Skills for Cities to Build Midwest Nonprofit Resilience During National Volunteer Week

April 14, 2021 /3BL Media/ - Common Impact, a national nonprofit that works to strengthen communities and alleviate inequality through cross-sector skills-based volunteering partnerships, is hosting Skills for Cities on April 21, 2021 in honor of National Volunteer Week. Skills for Cities is the organization’s signature day of skilled service that convenes cross-company teams of skilled volunteers from across industries to leverage their professional talents and expertise as a force for good. Volunteers collaborate with nonprofits to create solutions to their operations challenges in finance, technology, marketing, human resources, strategy, and more so they can scale their work and serve their communities even better.

April’s virtual flash consulting event is specifically focused on building the capacity of nonprofits in Chicago and throughout the Midwest as they recover from COVID-19. Now over one year into the pandemic, demand for nonprofit services remains high while their resources, revenue, and operating models are in constant flux. Common Impact identified the Midwest as a region that is particularly well-positioned to benefit from skills-based volunteering because of its rich nonprofit and corporate sectors.

“As we get closer to a post-pandemic future, social change organizations are grappling with the long-term impact COVID-19 has had on their organizations and the community,” says Common Impact CEO Danielle Holly. “Skills-based volunteering can be a powerful resource for these organizations to rebuild, strengthen, and sustain their capacity as we move forward. Skills for Cities is designed to make accessing skilled volunteers as easy as possible for community leaders and equip them with the strategies and support they need to take a meaningful step forward for their organizations and the communities they serve.”

Skills for Cities April 2021 celebrates National Volunteer Week, a time of widespread civic engagement and an opportunity to give thanks to those who serve their communities year-round, whether through pro bono, traditional hands-on volunteering, or informal service.

This event is sponsored by The Allstate Foundation, Verizon, IMC, Cigna, and Salesforce and will benefit seven Midwest nonprofits: Common Pantry​ (Chicago, IL), Girls on the Run of Central Ohio​ (Columbus, OH), People Reaching out to People (PROP)​ (Eden Prairie, MN), SitStayRead (Chicago, IL)​, Teach for America Ohio​ (Cleveland, OH), The Greenwood Project​ (Chicago, IL), and US Together​ (Columbus, OH). The projects will include a volunteer program strategy, a marketing inclusivity audit, a data collection and visualization template, and an engagement strategy for a 10-year anniversary celebration. These projects will deliver an estimated $78,000 in pro bono services to the participating nonprofits.

Skills for Cities Midwest will include a Community Conversation on social impact in the current moment and in the post-pandemic world featuring regional social impact leaders Monique B. Jones, President & CEO of Forefront, and Bevon Joseph, CEO of The Greenwood Project. The panel will frame the challenges we currently face – such as uneven funding and shifts in corporate giving approaches – and provide insights on how nonprofits and social impact leaders can respond, based on where they are today.

This event will build off the success of Skills for Cities 2020, the first to go virtual and across multiple cities at once. “This experience helped me realize that things I see as core to my daily job or skills I employ day-to-day are still new, thought-provoking, and helpful for others to recognize the true assets that exist within their organizations,” wrote Eleanor Malloy, a past Skills for Cities volunteer.

Press are welcome to attend the Community Conversation portion of Skills for Cities. Please contact partners@commonimpact.org by Monday, April 19 for details. For interviews with Common Impact CEO Danielle Holly and our Skills for Cities panelists, corporate sponsors, and nonprofit participants, please contact Debra Caruso Marrone.

###

About Common Impact

Common Impact is a national nonprofit that works to build a society in which individuals and businesses invest their unique talents towards a shared purpose: strengthening the local communities in which we live and work. Founded in 2000, Common Impact has partnered with Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of the country's leading nonprofit organizations to create transformational change through skills-based volunteering. Learn more about Common Impact's services, impact, and clients.

Media Contact:
Debra Caruso Marrone
DJC Communications
(212) 971-9708
debra@djccommunications.com