For its third annual survey of architecture firms participating in its "1%" pro bono program, Public Architecture got a little help from the Harvard Business School, adding depth and breadth to the survey. "The 1%" program, launched in 2005, challenges architecture firms of all sizes and scopes to pledge a minimum of 1 percent of their billable hours to pro bono work—whether architectural or interior design, feasibility studies, needs assessments, or any other service.
"The 1% Third Annual Firm Survey," conducted in late 2009, queried 560 architecture firms pledged to the program about their pro bono work over the previous 12 months, drilling down to details such as firms' motivations for doing pro bono work, the types of projects they take on and the types they'd like to do more of, how they find the work, and the factors that limit their ability to take on more pro bono projects.
According to the survey, about 70 percent of the firms that responded gave 2 percent or more of their time to pro bono services; another 6 percent contributed more than 20 percent of their time to pro bono work.
"Motivations for taking on pro bono work appear to remain pretty steady," says John Cary, Public Architecture's executive director. Many motivating factors increased significantly since the previous 2008 survey, including "giving back to the community," "creative opportunities," "improving firm reputation/image," "contributes to marketing efforts," and "employee retention and recruitment."
"Personal satisfaction" also remains a key motivator among "The 1%" firms. "In this down economy, there are a lot of down emotions, and this type of work provides a level and a type of personal and professional fulfillment that I think is only more valuable during times like this," Cary says. "The power of personal fulfillment is not insignificant."
In selecting pro bono projects, the survey found that the three most important variables are: social relevance; design opportunity; and project type. Personal connection and the likelihood of a project actually being constructed or implemented also ranked high as important factors.
The largest contributors to firms' taking on pro bono work, according to respondents, were increased client readiness and community or client benefit, as well as a greater selection of potential pro bono clients and better project opportunities.
Facilities renovation and facilities needs assessments were the types of pro bono services most often performed by surveyed firms, followed by interior design and brand integration, health and sustainable environments, capital campaign materials, accessibility and code compliance, and facilities search and identification. Firms also indicated the most interest in performing more facilities needs assessments and accessibility and code compliance work.
In addition to financial constraints and availability of staff time, survey respondents reported that the types of clients and projects available were the primary impediments to their firms taking on pro bono projects. The percentage of firms who said that their pro bono work was limited by their project selection processes, buy-in by their own decision makers, and managing pro bono clients (who typically are inexperienced at working on architectural projects and with architects) increased significantly in 2009.
strategic design
While "The 1%" participant firms claim to be as committed to providing architectural services to pro bono clients as they were before the economic and construction industry downturns, if not more, many of them are developing more strategic methods of selecting and managing pro bono work, the survey found. According to Cary, many firms are now focusing on internal management issues and establishing more rigorous selection processes because they've learned what they can expect in terms of return on their investment in pro bono projects and they want to maximize the benefit, both to themselves and their clients.
"A lot of the pro bono work done to date has been done as favors, when a firm principal was approached by a cause they knew or cared about, and they'd quietly engage [only] a few employees and do the work. A lot of great work was done that way, but it also limited the kind of connection a firm would have with its broader pro bono agenda," Cary says.
"When you have a bunch of people doing work under the radar, not built into the firm's process, that becomes a management challenge. It should be exactly the opposite," he continues. "Firms, particularly large firms working abroad, should be able to rely on their pro bono work to provide their employees with the personal fulfillment and local, on-the-ground connection to a site and a client that isn't always possible on a fee basis."
Part of every firm's strategy in taking on pro bono work should be promoting that work, Cary advises. About 74 percent of the firms surveyed reported they did not submit for or receive awards or press coverage for their pro bono work, despite the fact that "public recognition," and "marketing opportunities" ranked fairly high as factors contributing to firms' pro bono work and "public relations value" was noted as an important element in firms' project selections.
"We really encourage firms to submit these projects to design awards programs and to put these projects in their portfolios because pro bono work tends to be really well received by even the most corporate of clients," Cary says.
In Public Architecture's forthcoming The Power of Pro Bono, a book due out fall 2010 from Metropolis Books, several architecture firm principals back up the organization's stance on promoting pro bono work by sharing their belief that while it's good for the soul, pro bono work also is good for business.