Small Businesses Find Purpose And Fulfillment In Skills-Based Volunteerism

Washington, DC, December 4, 2014 /3BL Media/ – A Billion + Change, Blackbaud and Riggs Partners released a new eBook, Small Business, Big Purpose: A guide to skills-based volunteerism to celebrate Giving Tuesday.

Small Business, Big Purpose provides a seven-step guide to implementing skills-based volunteering programs within small companies. The book features several case studies from small and mid-sized businesses such as Blackbaud, COTTON7, Harry’s, Mizzen+Main, Riggs Partners and others on how they have implemented skills-based volunteering programs.

“The small business case studies in this publication highlight the diversity and creativity of small business pro bono practitioners,” said Georgia Gillette, Lead Catalyst of A Billion + Change. “Over half of the companies in the Billion + Change network are small businesses, and we believe that Small Business, Big Purpose will help to galvanize more small businesses to get involved in skills-based volunteering.”

According to the Council on Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy’s 2014 Giving in Numbers report, the number of businesses that report having a pro bono program has increased from 30 percent to over 50 percent in six years. It’s the fastest trend in corporate employee engagement, and small businesses are part of this trend.

"We have a fundamental belief at Blackbaud that good is for everyone, that individuals, nonprofits, large companies and small businesses all play a role in creating a strong and thriving society. Our employees embrace pro bono work themselves and join us in seeing what a huge impact their peers at small businesses could make if they joined in the effort," said Rachel Hutchisson, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy at Blackbaud Inc., which provides technology that powers the business of philanthropy.

Skills-based volunteering allows employees to use the skills they’ve acquired on the job to help others. It can be more meaningful for employees and it can have a bigger impact for community organizations. This type of employee engagement can favorably impact employee recruitment and retention rates while helping small businesses stand out in a competitive market.

“Pro bono service is an important part of America’s new business culture,” said Teresa Coles, CEO of Riggs Partners. “It’s a great way to engage employees in important causes while helping to build leadership skills within the organization and distinguishing the company’s brand.” 

Small businesses around the country are uniquely positioned to engage their employees by using their skills to make a difference in their community.  Small Business, Big Purpose can help employers tap into the skills of their employees, so they can turn their passion into purpose and their skills into impact.

For more information on small business resources or to download the Small Business, Big Purpose eBook, visit www.abillionpluschange.org.

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About A Billion + Change

A Billion + Change is a movement to inspire companies of all sizes and sectors to do skills-based and pro bono service, and to mobilize billions of dollars’ worth of skilled service activities to address core issues in our communities. A Billion + Change is housed and managed at Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service. The initiative is under the honorary chairmanship of Senator Mark Warner, powered by the support of the Advisory Board Company, the Corporation for National and Community Service, Capital One, DEFENDER Direct, Deloitte, HP, and IBM, with additional founding support from McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. Learn more at: www.abillionpluschange.org.

About Blackbaud

Serving the nonprofit, charitable giving and education communities for more than 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) combines technology solutions and expertise to help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works in over 60 countries to support more than 30,000 customers, including nonprofits, K12 private and higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, foundations and other charitable giving entities, and corporations. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud and on-premise solutions, and related services for organizations of all sizes, including nonprofit fundraising and relationship management, eMarketing, advocacy, accounting, payment and analytics, as well as grant management, corporate social responsibility, education and other solutions. Using Blackbaud technology, these organizations raise, invest, manage and award more than $100 billion each year. Recognized as a top company, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

About Riggs Partners

Riggs Partners is a marketing and communications consultancy that develops cross-channel communications programs for socially conscious companies and nonprofit organizations. A charter member of A Billion + Change, Riggs Partners also is founder of CreateAthon®, one of the nation's top programs engaging the marketing industry in pro bono service.  For more information, visit http://www.riggspartners.com/.

CONTACT:
Sarah Boison
sboison@pointsoflight.org
202-644-7245 (w)