Instituting pro bono service with an intermediary organization
Abstract
As more companies and individuals are volunteering professional skills to assist nonprofit organizations in creating or improving business practices, pro bono has moved from the legal field to encompass many arenas. This effective practice highlights the efforts of Monitor Group in it’s collaboration with New Profit to offer pro bono services in the management and advertising fields — ultimately expanding capital and creating social change.
Issue
While there is increasing reliance on and need for nonprofit services in the health care, housing, food, education, and cultural sectors of society, the sustainability of nonprofit organizations is oftentimes neglected.
Corporate organizations look to offer their services on a pro bono basis for a variety of reasons and in a variety of capacities; nonprofit organizations seeking these services are as varied in number. The challenge is achieving the right fit to create a win-win situation.
Action
Monitor Group has partnered with New Profit, Inc., a national venture philanthropy fund that serves a portfolio of nonprofit organizations. Monitor began by providing New Profit with pro bono support to develop its management structure and now relies on New Profit as an intermediary to engage in other pro bono opportunities with the nonprofit organizations in which New Profit invests.
Monitor provides executive coaching and consulting services to the organizations in New Profit’s portfolio. More than 230 Monitor consultants have worked closely with New Profit and its portfolio organizations (such as Citizen Schools, Jumpstart, and Teach For America) to address many of the key strategic issues facing nonprofits today.
This unique partnership has enhanced the capacities of both organizations, particularly in the areas of talent development, networking, and community building, and has helped evolve new approaches to solving entrenched social problems.
“Building a relationship like this across two sectors can be quite difficult, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it lightly. Both organizations must be highly committed to making it work,” explains Bill McClements, a partner at Monitor Group. “Our partnership definitely began top level to top level. Now we connect at multiple levels throughout the organizations, but it started with commitment at the top. Without that level of commitment, it would be much harder to make it work.”
Context
Monitor Group is a leading international advisory and financial services firm with 29 offices and 1,500 employees worldwide. Monitor provides strategic consulting services to major companies, governments, and philanthropic institutions. Monitor also operates its own global investment funds in both private equity and venture capital, in addition to providing management and advertising advisory services.
Outcome
Monitor’s pro bono relationship with New Profit has benefited its business significantly in recruitment, reputation, new business solutions, and employee development. For instance, Monitor feels its relationship with New Profit gives it a recruitment edge as “a company with a real conscience and also a company that does things in innovative ways.” Through pro bono work, Monitor consultants have developed innovative ideas and solutions around business strategies that apply to clients in both the social and for-profit sectors. Pro bono experience can also generate new intellectual property by expanding the abilities and perspectives of Monitor consultants.
Evidence
As a result of Monitor Group’s pro bono services, New Profit has gained the capacity to serve 22 nonprofit organizations annually. They have grown from a team of two to 18, thus expanding their venture philanthropy capacity and their ability to affect social change.
Nonprofit organizations in their portfolio have experienced impressive growth results such as:
- Citizen Schools’ revenue grew from $1.8 million in 1999 to $10.3 million in 2005, while expanding from one city in one state to 13 cities in four states.
- Jumpstart continued its rapid growth in 2005, increasing revenue by 20 percent and lives touched by 33 percent as it decreased the cost per child served.
- Teach for America attracted more than 17,300 applications for the 2005 corps (a 29 percent increase over 2004) including 12 percent of the senior classes of Yale and Spelman, 11 percent of Dartmouth College, and 8 percent of Harvard's and Princeton's senior classes.
For More Information
Resources
See the Resource Center’s pro bono page at http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/probono.