Pro-bono effort tops $400 million

September 19, 2008

An effort launched to boost pro-bono volunteering by corporate America has raised more than $406 million of its goal of $1 billion worth of service.

The campaign, known as A Billion + Change, is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service and has signed on 23 corporate partners, including IBM, Deloitte, Intel, Target and Capital One.

Volunteers who use their professional skills during their service time are more satisfied than those working on unrelated tasks, a new study by the Corporation for National and Community Service says, but most corporate volunteers are not asked to utilize their work experience.

"Employee volunteering is always great; but, it becomes a powerhouse asset when employees use their expertise in marketing, technology, logistics, human resources and other areas of corporate strength to help nonprofits grow and tackle our toughest social problems," David Eisner, the group's CEO , says in a statement.

The A Billion + Change challenge was launched in February.

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