The community giving landscape is changing. A shift has begun in the way that people support non-profits and social enterprises and is moving from pure financial support and investment, to looking at how professional skills and time can be donated to create a more meaningful and sustainable social impact. Community giving is definitely being redefined. Empact leverages on the power of time and skills as a tool to enable powerful social change. In partnership with the movement towards impact investing, Empact believes that professionals donating their skills empowers social organisations, builds their capacity, and allows for sustainable growth. In turn, this allows the social organisations to do what they do best – reaching the most vulnerable and needy in our communities. This form of donation of professional skills is known as skills-based volunteering or pro bono service. Empact will be organising Redefining Community Giving – a series of activities which includes a research study on the state of skills-based volunteering in Singapore. The series will culminate with a conference in October. The one-day conference takes place on 9th October and is aimed at raising awareness of wider community giving and developing participants’ understanding of what this looks like in practice. The conference will feature corporations and social organisations, which are already engaging in wider community giving practices. Social investments can be amplified by complementing them with skills-based volunteering. There will also a half-day workshop on 10th October for corporations, foundations and investors who are looking for the practical tools to enable them to implement skills-based volunteering into their organisations or the organisations that they are supporting. For more information click here or visit www.empact.sg/redefiningcommunitygiving.
