Why civil associations should find more Pro Bono support?

It is a reality that most civil society organizations require a lot of support to be able to face great social challenges, one of their principal needs its adequate the human talent to achieve their personal goals.

Mexico City, January – At the beginning of this year Google.org announced its Pro Bono program with which it will donate 50,000 hours of consulting and work of its employees to civil society organizations. This is after they received feedback from the organizations they support on the need to have more knowledge and experience, with greater focus on the internal challenges they face to operate day by day.

The principal objective of this initiative for Google.org is to help its beneficiaries accelerate their impact on social challenges, but also expect their employees to perform in a different context and thereby be able to develop better and more inclusive products. when they return to the company.

Pro Bono itself is defined as “unpaid professional work to benefit non-profit organizations” or for the good common”. This practice has been adopted in the areas of social responsibility of the main companies worldwide, due to its win-win nature: organizations receive expertise and high value knowledge for their operation by professionals and companies develop their employees in diverse contexts, but in their functions, which provides greater value to their work with the company.

According to the Global Pro Bono Network, 94% of civil associations that have received Pro Bono support have reported being satisfied with the work of the people, while 72% affirm that the perception of the organization was changed in a positive way.

“Non-profit organizations always need to do more, many hands are needed to face the great social challenges; but they have realized that this is not about having more money but having the right talent, with the right knowledge and skills.” says Minerva López, Director of Pro Bono Ventures, an organization specializing in Pro Bono strategies and a member of the Global Pro Bono Network.

According to organizations such as the World Bank, the World Economic Forum or the World Labor Organization, there is now a “talent gap” in the world. In other words, talent for organizations is scarce and demand for them is not met. That is why big companies invest a lot of money to attract and retain the best talent that the labor market can offer them.

Unfortunately for civil associations, corporate foundations, non-profit organizations and other social initiatives, it is very difficult to compete with “a lot of money” with companies to attract the best talent. The best candidates, with robust curriculums or with the greatest experience, unless they have a great social vocation, will not end up working for social causes.

That is why civil associations should seek more Pro Bono support from companies than monetary, to cover those operational needs in legal, administrative, accounting, operational or financial matters to name a few. Image build the brand of a foundation supported by the marketing team of Coca Cola, design the logistics plan for delivery of medicines together with employees of Fedex or build the software of attention to beneficiaries with Google employees.

Without a doubt, civil society organizations must rethink the needs they have to achieve the social impact they seek and take advantage of the Pro Bono practices that many companies offer.

For people who are part of civil associations that are interested in Pro Bono practices, they can participate in the Latam Pro Bono Summit that will be held in March in Mexico City in which experts in the field will share best practices and methodologies to implement Pro Bono strategies. https://latamprobonosummit.com/

Text originally from Latam Pro Bono Summit