Corporate volunteer programs with professional expertise on new paths – introduction of the SIMPACT model

Csaba Bakó

Abstract

In the domestic business and nonprofit sector, significant barriers can be identified that hinder the wider spread of professional volunteering. As the main problem, corporate volunteers have few concrete opportunities to participate in professional volunteer programs, and these programs reach the target group, the nonprofit organizations, only to a limited extent. Therefore, SIMPACT Nonprofit Public Benefit Ltd. launched its Liquidity Planning Program in 2023 – with the support of Erste Stiftung within the framework of the Erste SEEDS program: professional volunteers solved financial problems in collaboration with nonprofit organizations. The success of the initiative is shown by the fact that in the spring of 2025, nearly 100 volunteers from more than 20 companies and 65 NGOs registered for the third thematic program. This study presents the experiences of the past three years from the pilot program to the actual program implementations, with special focus on the basic model and the topics of each program scope, on the benefits available to professional volunteers and nonprofit organizations, and on the innovative elements and social impact of the program. The challenges of the program were identified in financial sustainability and recruitment. In the future, we will strive to further develop the program, both in terms of its theme and the stakeholders, especially professional partners and to implement the program internationally.

Keywords: corporate volunteer programs, professional volunteering, nonprofit organizations, social impact, financial sustainability