Nonprofits Need Business Experts But Few Ask For Free Help

Posted by Fundraising Pro on May 20, 2009

Nonprofit organizations could use donations of time from all kinds of folks with know-how in marketing, strategic planning, finance, website design, and many other areas of knowledge, a new study reports. But neither charities nor corporations are taking the right steps to encourage more people to donate their skills to good causes, according to a summary of the report in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Nearly 40 percent of nonprofit leaders who responded to the survey say that will spend $50,000 or more on outside consultants this year but nearly a quarter of the charity officials have no plans this year to use skilled volunteers.

The study was commissioned by Deloitte LLP and is based on online interviews with 300 corporate executives and 360 nonprofit executives. The charity leaders had previously applied for donations from the Taproot Foundation, which helps connect nonprofits with pro bono services from professionals.

It is clear that charities need to become more assertive at seeking pro bono assistance and that corporations should develop better systems for offering skilled services from their employees in lieu of cash during these cash-strapped times. More information about the study is available on Deloitte’s website.

In the meantime, another way to cope with the extremely tight cash donation scenario today is to sell the Samaritan Card. It’s a wallet-sized shopping discount card that more than pays for itself with up to 50% off at 0ver 100,000 locations.