POOF! Making your pro bono dreams come true with Taproot’s online community

One day, Taproot pro bono consultant Sheila Mong thought to herself, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could see deliverables that other pro bono consultants have created in the past?” Twelve consultants agreed with her. POOF! Now it exists.

One day, pro bono consultant Lisa Radin thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could find market data about nonprofits in one place on Taproot’s website?” Seven other people knew of good resources available in different places online. POOF! Now they’re all accessible on Taproot’s project resources page.

What if your pro bono dreams could come true at the snap of your fingers?

Well, unfortunately the Taproot Foundation isn’t a gang of genies, but we are a community of people passionate about leveraging the skills of business professionals for social good. And that community can make a lot happen when they get their fingertips snapping and clicking across their keyboards.

Maybe you didn’t know that the world of Taproot pro bono extends to the Web. Well, let me give you the back-story. At the Taproot Foundation, we know that we’re working with the best and the brightest pro bono consultants that America has to offer, and that those consultants can help each other–and help us–deliver pro bono better. That’s why we built an online community where our consultants can give us feedback about Taproot’s services and share what they know about skills-based volunteering.

That community is no quiet place to retire. With over 2,906 active consultants answering each other’s questions, piping in with their opinions on Taproot’s services, and voting on their peers’ suggestions, this busy little community is a nesting ground for ideas.

These ideas are the future of Taproot and the pro bono movement. They even helped Taproot redesign and re-launch our pro bono Web site project this fall, with input from six different threads in our online community about the topic. As of now our online community is only available to our Taproot pro bono consultants, so apply to become a pro bono consultant today to become part of the buzzing and chatting happening on www.taprootfoundation.org.

Ryan Cohen is a Product Development Fellow at the Taproot Foundation.

Update: Join our updated online community of nonprofits and volunteers engaging in pro bono service by signing up at Taproot+.