By Cat Ward
When you hear the word “nonprofit,” what associations come to mind? Thoughts? Feelings?
Here are mine. Fierce. Powerful. Essential—and absolutely amazing. The mighty organizations that are society’s safety net, holding communities around the world together right now.
Sure, I’m biased, but I’m biased because I have had the privilege of seeing their work up close for so long. Through Taproot, The Community Bots got STEM-robotics programming to young women in under-resourced communities. Taproot helped RP Gene Research Foundation get closer to a cure for retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. We helped AshaUSA fight Parkinson’s disease through powerful storytelling
Now, as I lead a nonprofit myself, I’ve found myself asking the question: If we can all agree the work of nonprofits is critical, why is the proper support treated as optional?
Why are nonprofits being asked to meet today’s complex challenges with outdated systems, strained budgets, and teams stretched to the breaking point? Don’t tell me the answer is because that’s just the way it’s always been.
We don’t buy it.
There’s a better way. For 25 years, Taproot has been proving it’s possible.
What we’re building toward is simple: every nonprofit, when they need expertise, knows where to turn— and finds support that is dependable, future-ready, and matched to what they actually need. In a world where things are changing fast, that means less time on the transactional and more time on the work humans do best: strategy, leadership, and helping organizations build the capacity to lead through whatever comes next.
That’s not a thought experiment. That’s what we’re building.
Over the past 25 years, we’ve helped make that real—building an on-demand platform that connects nonprofits with skilled professionals, delivering services valued at more than $320 million, and partnering with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. We expanded the definition of pro bono beyond the legal field and turned it into a strategic lever for building lasting nonprofit capacity. That’s the foundation.
But a foundation isn’t a finish line.
So, what about the next 25 years?
The pro bono model that got us here isn’t the one that gets us where we need to go. The pace of change is too fast, the complexity too high, and the old model wasn’t designed for this moment. We’re redesigning it around three commitments:
- Pro bono must become essential infrastructure. Just as a thriving city depends on roads and reliable electricity, a thriving society needs pro bono to be a core component—not a nice-to-have but a dependable engine for how nonprofits adapt, grow, and lead. That means building the systems, partnerships, and expectations that make skilled expertise as accessible and reliable as funding.
- We’re building the next generation of the pro bono marketplace. That means more than connecting people—it means an intelligent, tech-enabled system that matches the right expertise to the right need, holds engagements to a high standard, and measures outcomes, not just hours. We’re developing new models for how pro bono is structured and delivered, so that skilled support is something every nonprofit can count on, not something they stumble into.
- We’re building a movement. By elevating the ethic of skilled service and bringing leaders across nonprofits and companies together, we will attract a new generation to raise the bar with us. When people think of pro bono, they won’t see it as extra—they’ll see it as essential.
Nonprofits are incredible. They deserve infrastructure that is too.
We invite you join in and help us build what’s next. Because we’re just getting started.
