Get the best out of probono work

New and burgeoning social enterprises require a compendium of skills to turn a conceptual idea into a sound and robust business model. Existing social enterprises need additional skills as the business grows and develops into new market segments. And all social enterprises – as does business – require a consistent range of advice and services to add to the existing knowledge bank within the organisation.

Finding the appropriately skilled organisations and individuals can be a challenging task. For some enterprises the cost of engaging [buying] the skills may also be a barrier to adopting the new business model or examining a growth opportunity into new markets.

To aid with this capability building, social enterprises often engage skilled probono or volunteer services. A number of online volunteer directories – which match the skill requirements to the business offering – have been developed in Australia alongside community partnerships within the corporate sector. Just of sample of these directories include:

• Probonoaustralia.com.au
• Greatconnections.com.au/Leadershipvictoria.org 
• Goodcompany.com.au 
• Pilch.org.au/volunteer 

However gaining access to skilled volunteers or probono assistance is only the first step in the journey to ensure both your organisation and the volunteer "gets the best" out of this arrangement. And too often these experiences become overshadowed by a lack of understanding of the role, the workload and the outcomes. Often the volunteer develops detailed plans and strategies only to find the organisation doesn't have the skills to implement, or the ability to take up the approach. Or the organisation poorly plans the workload and overwhelms the volunteer with much more than was agreed.

In a very brief summary, here are some of the key issues to be addressed BEFORE engaging volunteer or probono assistance.

1. Be very clear about what work you want the volunteer to undertake. Write a position description including the number of hours required to undertake the task, outline who will be working with and supporting the volunteer, and what is expected at the completion of the task such as a report, recommendations, or a strategy.
2. Ensure you understand the legal status of a volunteer. Your organisation is required to have in place a volunteering policy document or hold a copy of the guiding principles of volunteering. Consider key areas such as;

• The legal status of a volunteer 
• Negligence and duty of care 
• Equal opportunity laws 
• Legal checks 
• Intellectual property rights 
• Insurance 
• Confidentiality agreements. 

Additional information regarding these points can be found at:

• Volunteers and the Law
• Best Practice Volunteering

And the National Volunteer Skills Centre also has further details on engaging with volunteers. 

Social Traders has developed an online resource to aid social enterprises and the not-for-proft sector in general with engaging the right people for the right job. There are guidelines and sample documents (position descriptions and confidentially agreements) to help provide the framework for the engagement of your volunteering and probono offerings.


We are also seeking feedback from social enterprise practitioners about their experiences in engaging specialist individuals and organisations. It would be great to get some comments about what went right and what didn't. Include some learnings about your experience too. Either leave a comment below or contact me here.