Charities Tap Skills of Jobless Professionals

Glut of volunteers
"We've never seen that before. It's absolutely stunning," Reda said. "It's getting harder to put together enough projects for all the volunteers."

This illustrates an enormous missed opportunity for nonprofits. As charities scale back in the face of dwindling donations, many are laying off staff, including volunteer coordinators. While charities can easily add volunteers who want to ladle soup or clean a creek, absorbing professionals with complex skills takes management hours charities no longer have.