A college student wants to keep his business skills fresh during his summer break between semesters. A recent retiree longs for a way to apply his skills to better his community. A displaced employee wishes to make use of her talents, make connections and stay busy while looking for a new job.

Each of these individuals is an example of the many people who are turning to non-profit organizations to volunteer their time and talents. However, some non-profit organizations are struggling to provide such skilled volunteers with meaningful service opportunities that benefit both the volunteers and the organizations.

HandsOn Network staff members joined a team of national non-profit organizations to develop a toolkit to help non-profit organizations ensure their readiness to engage skills-based and pro bono volunteers. The team, convened by the Corporation for National and Community Service, also developed an online course to help staff members plan pro-bono projects. HandsOn Network has held an additional number of training sessions to engage its affiliate network in utilizing these skills-based volunteerism tools.

This set of resources can be very valuable for any organization seeking to launch or expand skills-based efforts. As Michelle Nunn stated recently in a piece in the The NonProfit Times, engaging skilled volunteers is one way non-profit organizations can build capacity.

In order to access the skills-based volunteerism toolkit:

1. Visit http://learning.nationalserviceresources.org/login/index.php
2. Create a free account
3. Search for the Nonprofit Readiness Toolkit

For more information about skills-based volunteerism, please contact Veronica Parages: vparages@handsonnetwork.org.