From Transactional to Transformational—The Power of Skills-Based Volunteering

Part 3 of Deed’s Driving Employee Action: The New Rules of Engagement Series

Employee engagement is changing—and so are employee expectations. Today’s workforce wants more than participation—employees want purpose, agency, and the ability to drive change.
At Deed, we believe that empowering employees through social impact isn’t just good for morale—it’s a business strategy. The most forward-thinking companies are reimagining volunteering, unlocking new forms of giving, and scaling purpose across regions and generations.

In Deed’s latest series -  Driving Employee Action: The New Rules of Engagement - we explore the new rules of engagement: how to activate employees as changemakers, design modern programs that reflect how people want to give back, and turn social impact into a driver of loyalty, culture, and long-term ROI.

A Smarter Way to Give Back

But today, leading companies are shifting focus toward skills-based volunteering (SBV). Among Points of Light’s Civic 50 companies, 20% of all employee volunteer hours are now dedicated to skills-based engagements—showing that top organizations are embedding SBV into their core community impact strategies.

By connecting employees’ professional expertise to nonprofit needs, SBV creates deeper value—for communities, for culture, and for the bottom line. In this post, we’ll dig into what SBV is, why it matters, and how purpose-driven companies are making it the new rule of engagement.

What Is Skills-Based Volunteering?

Skills-based volunteering matches employee talents—such as marketing, IT, finance, HR, legal, data analysis, and more—with nonprofit projects that need those exact capabilities.

• A data analyst helping a local education nonprofit optimize its scholarship application process.
• A legal team assisting an immigrant rights organization with pro bono compliance work.
• A UX designer revamping a nonprofit's outdated website. 

It’s high-impact, scalable, and deeply rewarding for employees.

The Value of Skills-Based Volunteering 

• Rising demand: 86% of nonprofits indicate demand for pro bono services is rising—underscoring the growing need for SBV expertise (Common Impact).
  
  
• Capacity gains: Skills‑based volunteers expanded nonprofit reach by 35% and boosted efficiency/effectiveness by 28% (Common Impact).
  
  
• Professional development: 96% of Common Impact volunteers say their SBV experience was a valuable professional development opportunity (Common Impact).
  
  
• Enhanced communication: 85% of respondents believe SBV helps improve communication skills—versus 77% for non‑skills‑based volunteering (Common Impact).
  
  
• Leadership boost: 90% of companies surveyed by Deloitte reported a significant and positive increase in overall leadership skills as a result of pro bono and skills-based volunteering programs (Deloitte).
  
  
• Market value: Taproot Foundation’s 2024 Pro Bono Hourly Valuation pegs the market value of an hour of SBV at $220, compared to just $28.54 for one hour of traditional volunteering—nearly an 8× greater economic impact per hour.

Why Skills-Based Volunteering Wins Over Traditional Volunteering

How SBV Builds Culture and Purpose

SBV doesn’t just serve nonprofits—it strengthens internal culture:

• Professional development: Employees grow leadership, problem-solving, and project management skills
• Cross-functional collaboration: Teams from different departments work together on real-world challenges
• Purpose alignment: Staff contribute their personal skills to the company’s social impact agenda

How to Launch or Level Up an SBV Program

1. Map employee skills and interests
   Use internal surveys or HR tools to inventory capabilities and passions.
   
   
2. Strategically partner with nonprofits
   Work with organizations like Taproot Foundation, Common Impact, or Goodera to source and scope projects that align with both nonprofit needs and employee skills—or co-create custom engagements with your existing nonprofit partners who know your workforce and mission.
   
   
3. Design structured, flexible engagements
   Offer project-based or sprint-style formats that fit into busy work lives—this can range from a few hours to multi-week commitments.
   
   
4. Incentivize and recognize participation
   Track participation, celebrate success stories, and incorporate SBV into performance reviews, ERG initiatives, or recognition programs. 
   
   
5. Measure outcomes on both sides
   Report on nonprofit impact and employee development.
   
   

How Deed Supports SBV 

While Deed doesn’t create SBV engagements directly, we make it easier to find, participate in, and track them—by integrating with leading partners and streamlining the experience.

Deed supports SBV by:

• Offering impact admins and employees the largest library of volunteer opportunities on the market, with skills-based volunteering projects sourced from partners including Goodera, VolunteerMatch, Idealist, and Volunteer.gov
• Helping employees match to opportunities by skill, interest, and time zone
• Offering volunteer project templates with both short-and long-term date ranges
• Providing real-time impact dashboards and outcome tracking tools
• Integrating with performance review and recognition systems

We focus on making SBV more accessible and more measurable, so your team can focus on making a difference.

Purpose Meets Proficiency

Skills-based volunteering is where social impact and business value intersect. It turns employee expertise into community empowerment—and boosts engagement, retention, and purpose along the way.

It’s time to think bigger than food drives. Let’s build impact from the inside out.