In addition to a strong background in finance and consulting, Matt, a principal for Deloitte Consulting LLP, brought a depth of knowledge about the nonprofit sector to Deloitte when he joined in 1998. That’s because he had spent seven years in senior management at the Philadelphia Zoo, where he served as finance director, vice president of finance and, ultimately, senior vice president of business affairs. While there, he learned the many nuances of the nonprofit world versus the for-profit world, but also came to understand that, regardless of profit orientation, many organizations face universal business challenges.

Matt now spends most of his time doing performance management strategy and systems consulting for consumer and industrial products clients, but given his longstanding interest and expertise in strengthening the nonprofit sector, he also takes full advantage of Deloitte’s commitment to skill-based volunteering and pro bono service by personally focusing on at least one major project annually, and also encouraging junior staff to get involved. “Volunteering for pro bono and community investment project work helps me sharpen my skills in executive relationships and presentations. With these projects, there is often a strategic imperative with extremely limited time or resources to complete the work. We need to cut through really quickly to identify the various agendas, key issues and strategic approaches in order to produce something of value…It is a tremendous skill-building opportunity that really serves our people. I’ve also found it to be a great staff retention tool.”

As an example, Matt and his team worked with Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the region’s premier cultural institution. After evaluating a range of business issues and challenges faced by the Center, and conducting an analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, it was agreed that Deloitte could most effectively help by conducting an objective third-party analysis of their corporate sponsorship program. They conducted interviews, collected benchmark data and evaluated how the Center was approaching its program, how its competition approached their programs, and made recommendations about what could be done differently to make the Center’s program more effective. The results were used as input to the organization’s annual marketing and sponsorship plan.

Matt lets staff know they will likely get back as much, if not more, than they give. “It’s just an excellent way to get people to think differently,” he said. “Often times, our junior staff does not get to interact at the board level. Volunteering on a piece of pro bono business can put someone in the position of preparing and delivering board-level reports, interacting with community leaders, experiencing board level decision-making processes, working with CFOs and CEOs -- often in a friendlier or less imposing environment. They learn how to run a meeting, not assume too much or too little, understand everyone’s goals and objectives...there is really no better professional training ground and, at the same time, the work is incredibly motivating because we’re really contributing something the nonprofit needs.”

Also of interest, the relationships established on the Kimmel Center pro-bono project, and a previous nonprofit strategy project in the local marketplace, led to a multi-year effort to assist the Kimmel Center in redefining its business plan and restructuring its underlying capital position. This subsequent work, which was done at-cost, was instrumental in successfully reversing the financial fortunes of a Philadelphia cultural landmark – an outcome that was hugely satisfying to the project team.