Charities Need Business Experts, but Few Ask for Free Help

Nonprofit organizations could use donations of time from people with expertise in marketing, strategic planning, finance, Web-site design, and many other business areas during this deep recession, but neither charities nor corporations are taking the right steps to encourage more people to donate their skills to good causes, a new study has found.

Nearly 40 percent of nonprofit leaders who responded to the survey say they will spend $50,000 or more on outside consultants this year, but nearly a quarter of the charity officials have no plans at all to use skilled volunteers in 2009.

The survey was commissioned by Deloitte LLP, a consulting firm, and is based on online interviews with 300 corporate executives and 360 nonprofit executives. The charity leaders had previously applied for donations of professional services from the Taproot Foundation, which promotes pro bono service by business professionals.

Evan Hochberg, Deloitte’s national director of community involvement, said that charities need to become more skilled at seeking pro bono assistance, and that corporations should develop better systems for placing their employees in opportunities in which they can use their professional talents.

The recession, he said, only makes those needs more urgent.

“We’re banging our heads against the wall of extremely tight cash-donation budgets, yet there’s another door to be opened which can accomplish the same objective — building a strong and effective nonprofit sector,” Mr. Hochberg said.

More information is available on the Deloitte Web site.