Media Alert: Taproot Foundation Available to Discuss the Fastest-Growing Corporate Employee Engagement Program

Mar 9, 2016 4:15 PM ET
CECP corporate respondents report that pro bono service is the fastest-growing volunteer engagement program. (CECP Giving in Numbers 2014 & 2015 Editions.)

March 9, 2016 /3BL Media/ - The Taproot Foundation and the BMW Foundation are convening the 4th Annual Global Pro Bono Summit March 15-18, 2016 in Singapore with local host, Conjunct Consulting

Purpose:

The Global Pro Bono Summit gathers leaders in this field from across sectors and across the globe to address how to provide more high-quality, impactful pro bono service to support our world’s critical social issues.

What is pro bono service?

  • “Pro bono” means “for the public good” and refers to donated professional services benefitting organizations working to improve society. In the business community, this typically refers to business professionals who are volunteering their skills in areas like marketing, strategic planning, financial management, HR, and IT, but it could be any professional services. Traditional volunteerism is estimated at $23.07 per hour. Pro bono service is estimated at $150 per hour.

Who attends the Global Pro Bono Summit?

  • Corporate Social Responsibility leaders from companies including GE, JP Morgan, Accenture, Allianz, Credit Suisse, Citi, and GSK
  • Organizations from around the world who connect business professionals with nonprofits and NGOs. Many are members of the Global Pro Bono Network*
  • Foundations and government representatives

*The Global Pro Bono Network is a select group of pro bono providers from around the world who actively participate in a collaborative effort to share best practices and learnings to drive the pro bono movement forward. This Network was created by the joint partnership of Taproot Foundation and BMW Foundation and has grown by 40% in one year.

Quick facts:

  • Global Pro Bono Summit 2016 | March 15-18, Singapore
  • Summit conveners: Taproot Foundation, BMW Foundation and local host Conjunct Consulting
  • In-kind and pro bono event support: Google, Autodesk, BMW
  • Hosted for the first time in Singapore, based on the growing pro bono market and strong government support
  • Six continents and 27 countries will be represented, including Australia, China, Chile, Hungary, India, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam
  • For the past two years, corporate respondents of the CECP's annual survey have reported that pro bono service is the fastest-growing corporate volunteer engagement program. (Source: CECP Giving in Numbers 2014, 2015)
  • website: http://www.probonosummit.org/
  • Hashtag: #GPBS2016 

Available for interview:

  • Corporate Social Responsibility leaders from global companies who are attending the Summit
  • Lindsay Firestone Gruber, Managing Director of Advisory Services (NY)
  • Liz Hamburg, President and CEO, Taproot Foundation (Singapore: March 15-18)

Photo opportunities:

  • March 17: Site visits to local NGOs who are engaged in pro bono projects
  • March 16-18: Summit in session

More about corporate pro bono programs:

  • More and more U.S. based corporations offer their employees opportunities to volunteer their professional expertise to help nonprofits in marketing, strategy, HR, IT, and many other areas.
  • Companies are recognizing that what they make available to their U.S. employees, they also need to make available globally. There’s a significant increase in pro bono service programs around the globe. 50% corps offered pro bono service in their headquarter country and 20% internationally.
  • HR executives are looking at pro bono as a way to engage employees, in particular millennials, who are looking to find purpose in their work.
  • HR executives are recognizing that pro bono is a great way to develop high potential leaders, create unique opportunities for teams to interact, and bring ideas back to their everyday work.
CONTACT Suzanne Craig +1 (212) 257-7643 suzanne@taprootfoundation.org Taproot Foundation http://www.taprootfoundation.org @taprootfound

About the Taproot Foundation
Taproot Foundation, a U.S.based nonprofit, connects nonprofits and social change organizations with skilled volunteers through pro bono service. Taproot is creating a world where organizations dedicated to social change have full access—through pro bono service—to the marketing, strategy, HR, and IT resources they need to be most effective. Taproot has worked with over 60 Fortune 500 and other companies to design and implement pro bono programs that leverage employee skills and talents, going beyond traditional employee engagement to the leadership development and team-building that support recruitment and retention, community commitment, and innovation. Since 2001, Taproot’s skilled volunteers have served 4,000 social change organizations providing 1.4 million hours of work worth over $150 million in value. Taproot is located in New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and in partnership with the BMW Foundation, is leading a network of global pro bono providers in over 23 countries around the world. www.taprootfoundation.org, @taprootfound

About the BMW Foundation
The BMW Foundation brings together leaders from across communities, cultures, and countries to drive Social Innovation, promote Global Dialogue, and encourage Responsible Leadership. We are convinced that our approach breaks down barriers between politics, business, and civil society and allows society to benefit from the creativity and diversity that result from cross-sector collaboration. http://www.bmw-stiftung.de/en/@bmwfoundation

About Conjunct Consulting
Conjunct Consulting is Southeast Asia’s first social change consultancy: engaging, mobilising and empowering pro bono talent to strengthen social good organisations in Singapore. They do this through pro bono consulting projects, strategic collaborations, and one-day corporate scalathon events. Since its inception in August 2011, Conjunct Consulting has delivered 100 consulting projects with a total of 70 nonprofit partners serving various community needs, creating over $2 million worth of social impact. http://conjunctconsulting.org/@ConjunctConsult