Pro Bono: Now more than Ever
The supply and demand for pro bono services is inversely correlated to the strength of the economy. With the fall of the market, we see a sharp increase in:- people in need of services from nonprofits
- nonprofits in need of professional services to help sustain their revenues and identify ways to increase efficiencies
AND
- talented business professionals raising their hands to donate their skills
Since September, we have seen a bump in the demand for our Service Grant program and an equally large (if not larger) increase in interest from business professionals seeking to serve.
We often see the greatest examples of civic engagement during tough times. The silver lining amid all the suffering is that these times cause us to reflect and put our lives in to perspective. We see how close we are to having our reality collapse and suddenly have compassion for those we had beforehand only read about in the paper--those who once seemed so foreign.
It is in these times that the government, corporations and philanthropic leaders must create vehicles for the newly compassionate to convert their intention into action. Some individuals will only engage in a short window of service, which will end when the headlines change. For many more professionals, it will be the start of a life-long commitment to service, their community and to society as a whole.
America needs to engage these citizen professionals. They are the next social entrepreneurs, politicians and community leaders. They will be our children's role models.
There is a rare confluence of events currently afoot that bodes well for a surge in Pro Bono & investment in the 'greater good':
- Change is everywhere. Beyond the fact that the word itself has worked its way into the political lexicon and - in that context - has officially become a cliche buzzword, no one can deny the fundamental and historic changes that our economy, our government, our world and even our personal perspectives are undergoing. In real time and at lightning speed. In uncertain times, people need something that slows down the pace & grounds them & trumps the craziness we see in the headlines every day.
- Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, there will be a revewed national focus on Service
- People are desperate for the silver lining - any tidbits of good news - the little nuggets that assure them that everything wil be OK. Helping your fellow man certainly qualifies here...
- The media has given everyone greater access than ever beofore to the realities of those less fortunate than them. And for the first time, these realities might be affecting ourselves and/or people that we know and sparking empathetic responses that were buried in better times.
As Aaron said, we need to capitalize on this window and harness the surging energy behind this organic movement to help in digging us out of the current short term morass. In the long term, it will lay the foundation to institutionalize citizen service on every level of society.