Denise Vestin, PMP, owner of IP project management, mentoring and education company Denizen of Sweden, says she donates her project management skills to different projects to “do something good with the skills that I have,” she says. “It enriches your life quite enormously, and perhaps even adds meaning to it.”

The benefit of “doing good,” however, goes beyond the way it makes you feel.

The public relations buzz and the potential to make the right connections through pro bono projects can also go a long way in growing a small business. 

Jonathan Moore never imagined that volunteering to teach a class of students learning to draft architectural plans at a Tampa, Florida, USA technical school would lead to future business for his firm, rojo Architecture.

But during a lecture on accessibility issues, he met the CEO of Hillsborough Achievement and Resource Centers (HARC), which serves people with disabilities. Working with his students and coworkers, Mr. Moore oversaw a pro bono project to design a group home for HARC.

That was nearly six years ago. Since then, rojo has undertaken a number of pro bono projects for HARC, as well as paid projects, and won a contract to design the organization’s 25,000-square-foot (2,322-square-meter) Centre for Life Development, which opened this year. And Mr. Moore, a principal at rojo and project manager for the HARC projects, believes his firm’s close working relationship with and intimate knowledge of HARC helped the firm land the project.

At the same time, he says, “from a marketing point of view, HARC has taken our name everywhere they go.”

Bill Westcott, managing director of CoreBrand Communications LLC in New York, New York, USA, is hoping that same philosophy pays off for his organization as well.

The company recently took on a pro bono project for the Stamford Symphony in Stamford, Connecticut, USA to define a brand platform in alignment with their mission statement, create a new logo and overhaul its website.

Mr. Westcott’s background in project management came in handy as the team began to lay out a project plan, secure buy-in and support from board members, map out a timeline, review milestones, and provide weekly status reports.

“There tends to be scope creep that a lot of people might think is okay because it is all free,” Mr. Westcott says. “Nonetheless, time is money and you have to manage scope just as you would any other project.”

Dealing with the symphony’s board members, who come from a wide variety of fields, has a certain allure.  Mr. Westcott says one member who works for a Fortune 500 company commented that he was impressed with the speed of CoreBrand’s work. Mr. Westcott sees this as an indication of potential for future work.

And that kind of networking, Mr. Westcott says, cannot be beat.