Help us make magic happen - launching HelpTank to connect charities with the specialist skills they need probono

Help us make magic happen!

The Who Did You Help Today Trust is on a mission to mobilise more talented New Zealanders to donate their skills, through making it quick and easy to connect with a charity in need of their particular expertise.

We’ve just finished piloting HelpTank – a digital marketplace that will be a game changer in supplying professional skills pro bono to organisations working to improve New Zealand socially, economically and environmentally.

HelpTank's needed because New Zealand’s not for profits deliver vital services, contributing nearly $6b to our GDP. Yet these important organisations commonly report struggling to get the professional skills needed to maximise their success.

Meanwhile, while volunteering is in our DNA - official statistics showing 1.2m New Zealanders volunteer - professionals told us they struggle to find a charity that needs their skills.

Employers offering paid volunteering leave have told us that only a minority of staff use it.

HelpTank offer a connection pathway between charities and professional skills. It provides guidance and templates so not for profits write up a realistic description of the task they are seeking pro bono help with. They then advertise it.

Volunteers search on the sector they want to work for; the skill they have to offer; and the location they want to work in (or they may be happy to work remotely). They then apply for assignments that match.

HelpTank delivers and quantifies the impact of employee volunteering programmes through efficiently matching staff with suitable opportunities, and providing feedback and reporting to the employer.

We’re currently improving our platform as a result of learnings from the pilot and preparing for a mid-2017 launch. We’ve just recruited a part-time Chief Executive and are now looking for two other roles to liaise with not for profits, volunteers and employers. They’ll grow the HelpTank community so we can start to experience the magic created by increased connection and helping.