Liz Hamburg, Taproot’s President & CEO, thanks all the volunteers who make a difference this National Volunteer Week.
It’s National Volunteer Week! Spearheaded by Points of Light, National Volunteer Week inspires, recognizes, and encourages people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities by volunteering. Here at Taproot we have over 11,500 skilled volunteers and pro bono professionals who have worked with the Taproot Foundation since 2001. Thousands more are ready to be placed on a project. We are so grateful for this incredible group of professionals.
Volunteering as a spectrum
I realize not everyone is familiar with pro bono service. I often talk about it as part of spectrum of volunteer engagement. It starts with “hands-on” volunteering like a park clean-up or painting a school. Next is general skills volunteering such as tutoring or teaching English. This is work that needs someone with skills, but it may not be skills you use in your everyday work. Pro bono service is when skilled volunteers use the skills they typically use in their day jobs for social change organizations. And lastly, board service offers that ongoing advisory support that often encompasses all other types of volunteering rolled into one.
All types of volunteer engagements have such an important place in advancing the missions of nonprofits. At Taproot, we are committed to pro bono service: the capacity building support that so many nonprofits can’t access because they simply don’t have the resources. This work offers professionals an opportunity to use their skills in innovative ways. It also offers companies a chance to expand their community impact.
Again, I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge all the volunteers along the spectrum of volunteer engagement. And, to the pro bono consultants that support Taproot’s mission, the work you are doing to serve social change organizations around the country inspires me every day. Thank you for this.
