The Taproot Foundation is a nonprofit organization that connects nonprofits and “social change organizations” with volunteers who provide such organizations with marketing, strategy, human resources, and information technology services. The organization was founded in 2001 and has made significant commitments to left-of-center ideologies and organizations in relation to racial issues as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The organization also operates an online platform called “Taproot Plus” through which volunteers can be matched with nonprofit organization to help them complete projects. The foundation operates in over 30 countries and claims to have worked with over 9,000 nonprofit organizations and community groups since its founding. ^{1 2}

Background

The Taproot Foundation was founded in 2001 and focuses on providing pro bono services to small nonprofits and community organizations. The organization is headquartered in New York City with additional presences in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The organization states that it has provided services totaling $212 million in estimated value to over 9,000 organizations since 2001, which includes over 1.7 million hours of pro bono work. The organization works with nonprofits in 30 countries. The organization’s legal name is TapFound Inc., and operates under the “Taproot Foundation” as a trade name. ^{1 2}

The organization’s corporate consulting program includes over $2 million of the foundation’s expenses and “advises and works with companies in developing and running high-impact pro bono programs that connect their employee talent to the needs of social good organizations.” ³

The Taproot Foundation also hosts in-person “speed consulting and pro bono marathons,” events that connect nonprofits and consultants and allow nonprofits to obtain quick consultations with the organization’s volunteers. The organization also operates an online platform called “Taproot Plus” that it calls “an online matching platform that connects nonprofit users with 1-2 pro bono consultants for the purpose of one-hour virtual consultations sessions or tackling small-scale projects.” Taproot Plus is free to users and expanded its reach to serve small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Racial Issues

The Taproot Foundation has embraced many left-of-center stances regarding critical race theory-influenced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and has promoted many resources for nonprofits to adopt DEI and affirmative action hiring processes. ⁴

The foundation’s annual U.S. Pro Bono Summit included a session where participants shared advice on their organization’s experiences in “operationalizing DEI in pro bono programming” with a focus on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. The session also emphasized “reasons behind centering racial equity in our work and partnerships.” ⁴

Another session at the U.S. Pro Bono Summit was titled “Confronting the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap” that reported survey results from the Building Movement Project which “found that people of color had similar educational attainment and training as white respondents; however, respondents across races identified systemic barriers and biases preventing people of color from advancing into leadership roles.” ⁵

The foundation also provides resources from Deloitte on “Pro Bono + Inclusive Leadership” that “explores how companies can design pro bono service programs to help cultivate core competencies of inclusive leadership, as defined in Deloitte’s ‘Six Traits of Inclusive Leadership’ framework.” ⁶

1. “IRS Form 990.” TAPFOUND INC dba Taproot Foundation. 2020. Accessed May 21, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/912162645/202142869349301309/full
2. “Taproot Foundation.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 21, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/taprootfoundation/
3. “IRS Form 990.” TAPFOUND INC dba Taproot Foundation. 2020. Accessed May 21, 2023.https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/912162645/202142869349301309/full
4. “Diversity and Inclusion Resources.” Taproot Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2023. https://taprootfoundation.org/resources/centering-community-a-practical-on-operationalizing-dei-in-pro-bono-programming-with-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-north-carolina/
5. “Confronting the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap.” Taproot Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2023. https://taprootfoundation.org/resources/confronting-the-nonprofit-racial-leadership-gap/
6. “Pro Bono Inclusive Resources.” Taproot Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2023. https://taprootfoundation.org/resources/pro-bono-inclusive-leadership/