"A week after the Pro Bono Communication 2018 day, the next step was taken with the communication and marketing experts who volunteered their knowledge for a day for Experience that Stands through Samen voor Eindhoven. Hard work was done on branding the products and services from the social enterprise. And also worked hard on the label and website design. "Equity" is the key word. Next week everyone is coming to help Foundation Experience That State another afternoon. We find it very special that these driven people volunteer their talent for us. And are very happy about it! ".
Maikel Snels (Outreach street worker at Foundation Experience That State)Pro bono means (one working day) deploying the communication skills of experienced professionals for a social organization. Pro bono is an important tool for social innovation of Samen voor Eindhoven because it provides social organizations and foundations in Eindhoven with essential skills they often lack. At the same time, business professionals grow by putting their skills and expertise to work for good causes in the community.
Mr. Rick (after-school care center of Kindcentrum Fellenoord), care institution Severinus, foundation Oneworld Citizens, foundation Ervaring die staat and Zonnebloem Jongeren Eindhoven have a concrete communication challenge that more than 60 communication professionals put their teeth into for one day.
For example, a corporate story was written for Mister Rick: Mister Rick started as a spontaneous initiative at Fellenoord, an elementary school in Eindhoven: Rick, janitor at Fellenoord, was challenged by colleagues to start working with a group of children himself. And they knew it! Mr. Rick organized a cooking class. Now, three years later, Mr. Rick (with his team) challenges 300 children weekly to push their limits. Mr. Rick has boundless energy and that translates to children eager to participate in his activities that work on motor skills, creativity, cooperation and enlarging the world. Mr. Rick makes a difference for the children.
OneWORLDcitizens aims to empower young people regarding local projects and raise awareness of Global Goals. After the Pro Bono day, they gained more insight, structure and focus. They created a starter kit and templates for printed matter (business card, letterhead), discussed building the community through vlogging and blogging and gave practical advice for the website(s) so OneWORLDcitizens can actually move forward.
This year we organized the Pro Bono Communication Lab on November 2, 2018 at "the smartest square kilometer in Europe" or High Tech Campus Eindhoven. We organized Pro Bono Communication Lab together with Licht (= the link between independent marketing and communication professionals), Communication Club CC-03, Online marketing agency Happy Idiots and Municipality of Eindhoven.
Five inspiring workshops for charities and community organizations
How do I increase the visibility of my website? How do I create more brand awareness? Or 'how to write a tangible story? And what about using photos online within the AVG? While it has become much easier to reach target audiences, it has become harder to be heard and understood. In this digital age, more and more charities are running online campaigns, recruiting and mobilizing volunteers online and through social media. This trend is changing the way organizations in the nonprofit sector communicate. The rapid growth of online communication requires new knowledge & skills. Although online has become an integral part of our daily lives, in practice it has become more difficult for social organizations to get their message across clearly. Therefore, in addition to the Pro Bono Lab, we also organized, together with experienced communication professionals, 5 inspiring and topical workshops for all charities, social organizations and foundations in the region.
Nanny Smit (Founder at MarComCept) on her #skill-based volunteering participation in Pro Bono for healthcare organization Severinus:
What an enormous energy this produced: a combination of inspired work and giving something back to society. With various volunteer teams and a cross-section of as many as four generations of marcom professionals - selected by LICHT and Happy Idiots - and their prepared process supervisors, we worked together in a very short period of time. pressure cooker setting of one day to work out social communication issues for Eindhoven foundations. Thanks in part to the tried-and-true Pro Bono Lab methodology, there was a sense of security and grip and all the volunteers got off to a fast start. They worked with confidence and inspiration in an atmosphere of timelessness, with vulnerability and straight from the heart. The output of the day was - besides solved issues - ''growth for everyone!''
Changemaker Bridget Alcione Spoor (freelance copywriter):
During the Pro Bono Communications Lab on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, I committed to the Sunflower Youth, a foundation for people with disabilities who want to do fun activities together. In a team of 10 communications professionals, we:
- devised a new name to break away from the image of the parent organization
- adjusted the proposition to match activities for the younger target group
- devised a communication platform where participants and volunteers can easily communicate with each other and share events
- wrote a plan to attract more volunteers (and subsequently participants and businesses)
The volunteers and participant from the Sunflower Youth present were visibly pleased with our commitment to their foundation, which in turn made me feel good. But participating in Pro Bono Communication does not only give you a sense of satisfaction. Of course it is nice to be able to contribute something to a foundation that normally does not have the means to do so. But a day like this also brought me other beautiful things. For example, I ended up in the same team with an old fellow student, which was a great coincidence. We enjoyed working together and catching up. What I especially enjoyed was sparring with other colleagues.
The communications profession is super broad, of course, but you can still learn a lot from each other and it's fun to hear what other options there are outside your own field. There are entrepreneurs, students, employees, freelancers. There are people working on SEA, SEO, online marketing, corporate communications, storytelling, design and PR. Such a diverse team ensures that in an issue like "how to find more volunteers for the Zonnebloem Youth," all sides are highlighted. Telling your story from the participants' point of view, online visibility, creating appealing resources, utilizing new media, etc. You take that fresh perspective and different mindset home and to your work afterwards. This not only benefits the foundation, it goes far beyond that. Think of it as a pebble you throw into the lake. That one pebble causes a wave, which then affects the water for dozens more meters. You can do the same with your talent for your own community. And we all benefit from that.
Bridget Alcione Spoor: www.bridgetj.nlMonique van Dam (Founder & OWC Entrepreneur at One World Citizens Foundation)
'The tools, but certainly all the feedback and advice from the marketing and communications specialists are going to be used by us, One World Citizens, after this 'one Pro Bono Day'. I listened carefully and observed what the experts saw around our issue. We will start to cut knots and above all: focus. In any case, I can say: we are already working on it. Thanks again for all your efforts and input!'