The Hitachi Foundation Joins A Billion + Change to Connect to the Future of Corporate Service
Can you imagine a future where 500 companies decide to collectively lead social change and tackle the most pressing challenges of the 21st century through skills-based volunteer service? Where thousands of communities tap into the skills and talents of businesses to address social needs? Where millions of employees grow professionally while championing causes they believe in? Or where companies pledge billions of dollars in corporate service to address the most complex challenges facing our country?
This is the vision of A Billion + Change, a national campaign to mobilize the power of pro bono and skills-based volunteer services in America’s business community by 2013. The Hitachi Foundaiton is proud to have taken the Billion + Change pledge to encourage our employees across North America to use their expertise in IT, engineering, and business to help nonprofit organizations in the communities where our employees live and work. The Foundation joined the campaign at a special forum, “A Billion + Change in Action: Connecting to the Future of Corporate Service” at the White House on June 27.
At the forum, leaders in industry, civic engagement and policy discussed the opportunities for businesses to scale efforts and partnerships to meet the challenges of the 21st century through skills-based volunteer service. Most importantly, we challenged ourselves to reach the phenomenal possibilities of collective action, working in partnership with nonprofit professionals to change communities for the better.
In less than a year, nearly 200 companies have joined A Billion + Change and have pledged an estimated $1.8 billion worth of skills-based services to build nonprofit capacity, keeping the campaign on track to inspire 500 companies to create or expand a skills-based volunteer program in their workplace by 2013.
Recently, companies of all sizes have begun to reap the benefits of pro bono service: strengthening their communities by expanding nonprofit capacity and boosting the skill set and morale of their own employees. According to True Impact, skills-based volunteers are 142 percent more likely to report job-related skills-gains than traditional volunteers, and 82 percent more likely to report that volunteerism generated new recruits for their company versus traditional volunteers. For nonprofits, the value of skilled support in areas such as general operations, technology and professional services can be 500 percent greater than the value of traditional volunteering.
When companies join A Billion + Change, they gain access to a national network of exclusive resources and connections that will help them maximize the benefits of their pro bono work. To see a full list of companies that have taken the pledge, and to learn more about A Billion + Change, visit: www.abillionpluschange.org.
