V. Goals and Objectives 2001-2005

Goals and Objectives

Projected

Notes, Comments

Goal A: CORP will develop and facilitate delivery of an array of services to nonprofit organizations in order to affirmatively help them fulfill their mission and reach their goals, and in order to help prevent or reduce the probability of legal and non-legal crises.

Objective 1: Legal Audit: CORP will create and pilot a general legal audit.
A General Legal Audit will be created, piloted, revised, and published in Year 1.
At the end of Year 1 numerical goals for delivery of this service will be set for Years 2-5.

Objective 2: Expert System: CORP will create and pilot a computer expert system.
A computer expert system/diagnostic tool (JNANA) will be created, piloted, revised, published, and distributed in Year 1 (substantive legal areas under consideration include employment, incorporation, tax exemption, and real estate)
8-12 nonprofit organizations will participate in Year 1; 12-18 in Year 2; 18-24 in each year of Years 3-5.
Feedback will be obtained from all involved organizations and from the pro bono attorneys who work with them.
CORP will explore delivery of expert system through probono.net website.

Objective 3: Training: CORP will provide workshops for nonprofit staff and board members on topics including incorporation, employment law, negotiation of contracts, termination of employees, insurance, liability, fundraising law, etc.
175+ nonprofit staff and board members attend training sessions in Year 1; 200+ in Year 2; and 225+ in each year of Years 3-5.
Topics will be reviewed annually with consideration of emerging, growing, and declining needs. Annual surveys and ongoing evaluations will inform staff decisions.

Objective 4: Materials & Resources: CORP will create and update templates, newsletters, and website information for nonprofit staff and board members in the Bay Area.
Templates for contracts, employment manual and policies will be created and distributed through probono.net and by request.
Newsletters will be circulated via email, fax, and regular mail beginning in Year 2.
VLSP will deliver materials through probono.net website.

/ Y1 - create and set numeric goals
End of Y1-Y5 implement
Y1 – create
Y1 8-12
Y2 12-18
Y3 – Y5 18-24 p/yr
Y1 175+
Y2 200+
Y3-Y5 225+ p/yr
Annual review
End Y1 set numeric goals Y2+
Y2-Y5
Y2-Y5 / FT Staff Attorney and FT Project Coordinator required
Explore collaboration with law school clinical program to expand outreach
Collaboration with Wilson, Sonsini and Morrison & Foerster; collaboration with the Public Interest Clearing House
Requires resolution of licensing and support issues
Collaboration with management support organizations (CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, The Management Center, etc.)
Recruit legal experts to lead workshops
FT Staff Attorney and FT Project Coordinator required
Conditioned on firm approval
Goal B: CORP will lead the effort to shift the “culture” of nonprofit organizations towards one in which organizations are aware of and value the use of legal resources to build stronger organizations, to anticipate and prevent legal problems and issues, and to provide better services.
.

Objective 5: Education of Nonprofit Leaders and Board Members: CORP will create opportunities for nonprofit organizations to learn how to prevent legal crises and problems.
Sessions and trainings will be presented at conferences where nonprofit leaders and board members are present. During the course of Year 1 numerical goals for this activity will be set for Years 2-5.
A conference or summit for nonprofit leaders and board members will be co-sponsored annually. Central themes include using legal resources and preventing legal and non-legal crises.
Articles and success stories concerning both affirmative and preventative legal work will be written and distributed annually.
Site visits, or audit visits, will be conducted by CORP staff or volunteer attorneys to detect emerging problems, increase awareness of liability before a crisis occurs, and to check compliance with appropriate laws.

/ End of Y1 set numeric goals for Y2-Y5
Y2-Y5
Y2-Y5
By middle of Y1 set numeric goals for Y2-Y5 / FT Staff Attorney and FT Project
Coordinator required
Requires collaboration with funders and management support organizations
Collaboration with law school clinical programs will be developed to expand outreach capabilities
Goal C: CORP will work with the nonprofit community to envision, understand, and implement options and opportunities for arrangements for office and services space, in response to the current space crisis.

Objective 6: Collaborations: CORP will coordinate meetings with key organizations within the local communities, with a focus on the issue of office and programmatic space.

Objective 7: Enabling Role: CORP will reach out proactively to enable new processes, arrangements, and efforts which result in implementation of new ideas for office space.

Objective 8: Pro Bono Counsel: CORP will provide nonprofit organizations with access to counsel for leases, purchases, or other real estate contracts.

/ Y1-Y5
Y1-Y5
Y1 5-10 matters
Y2-Y5 11-15 p/yr / FT Staff Attorney and FT Project Coordinator required
Goal D: CORP will provide direct legal services to nonprofit organizations working in low-income or disadvantaged communities.

Objective 9: Legal Services through Partnerships: CORP will provide, utilize and improve its existing “partnership” model, to provide a wide range of legal services to key nonprofit organizations over an extended period of time.
See Objective 12 for details on the partnership model.

Objective 10: Legal Services for Discrete Matters: CORP will provide discrete legal services to nonprofit organizations, in areas of law including real estate, finance, leases, general business contracts, labor and employment matters, taxation, corporate governance, insurance, liability and intellectual property. Priority in placement will be given to matters in the areas identified by nonprofit organizations in the strategic planning process.
Staff will evaluate the process and procedure of reviewing and placing cases.
CORP will achieve a level of 40-45 matters placed with volunteer attorneys in Year 1, 46-50 in Year 2, 51-55 in each year of Years 3-5.

/ Y1-Y5
Y1-Y5
Y1
Y1 40-45
Y2 46-50
Y3-Y5 51-55 p/yr / FT Staff Attorney and FT Project
Coordinator required
Work study students will be used
Goal E: CORP will identify specific low-income neighborhoods and key nonprofit organizations serving those neighborhoods. These organizations will then be partnered with law firms and corporate legal departments, to leverage the legal community’s resources for the maximum benefit of these low-income communities.

Objective 11: Legal Services through Partnerships: CORP will utilize and improve its existing “partnership” model, to provide a wide range of legal services to key nonprofit organizations over an extended period of time.
CORP’s partnership model, in which key nonprofit organizations are matched with law firms, teams of attorneys, or corporate legal departments for an extended period of time, will be utilized, promoted, and enhanced.
One additional neighborhood will be incorporated into model per year, selected in response to emerging community needs
Staff will monitor and promote utilization by nonprofit organizations of the pro bono resources in their partner firms.
Staff will achieve a renewal and/or new partnership level of 8-10 active partnerships in Year 1, 10-12 in Year 2, 12-14 in Year 3.
CORP will create a process for the successful acceptance of the legal provider in the targeted neighborhood.

/ Y1 8-10 total
active partnerships
Y2 10-12
Y3-Y5 12-14 each
Year
One additional
neighborhood/year / FT Staff Attorney and FT Project
Coordinator required
Recruitment Committee
involvement required
Staff and community leaders will
identify and involve key
organizations in each targeted
community
Goal F: CORP will ensure that the nonprofit community views CORP as a valuable and accessible resource.

Objective 12: Marketing and Visibility: Staff will utilize a marketing and visibility plan, to be evaluated and revised at intervals.

Objective 13: Increased Demand for Services: Marketing and visibility plan will lead to at least a 10% increase in queries from nonprofit organizations per year (primarily via phone and email).

/ Y1-Y5
Bi-annually
10% increase/year / Requires involvement of
development and publications
staff
See appendix for Marketing Plan
Goal G: CORP will continue to focus on anticipating, identifying, and helping to lead the response to emerging community needs.

Objective 14: Community Needs Assessment: CORP will participate on key taskforces and committees which assess community needs.

Objective 15: Regionalization: Through its regional collaborative, CORP will identify and meet the needs of the nonprofit community in the greater Bay Area.
CORP will collaborate and coordinate services with the National Economic Development and Law Center, the East Bay Community Law Center and the East Palo Alto Community Law Project.
CORP will work with the regional collaborative to develop a model for service delivery within Alameda County, San Francisco, and San Mateo County in Years 1-3, with possibility of expansion in Years 3-5 to Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Marin Counties.

/ Y1-Y5
Y1-Y5 / Feasibility conditioned on
participation of collaborative
partners
Collaboration will have separate
funding
Goal H: VLSP will work with all sectors of the legal community, including the State and Federal courts, The Bar Association of San Francisco, law firm leaders, Power of Attorney, The Pro Bono Initiative, Bay Area law schools, The California State Bar Association, and The American Bar Association, to preserve the health and encourage the growth of pro bono work.

Objective 16: Pro Bono Commitment in Law Firms: VLSP’s efforts and activities will have an impact on the organization and treatment of pro bono efforts in law firms.
VLSP will spearhead the effort in convening a pro bono summit where key members of the legal community discuss attorney and firm involvement in and commitment to pro bono work.
VLSP will convene an ongoing group to monitor pro bono participation and pledges.
VLSP will help create an ongoing taskforce to promote the involvement of volunteers at all levels of law firms in VLSP’s programs.
VLSP will encourage corporate general counsel to promote pro bono work within firms.

Objective 17: Increasing the Visibility of Pro Bono: CORP will increase the visibility of pro bono in firms and corporate legal departments.
Staff will write and submit success stories on a regular basis to the Recorder, SF Attorney Journal, The California Law Business Journal, American Lawyer, The Daily Journal, and other legal publications.
CORP will present success stories, which illustrate the impact of pro bono work on a community and the benefits for attorneys and firms, at BASF meetings, State Bar Panels, National Bar Panels, etc.
CORP will collaborate with Power of Attorney to publicize and provide greater visibility to pro bono work in the nonprofit sector on a national level.

/ Y1-Y5
Y1-Y5 / Pro Bono Summit convened in
2000
To date, Pro Bono Pledge signed
by 15 firms
Requires involvement of
recruitment committee and FT
Staff attorney
Requires FT Staff Attorney, FT
Project Coordinator and
Publications Department staff
Goal I: CORP will work with corporate legal departments to develop and expand their pro bono infrastructure.

Objective 18: Developing an Action Plan: CORP will work with corporate legal departments on a plan for facilitating their involvement in pro bono services to the nonprofit sector.
CORP and corporate legal departments will develop an action plan.
CORP and corporate legal departments will develop implementation activities, templates, and new policies in order to facilitate pro bono involvement.

Objective 19: Implementing the Plan and Recruiting Corporate Legal Departments: Staff will prepare two (2) corporate legal departments to become successfully involved in pro bono work in Year 2, and will establish numeric goals for Years 3-5.

/ Y2
Y2 – 2 depts.
Y2 – establish
numeric goals for
Y3-Y5
Goal J: CORP will focus on the recruitment and retention of volunteers, both attorneys and non-attorneys, to provide pro bono legal and other services to nonprofit organizations.

Objective 20: CORP will develop a stable corps of 200 volunteers.
Staff will design the structure and functioning of CORP in order to maximize attorney involvement.
Staff will focus on discrete recruitment and retention efforts.
Key leaders in law firms will be invited to meetings to discuss pro bono legal services.
Materials about the value and benefits of pro bono services will be circulated via email, fax, mail, conferences, lunches and other meetings.
Existing law firm gatherings, lunches, and other meetings will be heavily utilized as presentation and recruitment opportunities for CORP.
Closer relationships will be developed with recruitment committees, professional development staff, marketing/public relations departments, and others to educate them on the recruitment, career development and retention benefits of pro bono projects.
Staff and volunteer attorneys will give presentations at meetings of the Association of Legal Administrators, Paralegal Association, and other groups who can be intermediaries and recruit volunteers.
Staff will utilize probono.net as a recruitment tool.
Staff will recruit non-attorneys within firms to assist organizations, including paralegals, marketing professionals, information systems personnel, and other firm administrators.
Staff will focus on meeting the needs and preferences of volunteers, to encourage their participation in pro bono work.

/ Y1-Y5 / Requires FT Staff Attorney, FT
Project Coordinator and
involvement of Recruitment
Committee
Requires involvement of greater
VLSP staff
Requires FT Staff Attorney
Goal K: CORP will be aware of and utilize the preferences of its volunteer attorneys and firms.

Objective 21: Sensitivity to Expressed Preferences: Pro bono opportunities will be structured and presented with consideration for firm and attorney preferences.
Information will be regularly gathered from attorneys and firms concerning their criteria and preferences through interviews, surveys, and the input of the Business Law Advisory Committee.
Information will be obtained from participating attorneys and firms concerning how they prefer to interact with VLSP (communication, processes, procedures) through interviews, surveys, and the input of the Business Law Advisory Committee.

/ Y1-Y5 / Advisory Committee involved via email on a regular basis
Extensive use of probono.net
Goal L: CORP will package and present pro bono matters for attorneys and firms in a concise, clear, and helpful manner.

Objective 22: Staff will rigorously screen client organizations, gather all key information from client organizations, to fully prepare the volunteer attorney, and streamline process to facilitate attorney involvement, reduce time to get approval from firm, and accelerate the conflicts-check process.
Criteria and priorities will be established and reviewed periodically with input from advisory committees.

/ Y1-Y5 / Firm commitment required to
effect change
Goal M: CORP will develop and utilize a variety of recognition activities to give visibility to attorneys and firms who do pro bono work.

Objective 23: Recognition of Volunteers:
CORP will get volunteers recognized at the local, state or national level through articles and formal awards.
CORP will recognize volunteers through informal efforts such as a volunteer appreciation dinner, phone calls, thank you cards, etc.

/ Y1-Y5 / Requires involvement of awards
and recognition VLSP staff
Goal N: CORP will provide abundant resources, support, and training for attorneys who commit to pro bono projects and partnerships.

Objective 24: Resources: CORP will develop and update written materials, manuals, and training videos for use by pro bono attorneys and advocates.

Objective 25: CORP will add to its cadre of experts to serve as mentors.

Objective 26: Website: CORP staff will develop, monitor, update and enhance its probono.net website
Staff will post materials, monitor and update the Library page on a daily basis, and ensure that these materials are helpful to volunteer attorneys.
Staff will monitor, screen and respond to messages on a daily basis on the Message Board.
Staff will monitor the News page and post relevant and timely articles.
Staff will post pro bono opportunities on an ongoing basis and daily monitor the New Matters page.
Staff will update and monitor the Calendar page with trainings, conferences, and other events.
Staff will monitor the Roster page on a daily basis, and immediately respond to new volunteer attorneys.

/ Y2-Y5
Y1-Y5
Y1-Y5 / Incorporation training manual
recently updated; additional
training topics to be determined
Relevant areas of expertise to be
determined in Y1
FT Staff Attorney and FT Project
Coordinator required
Goal O: CORP will have a development strategy with an emphasis on diversifying its revenue sources for continued financial viability.

Objective 27: Diversification and development Activities: VLSP staff will develop three (3) new sources of revenue by Year 2, and two (2) additional sources of revenue by Year 3. Program staff will regularly confer with Development staff to maximize effectiveness of fund-raising efforts.

/ Y2 – 3 new funding sources
Y3 – 2 new funding sources / Requires involvement of VLSP Institutional Grant Development Director and VLSP Director
Quarterly meetings between CORP and Development staff to review fundraising strategy
Goal P: CORP will prioritize long-term, multi-year sources of funding for development efforts.

Objective 28: Education of Foundation and Other Funding Officers:
Presentations at conferences where these individuals are present will emphasize how pro bono legal services protect the foundation’s investment in the supported organizations.
Staff will schedule opportunities to meet with foundation staff and other funders.
Staff will work to increase funders’ understanding of the value of legal assistance, technical assistance, and the prevention of costly legal crises.

Objective 29: Alliances with funders: VLSP director will take a lead role in building an alliance between funders and legal services programs.

/ Y1-Y5 / Requires involvement of VLSP
Director and the Institutional Grant
Development Director
Goal Q: CORP will recruit and retain staff with key skills to insure the success of the project.