April 2008 Archives

Pro Bono Outfitter

By Aaron Hurst on April 30, 2008 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking for the right threads to show off your commitment to pro bono?  This week we are beta testing the Pro Bono Outfitter, your destination for cool pro bono Taproot Foundation gear.

We are starting off with our classic Golden Turnip Jogger and popular vintage Golden Turnip ties. Check out the store and get your orders in early!

Pro Bono Outfitter.

Breakthrough Research on Pro Bono Business Case

By Aaron Hurst on April 30, 2008 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Deloitte released their study on the potential of Pro Bono as a corporate professional development tool.  The phone survey was of Fortune 500 HR managers and was conducted by a third party using a robust sample.  The results are really impressive and should help us convince companies of the value of pro bono.

The headlines:

• 91% of Fortune 500 HR managers agree that skills-based volunteering would add value to training and development programs, particularly as it relates to fostering business and leadership skills.  
• Nearly 70% of their training and development budgets are projected to remain flat or go down in the next year AND all but 2% see pro bono as a lower cost solution.

Click here for the full report. This is powerful data in making the case for the potential of corporate pro bono programs.

Pro bono makes you happy

By Aaron Hurst on April 29, 2008 3:42 PM | Permalink

We always wondered why all our volunteers have goofy smiles on their faces all the time.  Now we know. 

A recent study shows that people who do pro bono actually are happier! Lawyers are more satisfied when they fulfill the ABA's aspirational goal of 50 hours of pro bono work a year. While only about 46% of lawyers actually meet the goal, those who do report a direct correlation between pro bono work and their own satisfaction. According to the abstract of Levit and Linder's forthcoming article "Happy Law Students, Happy Lawyers" in the Syracuse Law Review, "people who have a richer sense of happiness aren't those who work on their narcissistic personal needs, but those who embrace a larger sense of civic engagement."

This is consistent with research done in the last few years that shows that 'giving' increases happiness and lifespan of Americans.  It also explains why I always think I have the best job in the world.  I get paid to peddle happiness - and this time around it is legal.

A Gem: Chicago's Civic Consulting Alliance

By Aaron Hurst on April 24, 2008 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The more I understand pro bono services and their potential for social impact, the more I fall in love with Chicago's Civic Consulting Alliance.  They have created a really powerful model in Chicago that needs to be replicated in every city as well as at the state and federal level.

The Civic Consulting Alliance is a partnership between the City of Chicago and CEOs of the top companies in the city.  Every year they identify key issues facing the city and then engage the companies in pro bono projects to address the issue.  Rather than having pro bono be about a million acts of kindness, Civic Consulting Alliance has harnessed pro bono to make tangible and important changes in the city.

Here are some examples of pro bono projects facilitated by CCA from their site:

- CCA helped the Department identify key goals that indicate environmental progress, and developed an environmental scorecard for the City based on these. The priorities outlined in the scorecard were used to realign DOE projects and priorities, and then were used to align the environmental efforts of all City Departments.

- Each year, about 3 million tons of waste are generated in Chicago and sent to area landfills. In collaboration with the Department of Environment and Mayor's office, CCA and its partners are developing a strategy for reducing and recycling waste from each of the core materials in the Chicago's waste stream. These recommendations are now the center of the City's waste reduction initiative.

- Five-hundred-thousand riders a day depend on the Chicago L, yet years of deferred maintenance now require billions in repairs. Faced with such a large, yet required, investment, CTA asked, "If you could build any rapid transit system in the world, what would it be?" Along with its partners, CCA identified the requirements, characteristics, and costs of "the rail of the future." This research led to numerous planning efforts to reflect the result in current projects.

- Working with line and management personnel, CCA and McKinsey and Company is applying lean transformation techniques to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of bus maintenance across all of CTA.

You can read about their projects with the City of Chicago at: http://www.ccachicago.org/our-work/index.html

Greening our Operations

By Aaron Hurst on April 14, 2008 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While our environmental impact is not part of our mission, as responsible professionals we do need to look at the impact of our operations on the environment.  Here are a few of the things we do that help to decrease our footprint:

• Our volunteers each donate an estimated 100 hours per project.  Of these 100 hours of work, 90% are virtual, requiring no travel.
• Many of our Roots (staff) work from home one day per week, decreasing the amount of gas they consume as commuters.  We also encourage folks to bike to work.
• We use online applications for volunteers and nonprofits and in so doing reduce paper use and minimize shipping (mail).
• Our primary marketing tool is our web site, rather than paper-based materials.

In the next few years, we want to further reduce our use of natural resources by pursuing these strategies:

• We currently use way too much paper in our volunteer projects, starting with our 80 page manuals that volunteers and nonprofits use to guide projects.  We are moving to make all of these virtual.
• We require nonprofits to come and interview with us in person.  We want to determine how to make these meetings virtual.
• We continue to produce brochures and annual reports for nonprofits (and for ourselves).  As we become more of a "paperless" society, we will convert these projects into online versions that will not require paper and shipping.
  

Do you have other ideas for ways that the Taproot Foundation can develop more responsible environmental policies?

Podcast with University of Michigan

By Jamie Hartman on April 11, 2008 11:03 AM | Permalink

Check out Aaron's interview with his alma mater, the University of Michigan.