Today, at the Summit on Corporate Volunteerism, convened by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation Deloitte is announcing a three-year, $50 million dollar commitment to a new pro bono program to transform the way Deloitte supports charitable organizations and strengthens the nonprofit sector.
How in my case, I wonder, would I put a dollar value on the work I do here by the Dumpster, needling the rich, pro bono publico? We should all do more to put our God-given gifts to work in the community. Having made enough to get on, why not give back time and talent, as well as money? Good to see for-profits, like Deloitte, encouraging this kind of civic participation.
In addition to leading the Tutor/Mentor Connection, I'm a Commissioner for the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. A couple of years ago at a national conference I attended a workshop where the speaker talked about how our images of volunteerism, such as being with a youth, painting a house, feeding the hungry, all pointed to direct involvement, and in many cases, did not appeal to the volunteer who had talent to offer, but was not able, or interested, in the hands-on stuff.
I think this week's CEO summit came from ideas like this. Instead of ads like "who mentored you?" we might in the future see, "who built your web site, or who did your books, or your newsletter?" There is a wealth of talent in business which could be put to good use in many non profits.
What remaines to be seen is if this talent will distribute to big and small non profits throughout the country, or only read the brand name and highly visible non profits.
Time will tell.
Posted by: Dan Bassill | February 14, 2008 at 10:54 PM