The Corporate Philanthropist: Pro Bono Service - Page 7
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McGraw-Hill: Tapping Core Talents
McGraw-Hill’s Expertise Adds Professionalism to Nonprofit Marketing
The following article includes insights on The McGraw-Hill Companies’ Writers to the Rescue program in partnership with nonprofit organization MOUSE, shared during an interview with Louise Raymond and Amita Nagaraja from McGraw-Hill and Carole Wacey from MOUSE.
McGraw-Hill: Seven years ago, an employee approached us wanting to help nonprofits that need assistance developing communications materials. He thought that by tapping into the talents of McGraw-Hill’s writers and editors we could provide an important service to many organizations.
The company embraced this idea and started promoting pro bono opportunities to our employees through our Writers to the Rescue program. We recognized the added value our company could bring to our nonprofit partners and the community at large.
Writers to the Rescue is a team-based initiative, but we have also incorporated other components based on needs in the community. We’ve assisted with annual reports, teaching curricula, websites, marketing materials, and more.
Interestingly, many nonprofits have come to us seeking assistance with grant writing. While our employees are very strong writers, they may not have experience writing grant proposals. Therefore, as a skill-building exercise, we partnered with the UJA Federation of New York to provide a grant-writing workshop that would train our employees with the writing and editing of grant proposals.
While the projects vary, most follow a similar structure. A volunteer team leader serves as the main project liaison for the nonprofit organization. Based on availability and area of expertise in the company, the team leader organizes a group of employee participants to fulfill the various responsibilities — as editors, writers, graphic designers, etc.
MOUSE: In 2004, we learned about the Writers to the Rescue program and placed a cold call to McGraw-Hill. Our mission at MOUSE is to create technology-based opportunities that motivate underserved students to succeed in today’s information society. And it was an unbelievable opportunity for an organization like ours to learn about this free service.
We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with McGraw-Hill. Our project leader from the company has basically become an extension of our small organization. If I had to project-manage the materials we’ve created through this program it would have been a difficult and challenging task, but our Writers to the Rescue team leader did a tremendous job keeping the process smooth and on schedule.
I think this must be a great opportunity for corporate employees. They not only are presented the chance to provide necessary assistance to a nonprofit, but they also get to work with different colleagues at their own company.
McGraw-Hill: Many participants have said that working with a non-profit can be fun and inspiring, giving them a chance to stretch their talents. We view our pro bono programs as skill-building opportunities, allowing our employees to take on new responsibilities and assume leadership roles.
There are so many potential benefits for employees working on a pro bono assignment: they have the opportunity to build their skills, see the community impact of their efforts, meet colleagues, and build networks in their own offices and in other cities as well. For those who assume the responsibility of team leadership, they also gain access to project management.
Managing a project such as creating an annual report or other marketing materials for a nonprofit or business client is a great experience that can translate to other areas where similar project management is required.
CECP: How is this relationship unique for MOUSE?
MOUSE: One of MOUSE’s strengths has been our ability to leverage corporate partnerships to support our mission in a variety of creative ways. As executive director, I have found it helpful to piece together different types of support. For example, MOUSE’s relationship with Citi started with financial assistance but has grown over the years to include board membership, the development of financial metrics, and hosting shadowships and internships for our students.
Writers to the Rescue, on the other hand, helps us tackle specific writing needs. Through this program we can tap into high quality talent from an organization that touches a similar mission (education) and has access to a wide variety of expertise.
I think the success of this program has a lot to do with the culture of McGraw-Hill. The leadership team deserves a lot of credit — they encourage their employees to take on these additional responsibilities, make them feel comfortable with the pro bono work, and are committed to seeing the project to completion. I was considered a customer and treated as a paying client of the company.
McGraw-Hill: Another component of our employee engagement program has involved leveraging our volunteer grants for Writers to the Rescue. Participants can apply for a grant of up to $1,000 for the non-profit partner. These funds often help offset printing costs and are a nice complement to the pro bono work.
MOUSE: McGraw-Hill connected us with a printing service they use frequently, so we got a great deal on printing. In addition, we received a $1,000 team grant, so the entire cost to our organization for writing, editing, designing, and printing our annual report was only $300. There were so many efficiencies with this partnership!
MOUSE has a staff of just eight people and we’re serving nearly 200 schools across the country. We are often asked how we do this with such a small team and the answer is through our partnerships.
Lessons Learned
- Be creative and work within your company’s core competencies. Whether you are a professional services firm or a manufacturing company, identify the pockets of employee talent and expertise that can have the most impact on nonprofit organizations.
- Leverage pro bono service as a means for professional development. Because it involves meeting the same standards for delivery as with any business client, supplying pro bono services to nonprofit beneficiaries affords employees the opportunity to develop their skills and experience new challenges.
- Make a connection to your company’s broader corporate philanthropy efforts. By tying pro bono service to larger giving strategy, you ensure alignment with your overarching philanthropy goals, while resources – financial and otherwise – can be tapped for additional support to community partners.
