Welcome to the Bay Area Capacity Building Collective
Strengthen your organization with the help of pro bono volunteers
Connect With Talented and Engaged Professionals
This program connects you with talented professionals looking to give back, allowing you to access expertise in areas such as marketing, web development, operations, strategy, and more.
Catchafire's menu of 150+ pre-scoped projects, each with specific deliverables and project steps, makes it easy to find what you need and match with a volunteer with the right skills for the job. And if you aren't sure where to begin, start by talking to a volunteer to get advice and explore ideas.
Children for Change received an application from Vy for an Impact Report Graphic Design project.
Pam matched with Amy from North Marin Community Services for a Marketing Strategy Consultation project!
Alisa matched with Caroline from Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California for a New Employee Recruiting project!
Felecia from Performing Stars of Marin listed a Website Visual Design project.
Jojo matched with Felecia from Performing Stars of Marin for a Website consultation call!
Performing Stars of Marin received an application from Shadrina for a Website Visual Design project.
Gina matched with Christopher from WildCare for a Management Skills Coaching project!
Evan matched with Kim from Ceres Community Project for a Google Analytics Set Up & Training project!
Margot from Community Action Marin (San Rafael) listed a Presentation Creation project.
Gretchen from Children for Change listed an Impact Report Graphic Design project.
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) received an application from Enita for an Email Marketing Copywriting project.
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) received an application from Favour for an Email Marketing Copywriting project.
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) received an application from Cynthia for an Email Marketing Copywriting project.
Sydney from Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) listed an Email Marketing Copywriting project.
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) received an application from Sherry for an Email Marketing Copywriting project.
Joseph matched with Denise from Drawdown Bay Area for a Google Ads Campaign Support project!
Emily matched with Gretchen from Children for Change for a Communications consultation call!
Felecia from Performing Stars of Marin listed a Marketing Channel Plan project.
Jim matched with Ellyn from WildCare for a Leadership Coaching project!
ronald matched with Edmund from Downtown Streets Team for a Google Analytics Reporting project!
Julianna matched with Stewart from MAN 2 MAN - URBAN YOUTH ADVOCATE, INC for a Social Media Content Calendar project!
Robert matched with Carleen from Cool the Earth for a Pricing Strategy project!
Cool the Earth received an application from Charlie for an Organizational Strategy consultation call.
Cool the Earth received an application from Caihong for an Organizational Strategy consultation call.
Cool the Earth received an application from Davon for an Organizational Strategy consultation call.
Carleen from Cool the Earth listed an Organizational Strategy consultation call.
Christian matched with Jack from Downtown Streets Team for a Finance consultation call!
Matthew matched with Jeanette from Alter Theater for a Human Resources consultation call!
Kurran matched with Zoe from Marin County Bicycle Coalition for a Logo Design project!
Kaspars matched with Michael from Ocean Conservation Research for a Customer Database (CRM) Set Up project!
Jeremy matched with Molly from Halleck Creek Ranch for a Google Analytics Reporting project!
Dan matched with Stewart from MAN 2 MAN - URBAN YOUTH ADVOCATE, INC for an Organizational Executive Summary project!
Joel matched with Mary from Marin American Indian Alliance for a Website Major Update project!
Nizar matched with Amy from North Marin Community Services for a Social Media consultation call!
Sylvia matched with Alex from Slide Ranch for a Thank You Letter project!
Ruth matched with Marla from Center for Domestic Peace for a Video Editing project!
Lauren matched with Alex from Slide Ranch for an Individual Donor Letter project!
Melissa matched with Rhonda from Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership for a Brochure Writing project!
Niranjan matched with Nicole from WildCare for a Tech Systems consultation call!
Barbara T matched with Alex from Slide Ranch for a Brochure Writing project!
Cindi matched with Sheila from Conservation Corps North Bay for an Organizational Chart Creation project!
Jill matched with Stephanie from North Marin Community Services for an Individual Donor Letter project!
Jill matched with Stephanie from North Marin Community Services for a Communications consultation call!
Ann matched with Dana from ScreenSense for a Market Analysis project!
Amy matched with Gretchen from Children for Change for a Branded Digital Assets project!
Hilda matched with Lesley from Marin Shakespeare Company for a Transcription project!
CHIOMA matched with Diana from Marin Court Appointed Special Advocates for an Online Survey project!
Linda matched with Stephanie from North Marin Community Services for a Marketing Materials consultation call!
Morgan matched with Jack from Downtown Streets Team for a Google Ads Set Up project!
Brittney matched with Sonia from YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley for an Infographic project!
How It Works
1. Explore Available Projects
Browse through over 150 pre-scoped projects and post your own.2. Find Your Pro Bono Professional
Review applications from interested professionals and choose who you want to work with.3. Get The Help You Need
Kick off your project and start making progress.Two ways to connect!
Consultation Calls
Projects
What Do You Need Help With?
Select from 150+ pre-scoped projects or post a consultation call to get started.
Great Connections Are Made Here
How Pam J. helped North Marin Community Services
How Alisa J. helped Fair Housing Advocates of Northern Califo...
How Jojo R. helped Performing Stars of Marin
How Gina B. helped WildCare
How Evan M. helped Ceres Community Project
How Joseph F. helped Drawdown Bay Area
How ronald w. helped Downtown Streets Team
How Robert R. helped Cool the Earth
How Kaspars S. helped Ocean Conservation Research
ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS
Work With Talented Professionals From Around the World
Finding the right match is important. Each of the 150+ pre-scoped projects contains prerequisite skills and experience, core deliverables, and time estimates, so volunteers know exactly what is required when they apply to work with you.
The rigorous application process, which includes work experience, portfolios, and statements of interest, limits applicants to those who are serious about working with you. It's not a one-click application, and it shouldn't be.
You can review up to three applications at a time, and interview candidates before deciding. The decision is yours.
What Other Organizations are Saying
Frequently Asked Questions
New around here? Start with the basics.
Catchafire is an online platform for virtual, skills-based volunteering. Through Catchafire, professionals are able to directly support causes they care about by helping nonprofits with projects that match their skill sets. And because projects can be completed from anywhere, Catchafire makes it possible for organizations and skilled volunteers to connect for good, from all around the world!
Skills-based volunteering is a high impact form of volunteering that allows an individual to donate his or her professional skills and expertise, which in turn allows a nonprofit to build its capacity and focus more efficiently on its mission.
Skilled volunteers help nonprofits fill critical knowledge and staffing gaps, they work as thought partners on strategic projects, and they complete specific projects that require specialized skills, training, or experience. Very often, the relationships between volunteers and nonprofits extend far beyond the scope of the initial project that brought them together.
A specific example of skills-based volunteering is a marketing professional who volunteers to help a nonprofit create a marketing strategy.
We are partnering with Catchafire to provide grantees with access to virtual, skilled volunteers. We believe that by providing this valuable resource for capacity building and strategic project work, we can help our grantees amplify and accelerate the impact they have on the communities and beneficiaries they serve.
No. Your access to Catchafire is sponsored through this program, so it’s completely free for your organization.
In order to participate, you must first register your organization and then post your first project or consultation call. Get started by visiting the Project Menu to browse through over 150+ detailed project types.
You can work on an unlimited number of projects and calls throughout your membership. Once you finish a project, just make sure to mark it “complete”.
Your posted projects are visible to Catchafire’s entire skills-based volunteer community of 40,000+ talented professionals on the platform, and millions more via Catchafire's partnership with LinkedIn. Those who are interested in your organization’s cause area and who have the skills required for your project will be able to apply.
Skills-based volunteers may apply to your projects from all across the country and around the world. We encourage you to engage with virtual skills-based volunteers. If you prefer to work with somebody local, please expect it to take longer than normal to receive applications from a professional in the area.
On average, projects are matched within two weeks. If you are not seeing the response you hoped for, please reach out to [email protected], and one of Catchafire's Nonprofit Advisors will get in touch with you.
After the interview, you can log into your account dashboard and ACCEPT or PASS on the match. Once both parties accept, you are officially matched and can begin the project! If you need to exchange any materials or have follow-up conversations to determine if it is a good fit after the interview, you are encouraged to do so.
Absolutely! Schedule a call, or email your questions to [email protected] and one of Catchafire’s Nonprofit Advisors will be in touch within 24 business hours.
About this Program
Marin Community Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, East Bay Community Foundation’s ASCEND:BLO Initiative and the Hellman Foundation have joined together to launch the Catchafire Bay Area Collective. This program provides capacity building resources to local nonprofit organizations working to build stronger, more equitable communities.
The participating foundations have partnered with Catchafire to support nonprofit organizations by making connections to pro bono professionals here in the Bay Area and across the world. Through these connections, the Collective maximizes the impact organizations are able to make on the communities they serve.
Catchafire is the largest, online tool that connects social good organizations with talented professionals looking to donate their skills. This resource provides organizations with expert support in areas like marketing and communications, web development, operations, strategy and much, much more.
Learn more about Marin Community Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, East Bay Community Foundation’s ASCEND:BLO Initiative, and the Hellman Foundation.
Have more questions? Drop us a line.
Email the Catchafire team at [email protected], or schedule a Catchafire introduction call to learn more about how your organization can build capacity with help from skilled pro bono professionals
