Volunteers

It is always a good strategy to get local business people involved as volunteers in local nonprofits and the Taproot Foundation has developed an innovative way to do that, profiled by the Leader to Leader Institute as their Innovation of the Week.

An excerpt.

“Peter Drucker strived to make business leaders see the community as the responsibility of the corporation. He called on leaders to embody "the Spirit of Performance" by exhibiting high levels of integrity in their moral and ethical conduct; focusing on results; building on strengths; and leading beyond borders; ultimately serving the common good.

“Leading beyond borders, the Taproot Foundation serves the common good by connecting talented professionals to their community through skills-based volunteerism.

“Taproot President and Founder Aaron Hurst recognized that nonprofits were doing inspiring and fulfilling work, yet in many cases, they lacked additional skills and resources needed to accomplish their missions.

“Hurst also realized that there was a huge wealth of untapped talent in business professionals who had skills that nonprofits needed. The question was, 'How do we leverage these skills?'

“In 2001, 40 years after his grandfather, Joseph E. Slater, wrote the original blueprint for the Peace Corps, Hurst created the Taproot Foundation, which works to lead, mobilize and engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change.

"When I started Taproot, I was incredibly inspired by all of the work nonprofits were doing to support our communities," says Aaron Hurst. "I wanted these nonprofits to have access to the services they needed for success."

“According to a 2009 national study by Deloitte (Volunteer IMPACT Survey), 95% of nonprofits say their social impact would grow with pro bono capacity building support.”