Abstract
.-
Helping Those Who
Help Others:
The Necessity,
Benefits, and
Challenges Associated
with Pro Bono Work
W t a b l e , social welfare, and social advocacy
mgankations play a key role in providing health and
human services to those in need. The impact these
organizations have on others, however, is mitigated
to the extent that they do not operate optimally and
hctimin a manner that promotes employee/voluntea health and well-being. Through pro b o n ~
work,
we can positively impact these helping agendes.
Doing pro bono work, however, has challenges. A
sampb outreach program is discussed.
Steven G. Rogelberg, PhD
Julie A. Fuller, PhD
Ao
Steve G. ROgebl-g
Steve Regelberg, P W , Associate Rrofes-
sor, Psychology, d Adjunct Assdate Professor, Business &
s
n
,
is Dketor
of the IEO PsychoIlo$y Pmgmq Uaivmity
of North Carolina ChmIotte. His 40+ publications address 0 q p k t i B n a l research methods,tegta &
,
employee @-being, meetings at work,and OD. Honors inchde Chair of Education and Training for
SIOP (2004ba,Psi Chi Professof of the Year
Award, and a Master Teacher Award. He receivednearly $300,000 of external grants.
Conbtcttnfmdbn
S
t
e
mG.Rogeibqg
Jkpartment of Psychology
University of North Carolina Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, North Carolina 28223-0001
Email: [email protected]/edi
Volume 22;g~umber4 Wnter 2004
mrd'ing to go^^ reparts,there are nearly
ne million charitable, social w l b , and social
advocacy o r g ~ t i o nins the United States
(Rachiochi, 2001). These 11~nqimfit
entities play a
key rob in providing hdth armd hmmm services to
those in need. Their inqxtanoe to ow society is
unquestionable. Their substantive impact, however,
is mitigated to the extent that they do not maximize
resources, operate optimally, and *tin
in a
manner that promotes employee/volmteer health and
well-being.
Charitable, social welfare and social advocacy
oqpkations experience many of the same types of
organizational issues and challenges as profit-oriented businesses (Newman & Schleicher, 200 1). For
develop,
example, what are the best ways to d,
motivate, lead, organize, and retain their employees1
volunteers? Unfortunately, these organizations often
lack the expertise, personnel, and hmcial resources
to address the issues themselves or to hire a consultant.
The Necessity and Benefits of Pro
Bono Work
The notion of giving back to the community is a
common plea among many professions. Physicians
and attorneys, for example, typically see it as their
obligation and duty to provide some type of outreach
Organization Development Journal
mrmm
The First Challenge: lden~caflonof
a Potential Recipient
Most charitable, social w e b e , and social
advocacy o@zations are unfamiliar with
the type of work conducted by professionals
in the areas of organizational development
(OD), industrial-organizational(10) psycho&
ogy, organizational behavior (OB), and
human resource management 0,
and as ,
a result would not necessarily think of asking
us for help. On the other hand, an unsolicited
contact (e.g., a telephone call) fiom us may
be perceived as presumptuous and could
even elicit suspicion toward our helping
motives: "Why are these people calling?
What do they want from me?"
How to Identify a Recipient Organization:
Networking is a good way to make a connection with a non-profit organization. Qne can
inquire within groups of which they are a
member, ask fiends and family for recommendations, talk to clinical and cowding
fxulty at a university (they typically have
connections to community agencies) and/or
make contacts in non-profit regional umbrella organizations such as the United Way,
the Jewish Federation, etc. Alternatively, one
can send a letter to several non-profit organizations describing the services one would be
willing to offer if ever needed. In addition, - one can contact the profasional societies
that many non-profit m a n a g e d e ~ v e s
join for their professional development, such
as The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which
provides a partid listing of M e o .
The Second Challenge: Engenden'ng
Psychological Commitment
A second challenge is more subtle, as it is a
psychological challenge. Client buy-in and
commitment are critical ingredients to the
successfbl &plementation of organizational
interventions. For example, with buy-in a d
commitment, the client is more lilqdy to
persevere in the h e of the hvitable
roadblocks and challenges associated with
organizational development. Certajnly,
giving m organization a consulting donation-"Here is a free service9'-will not
create the deep-seated and genuine motivation necessary to make an organhtional
improvement stick. Following are three
examples of loosely related research that
demonstrates the psychologiqal complexities
of giving:
When women or minorities perceive that
they are selected into an organization on
the basis of mything other than their
ability (e.g., quotas), they are likely fo be
low on organizational commitment and
job satisfadion, and experience high
levels of role stress (Chacko, 1982). The
women and minorities who perceive
such "tokenism" tend to feel stigmatized
as "second class citizens in need of
special remedies" (Chacko, 1982, p.
121). In relation to outreach, therefore,
those who are selected without feeling
that they somehow "earned" the help
may be less committed to the intervention.
;Employees less invested in an organization (e.g., short job tenure) tend to have
a weaket sense of organizational commitment than those with a grea- investment (Sheldon, 1971). Relatedly, participation in an activity, such as team
decisbn-makhg,leach to greater buy-in
and wmp$mce of tbe oubome of the
activity (Bunker & Alban, 2W2). These
hdings highlight the importance of
involvement and investment on the part
of the client recipients in order to engender commitment to the outreach process.
Alth-m
"egoktiay motivated
helpers" expect targets of unsolicited
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help to be thankhl and ap
the assistance (Schroeder,
Dovidio, & ~iiavin,1995, .
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recipient of help may
or her cornpetexice in response to th2
offer of help. Nadler and Fisher (19!@
developed a Threat to Self-Esteem
Model to describe how individ
to help that they receive from others:"%&' model suggests that individuals wit4 '-"4'"
awbpt help that one cannot reciprocate '
buld be threatening because it &diet$.
k t h the salient nurm that one should be
equitable in social relations" (Fisher,"
Wadler, & Whitcher-Alagaa, 1982, p? '
40). In the context of outreach, therepoh,
%is important to be sensitive to pre&'
img the estam of the client recipient
(e.gi7recognize what the client is
wll), and assure recipients of
work that there is w obligation td
the favor (or that the best way-tarmiftoa t e is to continue to provi:&(he Mq&p~emntlyprowiag
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counterintuitive to the n
d
pro bono work, client
of outreach are likely to f e d
more invested and involved with
the project if they pay a b h n ,
fee*>-.wa-.,
-,
I
,
a
-&frse stix-h-
it is not ullcomnon for the