J.O. Joins A Billion + Change at the White House to Envision the Future of Corporate Service

200 companies pledge nearly $1.8 billion in pro bono services to nonprofits

Fort Worth, Texas (July 10, 2012) – J.O., a Fort Worth-based full-service marketing agency, announced today that the company joined A Billion + Change on June 27 for a business forum at the White House. J.O. was one of only nine companies from Texas to pledge pro bono services through the initiative.

A Billion + Change is a swiftly growing national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer services from corporate America to build nonprofit capacity. In less than a year, 200 companies have pledged an estimated $1.8 billion worth of skills-based services to nonprofits, keeping the campaign on track to inspire 500 companies to create or expand a skills-based volunteer program in their workplace by 2013.

J.O. joined the campaign at the White House for a forum entitled “A Billion + Change in Action: Connecting to the Future of Corporate Service.” Leaders in industry, civic engagement and policy convened at this forum to discuss opportunities for businesses to scale efforts and partnerships to meet the social, economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century through skills-based service. They also explored ways to align corporate skills-based service programs with national initiatives to boost innovation, competitiveness and models of effective collaboration.

“A Billion + Change’s mission adds a valuable layer to furthering the success of our nonprofit clients,” said Jennifer Henderson, president of J.O. “It’s also exciting to be a founding member of a national initiative of for-profits strengthening nonprofits through professional skill-based community service.”

The White House forum challenged each pledge to look ahead at what they are poised to do. “Our challenge now is to expand A Billion + Change while partnering effectively with nonprofit professionals so we can change communities for the better,” said Senator Mark Warner, Honorary Chairman of A Billion + Change. “It’s through collaboration and collective impact that A Billion Plus really does add up to meaningful change.”

Every day, A Billion + Change pledge companies harness the skills and talents of their best and brightest to build nonprofit capacity, create empowering opportunities for veterans, strengthen our workforce, improve STEM education, and to promote global development.

Corporate skills-based volunteer programs have also proven to be effective talent management tools, and can help businesses boost their own competitiveness while giving back to their communities. According to True Impact, skills-based volunteers are 142 percent more likely to report job-related skills-gains than traditional volunteers, and 82 percent more likely to report that volunteerism generated new recruits for their company versus traditional volunteers. For nonprofits, the value of skilled support in areas such as general operations, technology and professional services can be 500 percent greater than the value of traditional volunteering. A list of pledge companies, and information about how to take the pledge, is available at: www.abillionpluschange.org.

About J.O.

J.O. is an award-winning advertising, design, marketing and public relations agency with fresh ideas, solid concepts and proven results. Founded in 1998 by Jennifer Henderson, J.O. has grown to include eight staff members, three paid interns and an impressive client base. J.O.’s mission is two-fold, to deliver great work and build long-lasting relationships with each client. J.O. transforms its creative thinking and innovative ideas into a product that meets the objectives, deadlines and budgets of each project, specializing in strategic planning, marketing, public relations, social media, branding and web design. For more information please call 817-335-0100 or visit www.jodesign.com.

About A Billion + Change:

A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer services by 2013. It was launched by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2008 and continues as an initiative of the federal agency. Reinvigorated in 2011 with expanded leadership under the honorary chairmanship of Senator Mark Warner, it is now housed and managed by Points of Light. The initiative is powered by the support of Deloitte, HP, the Case Foundation and IBM with additional founding support from State Farm, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and Morgan Stanley.

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