“Kaizen,” a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement,” is the main ingredient in Toyota’s business model and key to its success, the company says. It is an effort to optimize flow and quality by constantly searching for ways to streamline and enhance performance. It is about thinking outside the box and making small changes to generate big results. When Toyota engineers suggested helping The Food Bank for New York City streamline their operations, the food bank was skeptical, but the Toyota engineers came up with three changes that cut the wait for dinner down to 18 minutes from as long as 90, and helped reduce the time clients spent in an associated food pantry by 50%. Click here to read more about the great work being done by Toyota employees!

Skilled volunteering is when companies and individuals volunteer their professional skills to assist nonprofits. In a variety of contexts this can include all types of professional skills such as accounting, social media, languages, analytics, construction and human resources. Many nonprofit organizations, facing tighter budgets as financing from federal and local governments diminishes, are looking for smarter business decisions. Skills based volunteering, and its subset, pro bono volunteering, “…is a form of corporate philanthropy but instead of giving money, they’re sharing expertise,” said David J. Vogel, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Ronald Hill puts it this way, “Nonprofit organizations are taking on what happens in the for-profit world because they will run better.”

Pro-bono volunteering is powerful! It provides nonprofits with expert consulting services that they would otherwise be unable to afford. There are numerous ways you can give your time and talents. Volunteer Fairfax has two great ways for you to share your expertise: Skills Based Volunteering and BoardLink! Click here to find out more about skills based volunteering and learn how Volunteer Fairfax can help you put your skills to good use!