ESADE and its alumni have provided over 80,000 hours of voluntary consulting services, worth over 8 million euros, to third-sector organisations
ESADE Alumni is wrapping up the tenth edition of Alumni Giving Back, the first pro bono consulting initiative created by a business school in Spain. In this project, alumni of ESADE Business School provide NGOs with free consulting services in a variety of areas, including marketing, fundraising, financial advice, human resources management, feasibility analyses of new projects, commercialisation of products and services, and internal organisation.
So far, more than 1,500 ESADE graduates have volunteered their time to this project – including 380 who have participated more than once – providing business guidance with the aim of building a more socially committed world. Over the past ten years, the alumni consultants have donated more than 80,000 work hours, valued at more than €8 million. The NGOs have implemented 70% of the recommendations made by the alumni volunteers.
Pro Bono Alumni Consultants – the backbone of Alumni Giving Back – has donated its services to more than 200 third-sector organisations. The beneficiaries of this pro bono work include UNICEF, Greenpeace, the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, AcidH, the Arrels Foundation, Casal dels Infants, the Hazloposible Foundation, the Tomillo Foundation, the Balia Foundation, Amics de la Gent Gran, the Planeta Imaginari Foundation, the La Marató de TV3 Foundation, Exit, Ared, Caritas and Nutrition Without Borders. The full list of beneficiaries can be found at www.esadealumnisolidario.org.
The importance of volunteers
“Alumni Giving Back does its part to help people keep learning and to improve third-sector organisations, making them better equipped to improve society, declared Alfred Vernis, Associate Professor in the Department of Strategy and General Management at ESADE and academic sponsor of Alumni Giving Back.
Alumni Giving Back has seen a steady increase in the level of awareness and the degree of personal and professional satisfaction of its volunteers. Fully 78% of volunteers say that the experience has given them greater knowledge and a new perspective on the third sector, while also making them more sensitive about social issues. The project has evolved over the years and now also offers consulting, legal services, job coaching and support for business projects in developing countries through its Together programme, created in collaboration with ESADE’s University Development Service (SUD).
Objectives of Alumni Giving Back
Alumni Giving Back has two main goals: 1) to serve and improve society through its contributions to social entities (NGOs and social enterprises), and 2) to foster in ESADE alumni a sense of solidarity and commitment to society as agents of change in professional positions of responsibility.
The initiative seeks to encourage greater collaboration between the third sector and the business world. For this to be possible, each party must recognise the other’s reality. The procedure is simple: alumni who work the business world – as executives or entrepreneurs – get involved with non-profits and NGOs by contributing their knowledge to these organisations. In return, these alumni gain a heightened awareness of society’s most disadvantaged groups.