Do it pro bono
I had always wanted to give back to society, but cleaning dog kennels, working at the food bank, and doing construction work for the less fortunate just wasn't my thing. I often thought to myself that there has got to be something that makes better use of my skills. I found the solution earlier this year – Taproot Foundation (www.taprootfoundation.org).
Taproot is a non-profit that provides service grants to other non-profits; it organizes teams of volunteer professionals to plan and execute 6-month website, marketing, HR, or strategy projects for other non-profits. I volunteered as an Account Director for Taproot. With my stellar team, we completed an “Advanced Website” project for Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay (JA). In essence, we designed a new website for them complete with page templates, style sheets, sample pages, training document (and in-person training), plus associated documentation that enables JA to roll out the new website.
The new website, when completed and marketed appropriately, will help more people understand what JA does, and in turn, attract more funds, volunteers, and partners for JA. In addition to finding a better way to use my professional skills to make a difference, I had the pleasure to meet and work with a team of dedicated, compassionate, and skilled professionals. I am very impressed with Taproot's structured process, which contributed to a big part of the JA project's success. I was also delighted to find that they don't just take on any volunteer; Taproot goes through a selection process which leaves them with ~50% of volunteers who apply. In addition, as an Account Director, I hire/fire my own team out of the volunteer pool (or any friends I'm able to wrangle into helping), which gives me some level of control over the quality of people I work with. Taproot is always looking for more volunteers and they need all sorts of talents in management, web engineering, product management, marketing, HR, copy-writing/editing, etc.; check them out if you, like me, are looking for the right opportunity to give back. Do it pro bono!
Having gotten to know Junior Achievement so much better through this pro bono opportunity, I really enjoyed them as an organization as well and look forward to volunteer with them one day. JA services children from kindergarden through high school (not just high school as we used to think of them) and focuses on teaching children financial literacy. During this Taproot project, I was privy to attend a couple of 6th/7th grade classes that JA volunteers were teaching. It was such a joy! It was wonderful seeing faces of children eager to learn and participate, soaking up everything the volunteers were teaching them and helping them understand. Children that age pretty much stabilized their facial features; looking at them, I could imagine their personalities and how they would grow up. What's more, looking at them gave me hope; it reminded me of Whitney Houston's song... cheesy, but true...
Taproot is a non-profit that provides service grants to other non-profits; it organizes teams of volunteer professionals to plan and execute 6-month website, marketing, HR, or strategy projects for other non-profits. I volunteered as an Account Director for Taproot. With my stellar team, we completed an “Advanced Website” project for Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay (JA). In essence, we designed a new website for them complete with page templates, style sheets, sample pages, training document (and in-person training), plus associated documentation that enables JA to roll out the new website.
The new website, when completed and marketed appropriately, will help more people understand what JA does, and in turn, attract more funds, volunteers, and partners for JA. In addition to finding a better way to use my professional skills to make a difference, I had the pleasure to meet and work with a team of dedicated, compassionate, and skilled professionals. I am very impressed with Taproot's structured process, which contributed to a big part of the JA project's success. I was also delighted to find that they don't just take on any volunteer; Taproot goes through a selection process which leaves them with ~50% of volunteers who apply. In addition, as an Account Director, I hire/fire my own team out of the volunteer pool (or any friends I'm able to wrangle into helping), which gives me some level of control over the quality of people I work with. Taproot is always looking for more volunteers and they need all sorts of talents in management, web engineering, product management, marketing, HR, copy-writing/editing, etc.; check them out if you, like me, are looking for the right opportunity to give back. Do it pro bono!
Having gotten to know Junior Achievement so much better through this pro bono opportunity, I really enjoyed them as an organization as well and look forward to volunteer with them one day. JA services children from kindergarden through high school (not just high school as we used to think of them) and focuses on teaching children financial literacy. During this Taproot project, I was privy to attend a couple of 6th/7th grade classes that JA volunteers were teaching. It was such a joy! It was wonderful seeing faces of children eager to learn and participate, soaking up everything the volunteers were teaching them and helping them understand. Children that age pretty much stabilized their facial features; looking at them, I could imagine their personalities and how they would grow up. What's more, looking at them gave me hope; it reminded me of Whitney Houston's song... cheesy, but true...I believe the children are our are futureWith the ailing economy, it may feel difficult to donate money to worthy non-profits. But you can still make a difference. Volunteer your time.
Teach them well and let them lead the way
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