Pro Bono Possibilities
Can you imagine giving away 50% of your products for free? Even though Roughstock donates both cash and services to qualified organizations at the rate of about 10% of our billed revenue, apparently we pale in comparison to design kings Pentagram. According to The Taproot Foundation's recent newsletter, Pentagram "reports that 50% of their clients are nonprofits who they serve pro bono." That's half their client base!
Of course, they have the heavy-duty resources to dedicate to such projects. You can also look at it as an investment in public relations and branding. Nevertheless, that's a huge commitment that speaks volumes about the company.
Of course, they have the heavy-duty resources to dedicate to such projects. You can also look at it as an investment in public relations and branding. Nevertheless, that's a huge commitment that speaks volumes about the company.
Labels: branding, business, marketing, social_movements, sustainability
2 Comments:
What they are doing is great. It's a very good spin saying that 50% of your clients are pro-bono. However, this probably does not translate into 50% of their "product." I'm sure that a few big accounts make up the largest chunk of their time/services. While the number of pro-bono clients is great, the work done for them is likely far less (in quantity) than the work done for paying clients.
True, 50% of their client base most likely does not make up 50% of their revenues/services. And that's exactly why this is such an important approach - they don't donate as much time as possible, they donate as much of their resources as is economically feasible.
And since Pentagram is a large firm (I think five offices globally), they have significant resources to rely on. This equates to a fairly large impact. If I recall, one of the partners even pointed out that devoting that many resources to pro bono work has actually benefited them greatly over the years.
My point was really that no matter what your size - Roughstock is essentially just me, after all - donating some percentage of the resources at your disposal can benefit both your business and your pro bono clients hugely.
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