Three pro bono intermediaries and one corporate representative started by asking the participants for a brief definition of what pro bono actually is. here were different definitions but we could all agree that at its core, pro bono was about individuals providing their core skills to serve the common good. It differentiates from other kinds of volunteering as pro bono intends to use professional skills.  

We continued the discussion to see how pro bono intermediaries from around the world help corporations and nonprofits alike come together in high impact pro bono projects. Pro bono intermediaries help nonprofits identify core needs, scope projects and get them ready to manage pro bono consultants. They also train pro bono consultants to work with nonprofits and design models that help create ideal situations for all stakeholders (nonprofit, individual and company). Their work was compared to “dating sites” as they help find the right match, but as dating goes, not every match is the right fit. Thus, one of the main tasks is to manage expectations on all sites.

Looking at pro bono within companies, the panelists agreed that an alignment with the corporate culture and values are vital to the success of the program. Interestingly enough, the realization was that the bottleneck did not come from identifying employees or individuals that are willing to donate their core skills but in the amount of nonprofits ready to use pro bono in a strategic way. Also pro bono, like other types of volunteering needs to be locally embedded. When companies look to roll out global corporate volunteering or pro bono programs it is good to incorporate local partners. For local pro bono the organizations look to the Global Pro Bono Network for help.

Prepared by Armin Pialek, Session Moderator

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