Through volunteer consultants drawn from the local community, Compass Pro Bono provides non-profit organizations with strategic and operational expertise to improve their strength and effectiveness. As a Compass volunteer, I helped a key organization gain focus and momentum, while sharpening my own research, project management, and communication skills
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I was a first time volunteer this year with Compass Pro Bono Twin Cities. We worked with Exodus Lending, an organization committed to reducing the prevalence of predatory lending, to develop a new mission, vision, and values statement as the foundation of a strategic plan. It was an engaging and fulfilling opportunity to work with a talented and motivated team, to learn more about the community, and to contribute to the resolution of an important issue. During the course of our project, Exodus Lending successfully negotiated a supportive legislative change, broadened its funding base, and set the stage for greatly increased community impact. It was an exciting time for the organization, and exciting for our team to provide our insight and support.
I have been a volunteer with Compass for over 5 years. For each project, I have been joined by amazing volunteers from the DC region who are committed to sharing their business knowledge and experience with local nonprofits to deliver meaningful recommendations.
I have been a Compass volunteer for more than 10 years. I am so impressed with the impact that Compass has on the nonprofit community. I have led a number of Compass teams and we have been able to make a real difference for the nonprofits we work with. The teams have all been fantastic with a highly energized and diverse group of skilled volunteers. And volunteers keep returning to Compass which means that Compass is not only meeting the needs of the nonprofits Compass serves, but also fulfilling the expectations of Compass volunteers . And nonprofits continue to come back for additional Compass service lines. Compass is helping to connect the business and nonprofit communities and its making a real difference for greater DC.
I have been a Compass volunteer since 2013. First learned about Compass through UChicago Booth alumni newsletter. I decided to apply as a volunteer and the rest is history. My experience with Compass has been so rewarding not only as a volunteer but also to witness the impact we have on the community.
I plan to stay active and engaged with Compass for years to come.
Compass has a unique model that serves its clients and volunteers well, advancing the missions of dozens of wonderful non-profits across the country. I am very pleased to be able to support Compass through one of its advisory boards in the Twin Cities and provide several volunteers through my employer, Protiviti. Let's keep up the great work!
I first signed up to volunteer on a Compass project for City Year back in 2002 as a new MBA grad in DC. Twenty plus years later, Compass remains my go-to platform and community for meaningful connections and opportunities to contribute my business skills to the work of local nonprofit leaders. I’d had the privilege of working with so many high impact organizations through Compass, including The River School; The Lab School; LAMB Charter School; and the DC Coalition for the Homeless. Compass continues to inspire me to be a more engaged member of my community. I have loved getting closer to the important work of our nonprofits and believe I am a better board member and more thoughtful donor because of my Compass volunteer experiences.
The more I get to know Compass Pro Bono, the more impressed I become! I started as a volunteer and was enriched by the experience. I was able to apply my skills in a different setting; I was inspired by the work and commitment of my client; and I loved meeting and learning from my fellow teammates. As I've become more involved as a Board Member and learned about the vision and larger impact of Compass Pro Bono, I'm excited for what lies ahead for our volunteers, clients and communities.
I was furtunate to be on a board (The Clery Center) that was the recipient of service from Compass. I was so impressed by the process and results, that I wanted to get more involved. I have been on several nonprofit boards in may career (United Way, Junior Achievement, Lifenet4Families) and know that this kind of support can change communities!
My experience with Compass Pro Bono has been extremely rewarding! Compass makes the entire process very easy for incoming volunteers and nonprofits by matching projects based on skill and interests. Compass also provides a host of templates and resources for its project teams. Thank you Compass for all that you do for the Twin Cities!
Was on consulting project team supporting Junior Achievement North in St. Paul. Compass Pro Bono has proven tools and methodology developed over time to quickly establish and ramp up a team of motivated volunteers, and match with a non-profit which is focused and engaged. Due to this methodology, our team's work was well-received by Junior Achievement, the experience as a volunteer was very positive, and ultimately I think we were able to contribute to the JA North's ability to serve the community.
Having been both a volunteer and a client of Compass, I would like to commend this nonprofit for the excellent pro-bono strategic and management consulting that it has provided to hundreds of its nonprofit clients in the greater Washington DC/MD/VA region for 15 years. It now serves nearly 50 nonprofit clients annually in the region, and has expanded to Philadelphia and Chicago. It has thrived and grown under the leadership of Suzanne Laporte for the last 9 years, a strong board and advisory board. It serves nonprofits of every background - educational, human rights, cultural. It is a highly efficient, professional organization and provides des a leveraged investment for donors.
I have never seen more commitment from a nonprofit organization than I have seen from Compass. The staff is enthusiastic, determined, and tireless in its efforts to improve other nonprofits in the DC area. In my second year as a volunteer, I am increasingy impressed and inspired by Compass' success in serving such a unique role in the community. This is furthered through the gratitude of our clients, who confirm that Compass allows them be successful in their own missions.
I'm in my 7th consecutive year volunteering for this amazing non-profit. Why? The impact of our work as Compass volunteer/pro-bono strategic business consultants is tremendous. Each year an 8-member volunteer team works with one assigned non-profit between October and June...and we have about 30 teams of 8 volunteers helping about 30 or so non-profits (30 x 8 = about 240 pro-bono consultants)... What do we do? We help non-profits with Funding Strategy, Board Development, Strategic Alignment, and Strategic Planning. Here's one example of impact that I played a big role in... We were doing a Funding Strategy project for the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing (their counselors provide guidance and help folks who have lost loved ones to violence, drug overdose, etc...). We did some surveys of various stakeholders, studied their financial data, built financial models accounting for various funding streams (corporate, foundation, individual, and government) and still weren't seeing a good solution to how we could help them with their funding situation. I noted that they had 4 offices in various areas of DC. They paid a lot of rent. They had a few full-time counselors (who they had to pay benefits to), and some part time counselors (who had full time jobs elsewhere but were just adding some work here to make more $... no benefits needed to be paid to them...) I noticed that the offices could be used more often than they were being used if they just hired more part-time counselors... in essence they were able to double their counseling hours from 2,500 hours per year to 5,000 hours per year, without needing more office space...they just needed to fill a wider range of time-slots for counseling... By doubling their services using non-benefit part time counselors, they actually ended up with a situation where they could not only break even in terms of expenses, but they could make a profit (which they could invest into more programs, etc...) What I'd like to show is that thru the strategic work that Compass does, many non-profits are able to "sharpen the saw" and double or triple their impact. At the end of the day, for non-profits, impact is the name of the game!
I have volunteered through COMPASS now for two years. My experience through them has truly opened my eyes to the wide spectrum of non-profit organizations in the greater DC metropolitan area and the ongoing challenges that they face both strategically and tactically. I am awe inspired by the professionalism and the sheer impact that COMPASS is able to make with a staff of two, the support of a actively engaged Board, and a very dedicated team of volunteers. The opportunities provided by COMPASS to make a direct and long-lasting impact in my community has been truly amazing and very unique. My engagement with them has been very gratifying and fulfilling and I would encourage you to learn more about them and how you can be an important part of their work.