Pro Bono Design Event to Focus on 2 Nonprofits for a Weekend

There are many ways nonprofits can get access to great design at little or no cost. Some design firms offer pro bono or reduced-cost help, which can be a great opportunity for nonprofits. But these services can have pitfalls. Some groups find themselves trapped in projects that are repeatedly bumped by paid clients or assigned to very junior level employees.

Another option is the increasing number of “hackathon” or “designathon” events pairing designers, developers, and nonprofit organizations, which can help nonprofits get great design at no cost.

There are even websites like hackathon.io that specialize in setting them up and tracking them. Nonprofits like Code for America regularly host and blog about the best practices of hackathons, and a number of design studios, government agencies, and universities have set up similar events.

These events are in no way a panacea. Organizations and designers get a very small amount of time together, and most don’t require interaction before or after the event, which can be as short as a few hours. However, if a specific need matches the talents and time of the designers, these events can be a great way not only to get a pro bono project completed but to learn more about design and meet some great designers and organizations to connect with in the future.

My firm, Elefint Designs, has created an event to address that problem: Desgn.it Tahoe. The weekend of January 31 through February 2, we are going to bring two nonprofits to Lake Tahoe and surround them with a team of six senior designers selected from top design studios. Unlike our previous Design.It events, for this one, nonprofits will need to cover the costs of feeding and lodging the designers.

We will host strategy sessions in advance at our studio in San Francisco, where we will cover important educational themes and will pull from a variety of sources to make sure the participating organizations get a lot of useful content at the event.

For those interested in attending any of our Desgn.it events, visit us at Desgn.it. Applications for Tahoe are being accepted through December 16.