Putting something back - pro bono case study

Deloitte have provided pro bono support to the Private Equity Foundation (PEF) and its 2008 Charities. David Evans explains how the firm’s Community Investment relationship with PEF has been both rewarding for the firm’s employees and partners and made a real difference to deserving charities.

All professional services firms are increasingly aware of their broader responsibilities to the communities in which they operate and make donations of money and pro bono time to a wide range of charities. However, it’s often hard to assess the positive impact that such support has on the charities themselves. Providing support through PEF is different. It enables firms and their people to fully engage with individual charities and their management teams over the three year investment period and see the real and tangible benefits that applying simple business disciplines can have on a charity’s ability to deliver against its charitable objectives.

The initial SWOT process enables PEF to identify a range of areas where the charity may benefit from support over a three-year period. This review provides a framework for PEF’s Supporting Firms to deploy specialist skills in a collaborative manner – in a similar way to that adopted on a client project. For example on one PEF charity the Deloitte Team included management consultants, corporate finance professionals and a VAT specialist.

PEF’s ability to leverage the contacts of its Trustees and founding firms also means that the quality and breadth of advice available to its charities is unprecedented. PEF has successfully engaged with supporting firms at the most senior levels and ensured that there is a commitment across the organisation to providing real support for PEF’s chosen charities.

Finally, from a personal perspective, getting involved with PEF has enabled me to meet some incredibly inspirational individuals who are doing fantastic but largely unheralded work within incredibly tight financial constraints. Occasionally, it has been frustrating to witness the red tape that Charities must deal with to access public money but overall the involvement with PEF and its 2008 charities has provided a unique opportunity to invest time with organisations who are working tirelessly to empower young people to reach their full potential and as a result are changing society for the better.

David is a partner in Deloitte’s Private Equity Transaction Support team.