Common Impact's Nonprofit Skills-Based Volunteering Toolkit

We are excited to announce the launch of Common Impact’s Skills-Based Volunteering (SBV) Toolkit! Since 2000, Common Impact has supported nonprofits in effectively utilizing SBV to build internal capacity to better serve the community. Our decades of experience have proven that SBV holds great promise for both companies and nonprofits, and represents a sustainable resource for addressing social challenges, that complements traditional philanthropy and volunteerism.^[1]

SBV is rapidly growing in popularity, with now more than 50% of companies engaging their employees in skilled service.^[2] Although we have seen tremendous growth and excitement around SBV, it is still a relatively new concept for nonprofits and companies alike. As skills-based volunteers become more readily available to nonprofits, we at Common Impact want to ensure that we’re sharing the key elements of sustained impact that we’ve gathered over our years as SBV practitioners. 

We’ve developed this toolkit to demystify SBV and equip nonprofits with the resources and best practices to engage in successful and strategic pro bono. Whether you are new to SBV or a seasoned veteran, this toolkit will provide you with the knowledge, tips, and tricks to ensure your organization is maximizing the value of SBV.

Need some inspiration before getting started? Check out our infographic to see the long-term impact that SBV has had on some of our alumni nonprofit partners! Key highlights include:

• 91% of respondents said that their SBV project impacted their organization's ability to better meet their mission
• 65% of respondents said that they have continued to use SBV as a capacity building resource after their project with Common Impact 
• 73% of respondents said that they continued the relationship with the company for which their SBV volunteers worked after the engagement ended

[1] Read more about the benefits and challenges of skills-based volunteerism in SSIR: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_promise_of_skills_based_volunteering, by Danielle Holly and Christine Letts, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2017

[2] CECP Giving in Numbers, 201