R.I. Foundation a matchmaker

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Jill Pfitzenmayer, left, vice president for the Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence at the Rhode Island Foundation, works with Stephanie V. Huckel, senior diversity and inclusion consultant at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, to help connect Blue Cross staffers with nonprofit service opportunities. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
MAKING CONNECTIONS: Jill Pfitzenmayer, left, vice president for the Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence at the Rhode Island Foundation, works with Stephanie V. Huckel, senior diversity and inclusion consultant at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, to help connect Blue Cross staffers with nonprofit service opportunities. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

As the biggest funder of the state’s nonprofits, the Rhode Island Foundation serves an important role – and has done so since 1916. Now, the foundation’s Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence is helping local companies better engage with their communities, serving as a conduit for filling board positions at nonprofits around the state from the corporate ranks.

The foundation keeps a database of the leadership needs of Rhode Island’s nonprofits and uses this information to link people who are passionate about a cause with seats on boards of directors.

“It started, really, with some of our work with Fidelity Investments, when it expanded in Rhode Island in 2008,” said Jill Pfitzenmayer, vice president of the foundation initiative. Fidelity, with offices in Smithfield, came to the foundation looking for a way to partner in educating employees on best practices for nonprofit board members.

But by late 2012 to early 2013, the effort had picked up steam and gone beyond training, said Joanna Read, the program coordinator for the initiative. The program is still word-of-mouth, and nonprofits served are small and large, with volunteers coming from Fidelity, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and CVS Health Corp., among others.

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For these companies, Pfitzenmayer uses the system to help build connections between nonprofits and corporations, referring to the matches as introductions.

“Part of this is making sure that I do a good job listening to what an associate is interested in,” she said. “If I can’t come up with something on the spot, I’m able to do some research.” It’s a carefully considered plan to best serve both sides.

The customized process involves Pftizenmayer meeting with each employee, said Read, at the employee’s workplace. Commuting distance, the frequency of meetings and level of commitment are all areas that are discussed to determine board readiness. “Maybe they start on a committee,” if still unsure about board service, Read said. The goal, said Pfitzenmayer, is to be as sure as one can that the associate and nonprofit are as strong a match as possible from the start.

Participating companies report that the program produces results and improves efficiency, providing their skilled leaders with roles through which they can do the most good.

“Through our Senior Leader Community Connect program, [the Rhode Island Foundation has] helped us to place many of our leaders on boards and committees across the state, including Connecting for Children and Families … and Save The Bay,” said Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, CVS Health.

Blue Cross held training last year to introduce employees to the idea of board membership. Fifty-one employees attended and 36 were referred to nonprofit boards.

“It’s a benefit to be working with them,” said Carolyn Belisle, managing director of community relations at Blue Cross, of the foundation. She said the company formerly did these kinds of employee-nonprofit referrals on its own. But it wasn’t easy.

“It’s time-consuming, because referrals and skills need to be aligned,” Belisle said. Since outsourcing this work to the foundation, Blue Cross as a company is able to have a bigger impact on the community. “They were able to place 19 last year, where I would be able to place four or five” staff as board members, she said.

As a Blue Cross employee placed on the board of Sojourner House, a domestic violence agency in Providence, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Stephanie V. Huckel calls her introduction a perfect fit. Though she had done board work before, she was looking for a group with more of a history and paid staffers.

She’s been on the nonprofit board since June. Beyond networking, Huckel says, it’s valuable to be exposed to new facets of operations. “My work [at Blue Cross] is about division and inclusion. But at Sojourner, I can also be involved in the finance committee, participating in those areas.” She said she is also able to apply her strategic planning skills at Sojourner House.

Belisle said a true added value of the referral program is the training – even for employees who don’t ultimately end up on a board. “Whether they decide to move through or not, we’ve built awareness of the importance of board service on employees’ personal and professional lives,” she said.

The board-referral initiative continues to spread its wings.

Last month, the foundation began talks with Cox Communications Inc. Pfitzenmayer said a panel discussion was held, during which staff members who serve on boards spoke and answered questions of employees there. A board training program also was held recently at Textron Inc.

“What I’m hearing from corporate partners is that they are interested in making associates feel part of the community,” Pfitzenmayer said, especially those who have relocated to join that firm. She added that nonprofit board service can be a retention tool in that it further anchors employees to their community, and hopefully, to their workplace as well. n

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