Global Pro Bono Summit Day 4: Making Connections

At GPBS, participants have now deepened partnerships, delved into what it means to do pro bono, and pledged commitments. One of the keys to these activities is the connections made between groups of people. That’s where pro bono intermediaries come in. Intermediaries are focused on bringing pro bono providers together with pro bono recipients. They provide the structure, guidance, and resources to make successful pro bono happen.

On the last day of GPBS14, 50 individuals from 36 intermediary organizations from across the country came together to work together and talk about how to strengthen the sector and continue to drive more successful pro bono. As individual intermediaries, they hit various areas of pro bono need – whether that be involving corporations, a focus on marketing and design, technology, or any number of other nonprofit needs.

Intermediaries identifying opportunities

The first part of the day brought the intermediaries together with the Global Fellows, where six small group discussions explored the tools and resources needed to continue to drive the movement and deliver pro bono in new and innovative ways.  So what was the common theme of these six separate conversations? To make connections with each other in a way that bolsters and advances pro bono. Many opportunities were identified, including:

• setting common standards and pro bono expectations
• unifying pro bono service metrics
• sharing a common pro bono language
• developing longitudinal impact studies
• designing an integrated singular platform for pro bono project management
• establishing collective action with across all intermediaries

More than just discussions, participants were then tasked to take those potential connections to implementation stage by setting goals and next steps for the coming year. With lots of work ahead and an impressive group of intermediaries to carry it forward, it’s exciting to consider how we can move the sector forward over the next year, and what differences we see by the next Global Pro Bono Summit.

As 2014 Global Pro Bono Summit concludes, how will you do more pro bono?

Get started with Taproot+, our easy-to-use virtual pro bono platform.