Book Advocates Linking Business Executives With Nonprofit Groups

Leveraging Good Will: Strengthening Nonprofits by Engaging Businesses
by Alice Korngold

Providence House, a shelter in Cleveland that takes care of neglected children, was facing a budget deficit, board problems, and the impending departure of its star fund raiser. The organization needed new trustees and help drafting board-member standards and a strategic plan. After tapping the expertise of volunteers from the business world, the charity nearly doubled its revenue and assembled a new board that has improved its management and prospects for the future.

Alice Korngold begins her book on nonprofit-business collaboration with this example of how volunteers from private companies can help turn charities around. She draws on her experience as the founding president of Business Volunteers Unlimited, which trains and places business leaders on nonprofit boards, to support her case.

Ms. Korngold says that trends in the nonprofit world, such as shortages of grant dollars, greater emphasis on evaluation, and demands for accountability, are making it more difficult for groups to operate. Businesses have longer experience with such challenges, she says, so their executives are in a position to help charities respond to the changing climate. Meanwhile, more businesses today recognize the value of helping their employees identify and volunteer with charities.

This book provides a road map for how charities can involve corporate employees in “high-impact” activities like assisting with strategic and financial planning, mergers and affiliations, communications, market research, information technology, and fund raising. She describes which skills nonprofit groups should look for in recruiting volunteers from industry, and how needs assessments, interviews with potential volunteers, and training of incoming trustees can help pair charities with management consultants or new board members who will be a good fit. Ms. Korngold also discusses the role that foundations and community groups might play in matching business leaders with nonprofit groups.

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (317) 572-3986 or (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 240 pages; $34; ISBN 0-7879-7361-0.