This guest blog post was contributed by Julia Stewart, Marketing and Programs Associate at Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation. This post builds off Julia’s presentation during A Billion + Change’s recent webinar, “Hurricane Katrina Seven Years Later: How Skills-based Service is Supporting a New Orleans Renaissance.” Julia recently joined Propeller after graduating from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon with a B.A. in International Relations. She feels fortunate and thrilled to be part of an organization that supports environmentally and socially conscious ventures.
As a nonprofit running a social venture accelerator program for social entrepreneurs (nonprofit and for-profit), Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation often connects pro bono services to nonprofits and companies. Every day, we see the positive impact that skills-based volunteering has on the success of early-stage social ventures that touch thousands of lives. In fact, Propeller’s Social Venture Accelerator leverages the generous donation of time, energy, and expertise of a wide range of professionals.
We believe social entrepreneurs are innovative problem solvers who play a critical role in solving our city’s biggest challenges. The start-up phase of any new venture, however, is often riddled with questions, obstacles and red tape. How do you set up Quickbooks? How do we choose a form of business entity? We need a website to get the word out! What is a business plan and how do I write one? What are our tax liabilities?
Launching a nonprofit or for-profit business means an inevitably steep learning curve across many fields—accounting, legal, technology, marketing, human resources, business strategy, you name it. The time required to become an expert in all of these skills means time lost focusing on the social venture’s vision, services, and products. This is where pro bono professionals save social entrepreneurs time, frustration, and money to truly accelerate social and environmental impact. The result: social problems that are solved, a much higher success rate, and thousands of people served!
The difference between hands-on volunteering and skills-based volunteering comes down to professionals contributing in their area of expertise. This can go a long way! For example, Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s) at PricewaterhouseCoopers lead our accounting workshops and provide one-on-one mentorship to our social entrepreneurs around topics such as tax liabilities. Additionally, bankers from Capital One have coached our nonprofits in finance, and their brand strategists have provided Propeller with graphic design support. Lawyers from Baker Donelson have also been invaluable in offering legal advice around trademarks, contracts, and incorporation paperwork.
In 2011, Propeller helped launch nine new financially sustainable organizations, which collectively contributed to the creation of 40 new jobs (30 full-time), and the generation of $2.2 million in external financing, revenues, and grants. Our ventures have brought healthy school lunches to thousands of low-income children and economic opportunity to hundreds of local farmers. We saw a 2200% “return on investment” through our Accelerator model, attesting to the fact that skills-based volunteering can and does make a big difference!
A testimonial from one of Propeller’s 2011 Fellows, Tamara and Thaddaeus Prosper, Founders of Sheaux Fresh Urban Farm, speak to this point: “Propeller helps to provide resources to small businesses that are usually only available to big companies. As part of Propeller’s Accelerator Program, we now have a team of marketers, accountants, financial experts and a lawyer. In a small business, one or two people have to wear all of the hats. Through the help of our mentors, we can better focus our energies.”
So, do you want to lend your skills to make a difference in the life of a social entrepreneur or a start-up? As a member of Propeller’s Pro Bono Network, we would ask you to donate 10-15 hours over the course of 10 months to assist one or more social entrepreneurs whose needs match your expertise. We schedule project deliverables based on your availability. For more information on pro bono expectations, current volunteers, or to see a complete list of this year’s 14 new social ventures, you can visit our website www.gopropeller.org under “Participate” or contact me directly at jstewart@GoPropeller.org.