This guest blog was written by Monica Shortino, South Central Community Relations at Capital One.
Nonprofits are an inspiration for their selfless giving and dedication to making the world a better place. As they focus time and energy on helping people, businesses and communities in need, they also face internal, administrative challenges. As a leading corporate citizen committed to investing for good in local communities, Capital One recognizes the importance of nonprofits and helps them year-round in different ways, including pro bono volunteerism. Leveraging their business expertise, associates help many nonprofits resolve a range of issues.
Case in point: On March 25, Capital One partnered with the Taproot Foundation to host a ScopeAthon at its Plano, Texas campus. ScopeAthon is a half-day problem-solving event created and facilitated by the Taproot Foundation. It brings various nonprofits and Capital One professionals together to solve a range of challenges the nonprofits are experiencing. Nine nonprofits – seven from the Dallas area, one from Houston, and one from Baton Rouge – participated in the ScopeAthon. The participating nonprofits included:
- BAC Education Foundation
- The Commit! Partnership
- Emily’s Place
- Green Extreme Homes CDC
- Hendrick Scholarship Foundation
- The Samaritan Inn
- Uplift Education
- Boys & Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge
- Project GRAD Houston
Pro bono in action
Representatives from each of the participating nonprofits worked side-by-side with teams of Capital One associates. Together they solved a problem or challenge facing their organization. The problem-solving exercises covered a wide range of issues, from retaining current staff to building a social media presence to planning for crises, and much more. The representatives of the participating nonprofits were enthusiastic about learning new ideas and strategies to implement within their organizations. More than 50 Capital One associates participated in the ScopeAthon.
This was also one of the few times Taproot worked with a corporate client to incorporate a virtual element to the ScopeAthon. Project GRAD and Boys & Girls Club traveled to Capital One’s regional offices in Houston and Baton Rouge to scope their challenges through videoconferencing technology with their volunteer teams who are based in Plano. The great feedback from the nonprofits and the volunteers about how easy it was to work virtually is testament to the impact of virtual pro bono. Capital One is excited about exploring how to incorporate this element into future ScopeAthons.
Giving back to local communities
“Capital One was pleased to host this ScopeAthon and help some great nonprofit organizations in Texas and Louisiana build their ability to better achieve their missions,” said Sanjiv Yajnik, South Central Regional President.
Giving back to the communities in which we live and work is very important to Capital One.
“The pro bono work our associates performed during the ScopeAthon is an example of how we listen closely to nonprofit partners and provide our insight and resources to help them address real challenges and be their very best. We are proud to work with Taproot on this important event.”
Capital One is focused on assisting local communities in key areas that are important building blocks of economic opportunity: skills for the 21st century; small business development; and financial well-being. The company has partnered with the Taproot Foundation since 2007. It has invested more than half a million dollars to advance pro bono service. Since 2014, nine ScopeAthons have been completed across the United States.
About Capital One: Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $205.5 billion in deposits and $308.9 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2014. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, it offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Branches are located primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COF and is included in the S&P 100 index.
