As part of National Volunteer Week, the 2013 Pro Bono Summit will be taking place Monday April 22, 2013. In partnership with A Billion+Change, a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars in corporate pro bono community service, the summit will feature multiple companies who will share their best practices, innovations and new trends in skills-based volunteering.
One of those companies participating is D.C. accounting firm, Raffa. Tom Raffa, CEO and President of the company, spoke to WashingtonExec and took part in our Pro Bono Q&A series to talk about his company’s history of community service, its impact on the community and the company’s volunteer area of importance.
WashingtonExec: How does your company’s pro bono work not only impact the community, but also benefit your business?
Tom Raffa: Raffa attracts talented employees who want to make a difference. They choose Raffa not only as vehicle to practice their profession, but because it is a firm that empowers its people to go above and beyond. The company’s public service philosophy and practice has been instrumental in recruiting and retaining the type of employee who doesn’t view Raffa just as the place they work, but more as a host from where to fulfill their passion to make the world a better place. This translates into improved productivity, care in service delivery, innovation, etc. As I often say, “we don’t practice philanthropy because we can afford to as a $35 million firm, we are a $35 million firm BECAUSE we have always practiced philanthropy! “
WashingtonExec: What is your company’s history in community service activities?
Tom Raffa: The Firm was founded as an instrument to effectuating positive systemic change. This has always been accomplished through both Raffa’s professional services as well as through our public service activities. For Raffa, the two are inseparable. From the time I started the practice, I’ve ensured that one of the company’s sustaining principles has been our commitment to giving of time, expertise and money.
WashingtonExec: What exactly is your company’s volunteer area of importance? Education, the environment, etc.
Tom Raffa: Overall we work to build capacity within nonprofits with effective programs that are often not sustainable because of poor infrastructure (governance, IT, HR, accounting). These nonprofits are typically financially needy as well. As such, our work can span many types of causes with a primary purpose being to elevate the nonprofit sector.
However, over the past few years we have focused some of our resources on Education; in particular, improving graduation rates starting at Eastern High School in Ward 6 in Washington, D.C. Raffa founded Companies for Causes (CforC), and the Eastern High School “cause” became CforC’s first project.
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“From the time I started the practice, I’ve ensured that one of the company’s sustaining principles has been our commitment to giving of time, expertise and money”
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WashingtonExec: Why did your company choose to take the A Billion+Change pledge?
Tom Raffa: Since its inception, Raffa has worked to provide pro bono services to those in need. So we certainly did not have to do much more to be a part of Billion+. We believe societal ills and pressing issues in our communities, are the responsibility of all sectors of society to address and resolve. The private sector should and must do more to respond to the ever growing challenges in our nation and across the globe. Raffa is not a large company, so often we carry the most effect through leverage. Large companies see what a small business can do and start to think about doing the same. The math is simple: Raffa’s 200 employees providing one week’s worth of pro bono services comes to a total of 8,000 hours each year. Those companies with 16,000 employees need only 30 minutes of each employee taking part in pro bono activities to reach the same numbers.
WashingtonExec: What are you most looking forward to at the event?
Tom Raffa: The opportunity to show that you can be socially responsible and still make money. We also want to share our model and vision for Companies for Causes and be inspired by other success stories.
