Between two client assignments, most consultants wait for the next one to start.
Some are choosing to build something else instead.
Amaris Consulting’s skills-based volunteering programme, launched in France in 2024, connects consultants with non-profit organisations that need professional expertise to move projects forward.
Consultants contribute the skills they use every day: project management, digital transformation, strategy, fundraising, organisational development while discovering new challenges and supporting causes that matter to them. “The idea came from a simple question,” explains Amaury Belarbi, who has led the programme in France for one year: “We had consultants with availability between client assignments, so we asked ourselves how we could use that time to support associations.”
What started as a simple idea has since grown into a programme connecting consultants and non-profit organisations around real projects and local causes.
Turning time between assignments into an opportunity
Skills-based volunteering matches professional expertise with the needs of non-profit organisations.
The format is flexible. A consultant might spend a few days supporting an organisation or several weeks working on a specific project, depending on their availability and the organisation’s needs.
Some assignments build directly on existing expertise. A project manager might help structure a project or implement a CRM. A consultant with digital experience could improve an organisation’s processes or support a digital transformation project. Others may contribute to fundraising, strategy or organisational development.
The programme also opens doors beyond a consultant’s existing skill set.
Some assignments allow people to step outside their usual professional role and try something new. Consultants may prepare meals for people experiencing hardship, take part in environmental or gardening initiatives, support people with disabilities or contribute to other local projects.
For Amaury, that flexibility is an important part of what makes the programme work: “The motivation remains the main criterion for success. The programme is open to all consultants who want to get involved.”
Learning by doing
One consultant, for example, took part in a CRM implementation project despite having no previous experience in the area.
Rather than learning about CRM in theory, they worked on a real project for a non-profit organisation. The experience allowed them to build new skills in a practical setting and later apply what they had learned to a client assignment.
It is a good example of how volunteering can become a professional learning opportunity.
Consultants bring their existing expertise to the table, but they can also discover new ways of working, tackle unfamiliar problems and build confidence through hands-on experience.
As Amaury explains: “An association does not necessarily expect a perfect match between the consultant’s profile and its needs. This gives people the opportunity to try something new in a supportive environment.”
245 volunteering actions. 18,000 hours. 139 organisations.
Since the programme launched in France in 2024, it has continued to grow.
So far, consultants have completed:
- 245 volunteering actions
- 18,000 hours of volunteering
- 139 non-profit organisations supported
The feedback from participants is equally encouraging:
- 4.7/5 average participant satisfaction
- 83% say they felt useful through their volunteering experience
- 79% say the experience gave greater meaning to their work
- Around 70% took part in a non-profit initiative for the first time
The numbers tell one part of the story. The experiences behind them tell another.
For some consultants, volunteering has meant developing skills such as adaptability, autonomy, creativity and emotional intelligence. For others, it has meant discovering a new cause, meeting colleagues they would not normally work with or simply experiencing what it feels like to use their professional skills in a completely different setting.
Creating value for non-profit organisations
The benefits are not limited to consultants.
Many non-profit organisations have ambitious projects but limited resources. Access to external expertise can help them tackle challenges they might otherwise struggle to address. Those needs can look very different.
One organisation might need help implementing a digital tool. Another might need support with project management, fundraising, strategy or organisational development.
The result might be a new CRM, a more efficient process, a clearer project roadmap or knowledge that stays within the organisation long after the volunteering assignment ends.
For the organisations involved, the value goes beyond an extra pair of hands, it gives access to professional expertise that can help turn an idea into something tangible.
Supporting causes that matter
Skills-based volunteering is also about giving consultants the freedom to support causes they care about.
The programme covers a broad range of social and environmental areas, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The three largest areas of engagement in France are:
- 38%: Education and equal opportunities
- 25%: Environment and biodiversity
- 18%: Inclusion and access to employment
Consultants can join projects with Amaris Consulting’s partner organisations. When there is no suitable match, they can also find opportunities through a volunteering platform connecting them with a wider network of non-profit organisations.
This gives people more choice: they can look for an opportunity that matches their professional skills, their interests or simply a cause they want to support.
Taking the programme beyond France
The next step is to take what works in France and explore how it could be adapted elsewhere.
Amaris Consulting is assessing opportunities to develop the programme in several markets, including Italy, Spain, Colombia, Brazil and Singapore. The aim is to build a common approach while keeping the impact local, rather than replicate one identical programme everywhere. It is to build a common approach while keeping the impact local. That means consultants supporting non-profit organisations in their own countries and contributing to issues that matter in their communities.
As the programme grows, technology and AI could also make it easier to connect more organisations with the expertise they need and help consultants find relevant volunteering opportunities.
More than volunteering
For Amaury, who has been with the group for four years and now leads the programme in France, the most rewarding part is not simply the number of assignments completed. It is what happens around them.
Consultants discover new skills. Non-profit organisations gain access to professional expertise. Colleagues build relationships outside their usual teams. And some participants return for another assignment because their first experience made them want to get involved again. “Beyond the number of missions, this programme creates real connections and a community between employees, associations and the teams supporting them.”
That is the real potential of skills-based volunteering: creating value for non-profit organisations while giving people new ways to use, develop and share what they know.
Because the time between two client assignments becomes time to contribute, learn, connect and make your skills count.
Looking for a consulting career where your skills can create impact beyond the client project?
