Standards

1. Summary Definition

Professional services made accessible to organizations serving the public good.

Pro bono services can be rendered by a company, professional services firm, intermediary, association or individual professional, but must leverage the core competencies and expertise of the professional(s) engaged to meet the client's need.  These services are typically provided without the expectation of a fee or at such a nominal fee as to make them accessible to the client. The client (the organization serving the public good) includes charitable, religious, community, governmental, educational and civic organizations.

2. Current (expanded) definition as Cash Equivalent for Corporate In-House Programs

Pro bono service must meet the following criteria to be recorded as non-cash contributions according to the CECP survey:

§          Commitment. Your company must make a formal commitment to the recipient nonprofit organization for the final work product. The company is responsible for granting the service, staffing the project, and ensuring its timely completion and overall quality.  In other words, the company must apply professional standards to the pro bono engagement.  Projects that occur informally as the result of an employee's personal interest and availability are not included.

§          Professional Services.  Pro bono donations are professional services for which the recipient nonprofit would otherwise have to pay.  It is critical that employees staffed on the project use the same skills that constitute the core of their official job descriptions.  Projects which only draw upon some of an employee's basic job knowledge are not included in pro bono. 

§          Indirect Services.  Pro bono services must be indirect, meaning that the corporation must provide the service through a 501(c)(3) organization or international equivalent.  This criteria holds for all types of giving recorded in the CECP survey, but we note it here as a reminder.  In the majority of cases, the pro bono service will support the nonprofit organization itself and not the end-recipients or "end clients" of the nonprofit (in other words, most pro bono will be to support the operations or capacity-building of the nonprofit organization).  This is in keeping with the requirement that pro bono service must be a direct application of an employee's core job description.  In some cases, pro bono service might benefit the individual people that the nonprofit serves, but this is rare in light of the criteria listed above.  

In 2009, CECP and the Pro Bono Action Tank will release key metrics for measuring the success of corporate pro bono programs.  The later will be based on these indicators of success that were derived from the 2008 Pro Bono Roundtable.

1.       The project is completed and delivered in a timely manner.

2.       The client's expectations are met or exceeded.

3.       The deliverable is implementable and sustainable.

4.       The client reports that the project made an impact.

5.       All parties involved report high satisfaction with the group's interactions.

1.       Corporate In-House Programs

Pro bono work should be valued at Fair Market Value (FMV).  This is the cost that a paying client would incur for the same services, as determined by the corporation. Companies are encouraged to use the best internal billing information available to determine the FMV of services rendered.  However, if an accurate dollar valuation cannot be determined, CECP recommends using a reasonable, conservative estimate such as $150/hour. 

2.       Professional Services Firms

Value services at Fair Market Value as determined by the firm, which is the cost that a paying client would incur for the same services.