State of Pro Bono: Professional Service Firms
Summary
Professional services firms are the largest institutional pro bono serve providers as they have the infrastructure to deliver services and sharing their consulting expertise is their equivalent of product donation.
Business Case
- Attracts top talent who seek to have a positive impact
- Retains talent by diversifying assignments, aligning values and providing greater opportunity to flex
- Provides visibility and differentiate for client acquisition
Professions
- Design – Design firms almost universally engage in pro bono service. It is not uncommon to see 10 percent or more of time dedicated to this work.
- Marketing – Advertising firms typically do opportunistic pro bono work. The barriers to acquiring expensive inventory for campaigns has meant that most large strategic work is done in partnership with the Ad Council.
- Strategy – Leading management consulting firms typically dedicate 2-3% of billable hours to pro bono service.
- Human Resources – HR firms are have been slow to embrace pro bono service formally. None of the top firms have formal programs.
- Finance – Accounting firms typically do very little pro bono service for institutions given the expertise needed and instead engage in financial literacy work.
- Information Technology – Tech firms do ad hoc pro bono service projects but very few have formal programs and no norms have been set.
- Law – Law firms donating the greatest amount of pro bono service have also been shown to be the most profitable. Top firms typically contribute 5% of their hours to pro bono assignments.
- Architecture – Architecture firms have normed around the goal of dedicating 1% of their hours to pro bono service. Many firms exceed this and contribute closer to 2-3%.
- There are also several very large firms that cut across professional functions. When engaging in pro bono service, they typically norm around the profession that is most prevalent.
Trends
- Norms are beginning to develop across firms around the percentage of time dedicated to pro bono service.
- Many firms struggle with finding the balance between reduced fee work and pro bono service.
- There is very little transparency at most firms about how much pro bono work they do, who they serve, and how to access resources.
Case Studies
Resources
- The 8 Models of Pro Bono Service – This paper offers insights on how eight leading companies are currently engaging in pro bono service, allowing you to imagine a model that works for your company.
- Communicating the Business Value Flashcards – This presentation is a useful starting point to learn about and communicate the benefits of pro bono service.
- Pro Bono Standards and Dollar Valuation – These standards, developed by Taproot Foundation in partnership with the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), aim to professionalize the field and ensure the consistent quality of services delivered to recipient organizations.
- Deloitte Volunteer Impact Survey – This annual corporate volunteerism survey gives a snapshot of corporate volunteerism today.
- A Billion + Change Campaign – Led by the Corporation for National and Community Service, A Billion + Change is a three-year campaign designed to increase the extent and effectiveness of pro bono service benefitting the nonprofit sector.
- On the Frontlines: MBAs Gone Wild – This paper shows how pro bono strategic services can make a huge contribution to the nonprofit sector.
- Pro Bono Strategic Consulting: $1.5 billion Opportunity –This Taproot white paper focuses on the potential of pro bono strategic consulting.
- Hour Tracking and Dollar Valuation – This comprehensive tracking tool will allow your employees or volunteers to not only track the number of hours they contribute but determine accurate dollar valuations at the conclusion of project work.
- Designing for Impact Framework – A guide to the tenets of high-quality pro bono service delivery. When developing a program, advising participants, or evaluating project results, this tool is useful in reviewing the standards of project success.
Archived Resources
- Leading Practices Series Takeaways – This series of leading practices conference calls were established to understand some of the trends and practices currently taken across firms from a variety of fields for managing pro bono services.
- Read takeaways from a call on the Economic Downturn.
- Read takeaways froma call on Internal Staffing Strategies.
- Read takeaways from a call on Pro Bono Program Measurement.
- Read takeaways from a call on Professional Development.
- Read takeaways from a call about Partnering with Functional Leaders.
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