Companies Find Material Help for Nonprofits Lee Hall April 15, 2005

Behind the scenes at Metropolitan Counseling Services last year might have looked something like an uncomfortable game of musical chairs. The nonprofit organization provides low-cost psychological counseling to individuals and couples throughout metro Atlanta, but it could not provide itself with more than one computer.

"We had four staff people and about six therapists all sharing one work station," said Lee Wilson, the group's administrative director.

Late last month, Wilson drove away with a vanload of refurbished PCs, courtesy of GE Energy and the Corporate Partners program at TechBridge, a 5-year-old organization that provides technology services to Atlanta nonprofits. Wilson not only scored the computers, but also a raft of software and enough volunteer time to load and configure it.

With an operating budget of about $100,000 a year, MCS had no hope of buying the technology outright, Wilson said. "What they provided us would have cost, well, it would have been absolutely impossible if we had to do it ourselves," she said.

Corporate sponsors

TechBridge's corporate sponsors include some of Atlanta's largest companies. But only a handful of the 90 or so company members are involved in the corporate partners campaign, begun six months ago. It doesn't come cheap. Each participating company must commit to a minimum $10,000 donation and agree to make some of its keenest minds available to work with nonprofits in areas ranging from technology planning to Web site development and network design.

"Another part is to help educate the nonprofit sector on the use of technology," said Jack McMillan, TechBridge CEO. TechBridge conducts an ongoing series of seminars to show the organizations how to employ technology to improve operations, reduce overhead costs and raise money.

Nonprofits pay from $350 to $550 a year to join TechBridge, which in turn matches each organization's needs with available volunteer manpower.

"A lot of companies are trying to be good corporate citizens," McMillan said. "Their employees value the fact that their employer can help them find an avenue to use their skills to benefit the community."

Return on investment

While the benefit to the nonprofit organizations is apparent, corporate donors receive more than just a good feeling in return. Volunteers build skills that are easily transferable back to their everyday jobs, said Craig Ramsey, regional managing partner in the Atlanta office of Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN).

"We have found that our employees who are often our best performers are the very ones who are out and active in the community," he said. "Their success has a lot to do with the skills and leadership characteristics they build in community activities."

Several senior-level Accenture executives are involved in a Quality Advisor program in which they work with nonprofit groups on organizational and technology planning and development. Although the need for such corporate shepherding is growing, McMillan is rolling out the corporate partners program at a measured pace.

"In starting up, we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves," he said. "We're moving slowly to make sure we get it right."

Ramsey said companies that are not involved with TechBridge might want to reconsider. "The stronger we can make our community, the better it is for all of us," he said. "Healthy communities make for good business."

Over at Metropolitan Counseling Services, as volunteers were working to finish installation of the new old computers and software, Wilson said the impact of their work was immediate.

"This has really helped in every aspect of our operations," she said. "It has made a huge difference for us."