Pro Bono Competitions
Fetelli, a Rockford, IL-based ad and
design firm, just announced that of the 31 nonprofits that applied to win
$50,000 in pro bono services, they selected the Burpee Museum of Natural History
(also based in Rockford). This is part of a new trend in the pro bono field
where consulting and design firms strategically structure their pro bono efforts
to optimize PR value and to enable them to get a wide range of project
options.
This is a really smart way for a
firm to drive PR. There is the buzz that is created when they announce the call
for entries. The announcement quickly circulates in the nonprofit community and
is visible to peer firms. The announcement can also be sent to the firm's
clients for them to forward to the nonprofits they care about, which helps retain
and grow accounts.
The firm then gets dozens of entries
and can strategically identify the project that will be most engaging for
employees, create local visibility and make the greatest impact. Finally, it
creates a sense of value on the end of the award winner. The selected nonprofit
knows that it was selected from a pool of 31 nonprofits so they are both
flattered (this can be leveraged to get their staff, board and funders excited) and
feel a sense of responsibility to be a good client. This addresses one of the
most common issues with nonprofit work - pro bono clients that are not invested
because the work is free. The Burpee Museum of Natural History is likely going
to take this project very seriously and be a great
client.
Now the down side - and it is
significant. Fetelli has 31 nonprofits complete a proposal or entry. I have
not seen the proposal format, but if it is like most proposals, it likely
required the nonprofit to invest two days to develop (thinking, internal
alignment and writing). That is 62 days of nonprofit time invested. I did a
quick back of the envelop calculation and estimated that it costs nonprofits
roughly $35,000 to develop all those entries. So, the net value of the grant
is $15,000 ($50,000 - $35,000). And while Burpee is elated, 30 other nonprofits
now associate the Fetelli brand with disappointment and a wasted investment of
time.
At the end of the day, $15,000 in
pro bono value is still more than $0. I would, however, challenge Fetelli and
similar firms to think about how to increase the "impact" margin on these types
of programs.
You can read about Burpee and
Fetelli in the Rockford Register Star:
http://www.rrstar.com/homepage/x1637128843
