2.12.2008 - 11:59pm ET

(CSRwire) NEW YORK - February 13, 2008 – Deloitte today announced the launch of a major, multi-million dollar pro bono program designed to transform the way the organization supports charitable organizations and strengthens the nonprofit sector. The announcement was made at the Summit on Corporate Volunteerism, convened by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

The strategic new program establishes a formal budget, as well as the policies and procedures to support up to $50 million in outcomes-focused pro bono engagements, to provide in-kind professional services to eligible nonprofit organizations, over the next three years. Deloitte will be particularly focused on helping nonprofits deal with the business and operational issues that challenge their capacity to address social problems.

"As part of a major refocusing of Deloitte's community involvement strategy, we have fundamentally changed the way we approach pro bono service in order to bring the full strength of our organization to bear for nonprofits," said Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte LLP. "With the same level of commitment and sophistication that we approach our commercial client engagements, Deloitte is now positioned to drive high-impact results for our pro bono clients."

The new pro bono program is the embodiment of Deloitte's strategic approach to community involvement, which focuses on mobilizing the organization's intellectual capital to strengthen the nonprofit sector. Though nonprofits are often sophisticated in delivering on their social missions, they frequently struggle with strategic, operational and financial challenges. According to the results of the 2006 Deloitte / Points of Light Volunteer IMPACT Study, 77 percent of nonprofit leaders believe that skilled volunteers could significantly improve their organization's business practices.

"Nonprofits must function as highly effective organizations in order to achieve their social missions, yet most nonprofits struggle with weak operational capacity and lack of access to the capital necessary to build it," said Evan Hochberg, National Director of Community Involvement, Deloitte Services LP. "Through our new pro bono program, Deloitte is responding to that need and delivering world-class counsel and services to build critical operating capacity for the nonprofit organizations with whom we work."

As an example, Deloitte is engaged in a pro bono project with College Summit, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to seeing that all college-ready students, regardless of socio-economic background, go to college. A team of Deloitte consultants worked to develop a reporting warehouse to help College Summit more efficiently measure and analyze which programs and methods are most effective in encouraging students to go to college. As a result of the reporting warehouse, reports that previously took 15 hours to complete, now only take 2.5 hours, which allows College Summit employees to spend more time conducting the critical analysis that will ultimately get more low-income students into college.

"At the heart of solutions to our nation's most vexing social issues are nonprofits and the passionate people who run them. Yet, never before has there been as great a need as there is today for the business community to help build the strength and capacity required by the nonprofit sector to meet the challenges," said Jean Case, Chairman of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. "Deloitte's new program serves as an innovative model for other companies to establish meaningful pro bono opportunities to enable their people to create tangible social impact."

For more information about Deloitte's pro bono program, visit www.deloitte.com.

About Deloitte

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

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