Case study on a LinkedIn member experience of finding a skilled volunteer opportunity through a trusted provider, Catchafire.

1. H O W A R T H U R B R AC C O F O U N D A N O P P O R T U N I T Y
T O VO L U N T E E R A S A PUBLIC SPEAKING COACH
THE PROFESSIONAL
Recently between jobs, Arthur Bracco was looking for meaningful opportunities to serve
his community. In 2013, he discovered ArtReach, an organization that uses the performing
arts as tools for personal growth for individuals who have psychiatric diagnoses, on LinkedIn.
ArtReach needed a public speaking coach to help its Executive Director, Becca, overcome a
fear of presenting in front of a crowd.
THE ORGANIZATION
Artreach is a unique organization that uses the creative and performing arts as tools for
personal growth for individuals who have psychiatric diagnoses. ArtReach has been a
Catchafire partner for one year and has completed 4 Catchafire projects.
THE CHALLENGE
Arthur already has over 20 years in the workforce, but recently completed a months-long training program on
sales skills and the art of pitching. He is looking for an opportunity to apply his newly-acquired skills and make a
difference at the same time.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
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Successfully coach a nonprofit leader to become a confident public speaker.
Leverage recently acquired professional skills to make the world a better place.
Develop a meaningful connection with a nonprofit in a cause area of personal interest.
THE MATCHING PROCESS
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Arthur receives a notification from LinkedIn about volunteer projects of interest.
Arthur applies to ArtReach’s project through Catchafire.
Catchafire facilitates a two way interview call to help Arthur decide if the match is a perfect fit.
“I applied within 20 minutes of getting the email. I have an extensive theater background and a tremendous drive to
serve. I noticed that ArtReach has a healing paradigm in a space where one doesn’t really exist. It’s such a practicable
program, having people attempt to resume their lives after inpatient treatment through art.”
~ Arthur

2. THE PROJECT
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Becca and Arthur discuss goals for the project and
design a training schedule.
Arthur and Becca meet for six training sessions,
including an on-site session, to provide feedback
on her presentation style.
Arthur provides Becca with daily skill-building
homework tasks and periodically checks in to keep
her new learnings top of mind.
Arthur and Becca utilize Catchafire’s project
milestones and check in with Catchafire’s Account
Managers regularly to ensure the project
stays on track.
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After Becca’s final presentation, Arthur presents
Becca with a guide that includes best practices and
lessons learned for use in the future.
“Becca was nervous about developing
presentations because she sees things in a flash with so
much material it’s hard for her to organize. I am really
good at that. I teased out topics for PowerPoint, we
walked through the presentation and wrote out the script
so she had a base to go forward with.”
Arthur’s 30 hour project resulted in $5K saved for ArtReach.
THE IMPACT
Coaching Becca helped Arthur develop as a teacher, experience a more effective way of giving, and infuse each
day of his job search with extra purpose.
“This has been great for me. I had one of the best and hardest years of my life. I’ve been unemployed for a while and
studying sales, it’s amazing to have something going on concurrently, something I’m confident about and its clearly
in service and transferring these skills that I’m learning. This project was tremendously helpful as a practical study of
putting these skills to work. I get excited talking about ArtReach and what they do. Connecting with something you
know is worth cheering for and supporting, it makes the day shorter. This project gave me satisfaction during a really
difficult time.”
Following the completion of this project Catchafire worked with ArtReach to ensure that all objectives were met
and desired impact was achieved.
LinkedIn For Good helps nonprofits leverage the LinkedIn platform to find volunteers. LinkedIn For Good works with
trusted providers like Catchafire to ensure high quality volunteer experiences.
Catchafire ensures your volunteer experience will be meaningful, enjoyable, and impactful. All of Catchafire’s organizations are vetted
and prepared, our projects are well-scoped and flexible, and you will be supported throughout your experience should any issues arise.