Pro Bono Junkie's Blog

Taproot 3.0

2010-07-13T14:46:36Z

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:

Our new about us, mission and values statements
Two short videos that describe our founding vision and approach to service
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
A robust map of the current state of the pro bono movement that serves as a new hub for pro bono leaders across professions

We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions about the new and improved Taproot.

Aaron Hurst is the President and Founder of the Taproot Foundation.

Blending Law and Business for Effective Pro Bono Consulting Projects

2010-06-24T02:10:08Z

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.

Fire in NYC

2010-06-21T13:42:30Z

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

RSVP: http://catchafire50.eventbrite.com/

Congrats and good luck!

Aaron Hurst is the President and Founder of Taproot Foundation.

Celebrating Pro Bono: John Hancock and a Marathoner Crash a Party

2010-06-15T19:04:03Z

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.

My Pro Bono. Your Pro Bono: Spotlight

2010-06-08T23:09:35Z

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.

Inspired vs. Manufactured

2010-05-31T18:25:01Z

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.

Nail Polished Corpses

2010-05-24T21:06:01Z

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.

Gen Y: The Selfish or Selfless Generation?

2010-05-13T20:19:11Z

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.

Social Innovation Spotlight Award

2010-05-07T21:38:18Z

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.

My Pro Bono. Your Pro Bono.

2010-04-30T00:50:52Z

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.

UW Entrepreneurial Law Clinic: Creating a Model Program to Teach Professional School Students How to Serve Entrepreneurs

2010-04-27T23:56:45Z

Many universities have established business plan competitions. More recently, a number of schools have instituted social entrepreneurship competitions that are similar, but focused on building non-profits, sustainable business, or other social justice oriented ventures. However, all of these programs focus mainly on teaching students how to be entrepreneurs. Equally important are programs to teach professional school students how to serve entrepreneurs.

I designed and launched the University of Washington's Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) in 2006 to both teach students how to serve entrepreneurs and instill in them a pro bono ethic as they start their careers. I also wanted to create high quality, targeted pro bono opportunities for the many kinds of lawyers and business consultants who shy away from traditional pro bono projects that are outside of their areas of expertise. Of course, I was also being an entrepreneur in developing ELC, because I wanted to find a way to help entrepreneurs of all stripes who can't afford the legal and consulting services they need to properly launch their ventures.

ELC is a joint venture between the UW Law School and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UW Foster School of Business. We team law and business students together to deliver comprehensive analysis and counseling to entrepreneurs that covers all aspects of the venture. Each team generally has three law students and one or two MBA students. The law student slots are divided into the core entrepreneurship specialties of business law, intellectual property (IP), and tax, with additional emphasis on employment, regulatory, and other law as needed. The MBA student slots so far are either general business, consulting, or assigned according to specialties the client needs, such as marketing, accounting/finance, or operations. The student teams are then assigned supervising attorneys and business consultants from the local Seattle community, with each supervisor specializing in the field in which the student is working (e.g., an IP attorney supervises the IP student team member).

We serve four main categories of clients: technology entrepreneurs; micro-enterprise and small business owners; social entrepreneurs and non-profits; and UW technology spin-offs. The range of our client's projects is broad. For example, we have helped a prison inmate who is developing a new snack food business to launch after his release, UW researchers with a breakthrough medical device technology, and everything in between. Our main goal is to deliver "preventive" legal and business counseling so that none of these innovators run into roadblocks based on preventable legal or business issues. Our student teams and supervisors are experts at providing "lifecycle" counseling that not only analyzes where the business is today, but also where it will likely go, and the pros and cons of the various paths that it can take. This enables first time entrepreneurs to engage in the kinds of sophisticated business and legal planning that sucessful serial entrepreneurs usually do.

ELC currently fields seven teams each year, with around 20 law students and 10 MBA students. We serve approximately 30 clients each year. Former students have now become both supervisors to new students and in some cases entrepreneurs themselves. We work closely with almost every major law firm in the local community, as well as with numerous community development services and economic development government agencies at the Federal, state, and local level.

Developing ELC was one of the hardest things I have ever done, because I had to bootstrap everything -- there was no institutional support for the Clinic wen I began designing it in 2003 after joining the faculty at UW Law School. I also had to do it "on the side" from a full regular teaching and research load as a pre-tenure law professor. So, it was also a huge pro bono project on my part, because I did it outside my regular academic position and was not paid for it. However, then Clinical Law Program Director Alan Kirtley was key in helping me strategize and seek outside resources to launch the Clinic. Ron Howell at the Washington Research Foundation stepped up with a clinical in-kind contribution of office space for the Clinic as we didn't even have space n the Law School building to launch! The Herbert B. Jones Foundation, Coleman Foundation, and Washington Law School Foundation, each awarded us essential multi-year grants to fund the operations. But in the end, it was worth it. ELC has easily been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. As we look forward to our fifth year of full time operations this coming year, it is amazing to see how we not only survived, but also have now become a model that other professional schools seek to emulate.

Pro Bono Nerds

2010-04-15T23:11:01Z

What do you get when you lock 160 self-proclaimed "web nerds" in a room for 24 hours with 16 nonprofits and a seemingly endless supply of caffeine and chicken wings? If you're lucky, you get one of the most fun pro bono service events we've heard of in a long time- the Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge.

Operating out of Minnesota, Nerdery Interactive Labs is a web development company with a heart and a sense of humor. Proud of their nerd status and habit of blending work with play, the Nerdery lives up to its claims of being "home to the most passionate, curious and imaginative nerds anywhere."

Started by Nerdery in 2008, the Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge is an annual pro bono service marathon that pairs nonprofits with limited or no websites with teams of 9-10 web developers for 24 hours of continuous pro bono website creation. To add to the challenge, teams and nonprofits are not paired until the day of the event.

Though meeting each other and then immediately launching into a full day and night of work could seem daunting, the event screens nonprofits and teams carefully and encourages nonprofits and teams to come prepared. Sponsors also help make the event possible by offering server discounts, pre-event strategy sessions, and complimentary education in design and web applications, business analysis, or project management for the nonprofits, as well as many other in-kind donations.

With so many amazing organizations and teams, this year's winners - Team Placeholder - set themselves apart by creating and launching a beautiful new website for Dakota Wicohan. This nonprofit - dedicated to preserving Dakota as a living language and through it transmitting the Dakota life ways to future generations - previously had no website and works to preserve a language with 9 fluent/first-generation speakers.

As if all of that is not impressive enough, the event also looks to the future with emphases on both post-event website maintenance and on going green. On the event website, each participating team pledges the level of support it will provide to its nonprofit partner after the event, and each participating nonprofit pledges how their new site will help make the world greener.

Rumor has it Nerdery may be taking this great event to additional cities soon. If you see a bleary-eyed group of web developers wandering Chicago, it could be our favorite pro bono nerds.

Kate Gazzaniga is a Marketing and Communications Fellow at the Taproot Foundation.

Measuring Nonprofit Success

2010-04-02T01:14:46Z

In a recent meeting with a funder in New York, the conversation turned to a familiar topic- defining success at nonprofits. Even within a single issue area, nonprofits take very different approaches to the same challenges. Some organizations tackle extremely complex factors and some tackle extremely simple factors, yet often- despite this huge variation in work- their success is compared on an equal playing field.

While the phrase "apples to apples" is used to the point of exhaustion in the nonprofit sector, this seems like appropriate time to deploy it once again. For this blog's sake, however, we'll go with something new- a root vegetable analogy- "beets to beets." Often, when two organizations are tackling the same social issues it is tempting to think that the two organizations are exactly the same, but the differing complexity and nature of their approaches may mean that they can't be compared on a beets to beets basis. Comparing organizations based on how successful they are at meeting their own individual goals is an illogical approach because the contributing factors differ so greatly.

Let's look at some reasons why beets to beets comparisons don't work by examining two hypothetical organizations that aim to boost high school graduation rates-

Nonprofit number one seeks to boost high school graduation rates through direct counseling, intervention, and guidance for the area's disadvantaged youth
Nonprofit number two seeks to boost high school graduation rates by transforming the energy of school spaces by painting walls and classrooms bright, cheerful colors through student and adult labor, providing mentoring-like support and painting training for youth

The second nonprofit may seek to engage X number of new volunteers while painting X number of walls. This group may reach its stated goals 80% - 90% - or 100% of the time, but the difference in the simplicity of the callenges faced by the second nonprofit and the first nonprofit doing direct intervention means comparing the success of these organizations is like comparing beets to... bananas.

It doesn't work! Even if nonprofit number one is only successful in 50% of cases or meets 50% of its stated goals, a group tackling such complicated issues can not be expected to be successful in 100% of cases.

Those boing white walls have far fewer barriers to overcome before they can become magenta than a child struggling with multiple social challenges trying to graduate from high school. Yes, there are still some barriers for the painting nonprofit. Recruiting volunteers and getting kids to attend the painting sessions are barriers to painting a school, but they're not on the same scale as coordinating with a social worker or battling addiction and so on.

When awarding funding or bestowing recognition based on individual success, it just doesn't make sense to use progress towards individual goals as the uniting factor. The goals require such drastically different inputs that comparisons will never be beets to beets.

Diana Fischer is a Product Development Fellow at the Taproot Foundation.

The Pro Bono Ethic Has Taken Root

2010-03-18T15:05:13Z

Several weeks ago, the Taproot Foundation's Pro Bono Action Tank Leadership Council hosted the Bay Area Corporate Pro Bono Workshop at Gap Inc.'s headquarters in San Francisco- the last stop on the Workshop circuit that had included Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC, Minneapolis, and Chicago.

The workshop was designed to promote an active dialogue about pro bono service among the 50 Bay Area business leaders who were in attendance. The response was overwhelming. Karen Baker, the Secretary of Service and Volunteering and the State of California, gave an impassioned keynote address, highlighting the pro bono ethic and encouraging business leaders to get their employees engaged and hooked on the movement. The audience was enthusiastic when Jamie Hartman, Executive Director, Pro Bono Action Tank, gave her State of the Pro Bono Union address that highlighted the achievements of pro bono service thus far. Participants remained fully engaged as Carol Gutery, National Director, Pro Bono Action Tank walked through the eight different models of pro bono service delivery and shared resources around designing a strong pro bono program.

Another highlight of the event was a lunchtime panel that featured representatives from Gap Inc, Deloitte, Salesforce.com, and Operation Access, who spoke about their active pro bono engagement programs, lending their best practices and learnings to their Bay Area peers. Notably, Operation Access is itself a nonprofit and successful recipient of pro bono services. Ben Aune, the CEO of Operation Access, is an advocate for the movement and has launched an impactful pro bono program for Operation Access employees.

Perhaps a sign that the economic tide is turning, the energy in the room was palpable as workshop participants discussed their triumphs and challenges, brainstormed strategies, and identified solutions around pro bono service. The conversation, to our great satisfaction, centered on " how to do pro bono well" rather than "why should we do pro bono." Pro Bono Action Tank's Business Value Flashcards were especially a big hit.

All in all, the formula for a successful corporate pro bono program is simple: identify what a company does best, think about how to apply it to the nonprofit sector, and work with available resources. Whether the goal is to build the capacity of a few local nonprofits or catalyze change in broad issues area, it is possible to build a pro bono program that is as effective and as innovative as the company running it.

Did you attend one of the Workshops? Does your company offer opportunities to do pro bono work? Do you have any tips or questions about how to best engage in pro bono service?

Melissa Paulo is a Western Region Development Fellow at the Taproot Foundation. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science.

Natasha (Natalya) Matusova is the Product Development Fellow at the Taproot Foundation. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy.

Fostering Catalytic Pro Bono

2010-03-11T18:58:12Z

In August 2009, the Stanford Social Innovation Review published the article "Catalytic Philanthropy," describing the approach one entrepreneur took to reduce methamphetamine abuse in Montana. By researching the entry point into drug usage (teens who were unaware of the dangers of using meth), and implementing a strategic, well-resourced, targeted crusade to intervene at that level (a multi-million dollar, Hollywood produced, award-winning ad campaign which brutally depicts the downward spiral of a meth user), Thomas Siebel was able to make an almost immediate impact on reducing meth abuse in the state by more than 50%.

Since Siebel's campaign, the words "catalytic" and "philanthropy" have become favored buzzwords of social entrepreneurs. Never ones to be late to a social innovation party, the (non-meth-addicted) Pro Bono Junkies at Taproot Foundation were eager to see how this new movement could be augmented with pro bono service, and set to work on a Catalytic Pro Bono Cause: Foster Care.

Having polished their logo, web presence and marketing collateral through three previous Service Grants with Taproot Foundation, Youth Law Center (YLC) was well-versed in pro bono service. As a public interest advocacy group whose mission is to end abuse and maltreatment of children in the nation's foster care and justice systems and to ensure that these children are connected to families and communities, they were also also a major resource and expert in the foster care system. When YLC approached Taproot requesting help with messaging to "encourage the right families to foster," with hopes of rebranding foster care systematically, and not simply for their own organization, Taproot Foundation jumped on the opportunity.

Following the four steps outlined in the August 2009 Stanford Social Innovation Review article for successful Catalytic Philanthropy, Taproot Foundation and YLC set to work.

1. Take Responsibility for Achieving Results

By following the basic guidelines of the Key Messages & Brand Strategy Service Grant (Taproot's got about 250 of these projects under our belt already), we went into the project with a clear project scope and defined expectations on all sides of the pro bono consulting engagement - from the time commitment of YLC staff as well as the consultants, to a timeline for the execution of the project. We also began the project with confirmation that the end would be implemented not only by YLC but by a variety of government and nonprofit agencies working in the field.

2. Mobilize a Campaign for Change

In order to confirm that the new messages and brand position delivered by the Service Grant would resonate with the right audiences, Taproot Foundation's pro bono consulting team worked carefully with YLC to ensure that all benefiting organizations had channels to provide their input and feedback on the team's work. By making sure that the California Social Work Education Consortium, California Department of Social Services, County Welfare Directors, the Foster Parent Association and other agencies supporting the foster care system across the state were aware of the progress the Service Grant was making and able to discuss their thoughts and concerns directly with YLC, we were able to effectively manage the consulting team's bandwidth. This effective management enabled the Key Messages & Brand Strategy Service Grant to be completed on time.

3. Use All Available Tools

The collaborative nature of the Service Grant program lends itself to an "all hands on deck" approach - the consultants drew upon their expertise in marketing, branding, design, management, and other key areas to build professional-quality messaging about foster care. On the flip side, YLC and the other participating agencies brought their perspectives from decades of experience working in the field to help identify a target audience and the attributes of that audience to ensure that the new branding was focused and pointed them in the right direction.

4. Create Actionable Knowledge

The pro bono consulting team created vignettes to personify the new brand attributes they discovered. "I am up for the challenge," was personified through a brief story about a child who refused to eat anything his foster mother brought him. Through the foster mom's detective work - checking in with his teacher to see if and what he ate at lunchtime- she was able to find a solution get the child to eat dinner with his foster family. The vignette demonstrated the key principle identified by the consulting team: " Being a foster parent is definitely a challenge, but it's so rewarding to see your child thrive." The ideas were reinforced by this new tagline, "I am someone's hero. I am a foster parent."

The professional-quality deliverables created by this Service Grant are already being adopted eagerly by the groups involved. This compelling message will enable foster care agencies to better demonstrate the value that volunteering as a foster family presents - and by putting these new ideas into the form of an anecdote, the consultants have made these attributes accessible, communicable and memorable for a variety of audiences.

Because this Key Messages & Brand Strategy project is geared towards reworking the perception of foster care as a whole rather than focusing on one particular agency, the resulting impact of the Service Grant will be catalytic in rebranding the issue area and enhancing public perception of the importance of foster parenting. By improving their ability to match foster youth with compassionate, flexible families that are up to the challenge of being someone's hero, these agencies are positioned to provide foster children with the love and support they need to thrive.