When we set out to identify local nonprofits we could potentially support with project-based donations, Rainier Scholars jumped off the page. In their words:

Rainier Scholars is a 12-year program that offers a pathway to college graduation for hard-working, low-income students of color. We provide intensive academic preparation, leadership development and personalized support so our scholars can earn their four-year degrees and become career professionals and community leaders.

When reading over that summary statement, it is easy to glance past “12-year program” without internalizing exactly what that truly entails. In practice, this means recruiting and supporting cohorts of 60 students from fourth grade, all the way through to high school to college graduation and beyond. As if this wasn’t challenging enough, they recruit and enroll a new cohort of students every single year.

With over 250 college graduates, the program model is a proven success. We were blown away by the courage of that mission and inspired by their comprehensive services which include - academic bootcamp, counseling, placement, assisting families in navigating financial aid, college applications, internship opportunities and countless other leadership and career development programs.

The efficacy of Rainier Scholars is indicative of the value of access and opportunity in building a more equitable world.

One of the ways we evaluate potential nonprofit beneficiaries is by examining their impact and ratings from different independent organizations like ImpactMatters.org and CharityNavigator.org. Knowing Rainier Scholars, it is no surprise that they have a full 4-star rating, scoring 95.75 out of 100 on their grading criteria, which includes 100/100 on Transparency and 94/100 on their Financial Rating.

However, giving back can mean more than just financial contributions. As professionals in an industry, you can also donate your time and skills to helping non-profits navigate similar challenges that you provide for your clients or organization in your professional life.

For some that may be providing pro-bono website building, legal representation, or IT support.

For us that means providing data analysis and marketing strategy advice to non-profits that believe they could benefit from it. In fact, The Center for Effective Philanthropy has estimated that 71% of nonprofits would benefit from help analyzing their data and yet only 2% or less of their budget is spent on performance assessment. We believe there is a clear need to be met.

In the case of Rainier Scholars, after an opportunity to talk with Mary Bristow (Director of Development) and Bethany Furubayashi (Director of Corporate Engagement), we knew Rainier Scholars was a good fit for our area of expertise.

To date, we have partnered with the Rainier Scholars team to analyze their anonymized donor data to help provide new perspective to guide their strategic donor cultivation and outreach in the next year – and we look forward to partnering with them on additional initiatives in the future.

If there is a cause you care about in your community, reach out to them to see if they can utilize your skillset (or even ours!). Often the value of your Pro Bono services can be just as valuable as a financial contribution, and you will get the added benefit of helping some fantastic people make an even bigger impact in their communities.