Friends of Compass, Inc.

Compass bridges the gap between businesses and nonprofit organizations. We push the innovation forefront to deliver strategic support to nonprofit leaders. This is achieved via the hundreds of professionals that Compass recruits and deploys on teams crafted to serve the needs of our nonprofit clients. The result is a high-performing, impact-driven, and professional nonprofit sector, including:

i. Compass Nonprofit Clients. Our clients are strengthened via the world-class support of business professionals selected and deployed to bring lasting value to the nonprofit sector. Every engagement is high-touch and high-impact.

ii. Compass Professionals. Our volunteers become personally and deeply connected with the nonprofit sector. They are able to apply their analytical skills to benefit local nonprofits, and in turn, gain critical experience that allows them to thrive on team environments in their workplace. The broader community becomes enriched, as volunteers become nonprofit board members, mentors, employees and donors.

iii. Compass Corporate Partners. Our corporate partners are able to expand social impact efforts and achieve corporate citizenship goals through meaningful community engagement, which ultimately results in increased employee satisfaction and retention. Compass provides volunteers with training and support. In addition, they learn critical skills from peers on their Compass team and build upon their own professional acumen.

Compass attracts elite professionals to nonprofit service: the best of the best across a broad set of functional areas to address the strategic health, sustainability and effectiveness of nonprofits.
Compass also matches business professionals desiring to engage in board service with local nonprofits that need qualified board members through the On Board program. The result is eager, energized business professionals who become deeply connected with a specific nonprofit through board service. Compass defies assumptions about “pro bono” with a truly tailored and personalized approach on par with the best in strategic consulting to ensure that nonprofits and communities thrive.

Since our inception in 2001, Compass has built strong, reliable relationships with top tier national consulting firms and businesses in order to deliver tailored work defined by an eye for detail. Though we deploy more than 500 professional, committed volunteers to guide nonprofits every year, our program is in such great demand that we still have to turn away more than half of the professionals who apply to participate. The demand is great, and so is the need. Compass’ only limitation is staff to manage our programs and service lines.

Founded in Washington, D.C. in 2001, Compass began with just 35 individuals working with five nonprofit clients that first year, providing them with consulting assistance completely free of charge. The demand for this high quality consulting became so great that Compass expanded to Philadelphia in 2012 and to Chicago in 2016. Currently, Compass annually serves more than 80 nonprofits across the three cities by engaging over 500 professionals who offer world-class consulting. To date, we have delivered more than $400 million of consulting services, for free. Every dollar contributed to Compass results in $10 of services to nonprofits. Compass delivers stronger strategies, builds stronger nonprofits, and, as a result, ensures stronger communities.