SWISH! Pro Bono MADNESS (in March) was a HUGE success!

The San Francisco Bay Area office hosted a fast-paced, fun-filled all day scoping event last weekend. Thirty-five active pro bono consultants, who have not yet joined a Service Grant, were divided into groups of five. Then they took on the task of brainstorming and scoping potential new ideas for Taproot and/or the pro bono marketplace in general. Taproot prepared these teams by providing information on the most urgent unmet needs of the nonprofit community and characteristics of the supply of skilled professionals eager to do pro bono. The consultants took off with their teams fully energized and ready to collaborate. They put together some exceptional concepts from Board Bootcamp to Sharktank.

The facilitators of the teams were absolutely amazing as they encouraged ideas and kept teams on track. At the end of the day, each team pitched their proposed project to the larger group. Then, everyone voted on a winning pitch. The winning team received spiffy Taproot track jackets and the opportunity to work with Taproot staff to further develop their project.

Check out the top 3 pitches!

First place: Board Bootcamp!

Ali Salari, Runa Tarannum, Megan Bickle, Karl Sjogren, Dorian Hughes, Shanice Liu

With 46% of nonprofits reporting that they need help building an effective Board, this team created an intensive training program to whip Boards into shape! The program includes four phases, led by skilled professionals, to diagnose skills gaps, create an improvement plan, execute on area-specific trainings such as succession planning, market analysis and finance statements and debrief. Board Bootcamp leverages the expertise of the professional sector. It also gives nonprofit Boards a crash course in the information they need to be effective leaders.

Second place: Taproot’s Sharktank

Martin Bond, Alissa Koven, Maricar Apuya, Nikki Onipede, Michelle Stafford, Elvis Howard

Based on the popular television show, Taproot’s Sharktank puts nonprofits in the spotlight. The show would be streamed live online. A panel of PBC experts would judge six-person nonprofit teams while they give thirty-minute presentations demonstrating their need for pro bono assistance in a particular area. The winning team would receive pro bono services from the expert panel. The other teams receive expert consultation in the process.

Third place: Teaching the Fish

Eric Denker, Michael Morrissey, Laura Norin, David Koss, Amy Zelezen

This team proposed small adjustments for large impact. Recommending a slight change to the Service Grant application process, they would like all pro bono consultants to have access to all nonprofit applications for a Service Grant. Pro bono consultants could choose to work with nonprofits that were not awarded Service Grants. Pro bono consultants would manage those pro bono projects independent of the traditional Service Grant structure and meet the needs of several more nonprofits!

Taproot wants to give a huge THANK YOU for all those that participated. Your enthusiasm and energy throughout the entire event was inspiring.

 Well played!

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