining the support of school administration to dedicate resources to these ventures.
If all of this is true, why does Gen Y have such a bad reputation? What can we do about it?
If you're interested in reading more about Generation Y's desire to make a difference and how universities can best train these students, check out a recent blog post co-authored by Taproot President Aaron Hurst and City Light Capital Managing Partner Josh Cohen on the City Light Capital blog.
Jaime Hiraishi is a Recruitment Coordinator at the Taproot Foundation. She also leads the Taproot Foundation's efforts to promote the pro bono ethic in professional schools.
Thanks to the incredible enthusiasm of our pro bono consultants and clients, and the support and leadership of our sponsors, partners and advocates, yesterday Taproot Foundation was honored to receive the California Social Innovation Spotlight Award. This award is California's most prestigious award for volunteer service, given to an "extraordinary organization that is innovative in how they invest in service and volunteerism" as part of the Governor and First Lady's Medals of Honor for Service.
This recognition comes on the heels of the completion of our 1000th project, and has given us yet another reason to celebrate the traction gained in spreading the pro bono service ethic beyond the legal profession to the fields of marketing, design, strategy, human resources, and IT. An excited group of Taproot staff and board members traveled to Sacramento to attend the award ceremony (and of course, catch a glimpse of Austrian Bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-Civic Leader, Governor Schwarzenegger.
It is a privilege to receive such an honor in California, the first state to elevate the role of volunteering and service to a cabinet-level position. As First Lady Maria Shriver put it, "when you sit at the Governor's table, people take you seriously - they listen." In the Bay Area and Los Angeles, Taproot Foundation has been fortunate to capture the attention of thousands of business professionals eager to give back to their communities by donating their professional skills. We've worked with hundreds of nonprofits in these regions to ensure that we are providing the solutions they need most - and have been privileged to form partnerships with the foundations and companies who have been inspired to make our work possible and begin their own pro bono programs.
The First Lady co-presented the award with the nation's first-ever Secretary of Service, Karen Baker, who praised Taproot for "bridging a crucial resource gap by allowing professionals to apply their talent in service to their community." Taproot President Aaron Hurst was on deck to accept the award, fresh off a flight from New York- a town which was in need of some "California love" when he moved there to lead the pro bono movement in Taproot's first east coast office.
In his acceptance speech, Aaron spoke about his inspiration for launching Taproot Foundation: The frustrations he faced early in his career while working with countless organizations with brilliant ideas, extraordinary motivation, and the audacity to want to change the world. But, "they fundamentally lacked the resources to do it." So he asked himself, "Where is the greatest place for innovation in the --" and before he could finish the sentence he was headed west to California (as a fellow east-coast convert, I can identify with this sentiment.) As Aaron put it, "California stands out as the place with incredible innovation, and also incredible hope- which is what drives innovation."
Less than ten years since awarding our first Service Grant here in California, to be on stage with those critical players is an enormous honor for Taproot Foundation and all our partners in the pro bono service movement. This monumental accomplishment underscores not only the tremendous impact of pro bono service on California's nonprofit sector, but also the meaningful work we've done in shifting the paradigm of pro bono service beyond the legal profession to be an integrated part of all careers. We are so excited and honored to have been selected.
Taproot in Suits! Taproot of staff and board members at the awards ceremony!
California Governor Schwarzenegger delivers a speech.
Taproot President Aaron Hurst delivers acceptance speech alongside California Secretary of Service and Volunteerism Karen Baker and California First Lady Maria Shriver.
California Secretary of Service and Volunteering Karen Baker talks with Taproot Executive Director Western Region Joel Bashevkin.
Kate Wilson is a Western Region Senior Development Associate at Taproot Foundation.
If
you're a current Taproot Foundation pro bono consultant, you may have
noticed a few changes in your profile pages once you sign on to your
account on our website. We've added a number of new features that are
helping us to connect our pro bono consultants and staff so they can
share their wisdom and expertise directly with one another and be a more connected community. As the
community's moderator, it's my job to make sure all our staff and pro
bono consultants know how to take advantage of these new tools.
"So
what?" you might be thinking right now. Well, have you ever tossed and
turned at night wondering whether or not you should email your Taproot
Foundation Program Manager with yet another question about wireframes?
Have you complained to your mother, your friends, and the checkout
clerk that you don't have peer suggestions for an interview process
that's stuck? Or maybe you have a project management idea that could
revolutionize the way things are done at the Taproot Foundation? Well,
now you have somewhere to turn.
Our spot coaching feature
allows you to post questions to your fellow pro bono consultants and to
Taproot Foundation staff and browse discussions started by others. And
our handy dandy suggestion box gives you the opportunity to provide
direct feedback about our programs, process, and documentation.
The next time you have a question, log in and ask our network. They'll answer. Or next time you
have feedback for us- no matter how big or small- post it to the
suggestion box. We've already implemented this great suggestion requesting sample deliverables from projects, and there's more to come.
And this is just version 1.0... just wait to see what we've got coming up next!
Natalya "Natasha" Matusova is a Product Development Fellow at Taproot Foundation.
Last night we launched our third taprootfoundation.org along with a refreshed visual identity. The new site and strategy integrate our Service Grant and Pro Bono Action Tank programs into a single site and under the single Taproot brand. 
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