Pro Bono work can be a great networking tool. Volunteering for community organizations will give you access to a whole new set of people, possibly very different from those you would you usually spend time with. It can also put you in touch with the industry’s “big fish.” The people who make up the boards of these organizations tend to be the community’s corporate leadership. But here are a few rules of thumb:

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* Only choose causes, organizations and activities which you would enjoy per se, even without any other benefits. Otherwise, you run the risk both of appearing shallow and of being disappointed.
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* Be realistic regarding your time commitment. How many hours per week, month, or year, will you truly be able to devote to your cause?

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To find out more, take a look at the grand central marketplace of volunteering opportunities in New York is New York Cares: http://www.nycares.org. You’ll be able to search by date, by activity, even by population served. A tip from Elena Gartner Goldstein, expert volunteer manager: the websites that the pros go to are www.idealist.org and www.volunteermatch.com.

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One organization I highly recommend is StreetWise Partners. Their mission is to build mentoring relationships between low-income individuals and volunteer business professionals to develop workplace skills and employment networks as the bridge to a successful career. They are an incredibly enthusiastic, efficient, well-run organization– one of the best I’ve seen. You can get involved by volunteering to mentor one of their participants or, of course, as a corporate sponsor.

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If you want to get your company involved, Goldstein advises that a good way to get support from the corporate world is to talk about social responsibility as a way to raise the company’s profile. Indeed, social responsibility is an increasingly important factor for many investors, as evidenced by the growing numbers of Socially Responsible Investment Funds (SRIs), which only invest in socially responsible companies. One of the major players in this market, The Domini Social Investment Fund, offers an index fund which has beaten the market over the past ten years. Another way to do well by doing good…

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