📈 #87 How to volunteer your OR skills (and make a real difference)

Real stories from pro bono projects.

Sep 01, 2025

A couple of months ago I had a conversation around volunteering options in Operations Research.

To be honest, I didn’t think about it previously, so I started digging. I was vaguely aware of efforts by a couple of OR societies around the world, but I didn’t know the details: how the process works, how people actually volunteer, or what’s expected from them.

What started as a casual conversation has been a surprising window into how many people in OR want to make a difference, and how structured, impactful opportunities already exist, often hidden in plain sight.

The ability to apply our technical skills in a pro bono capacity can be incredibly rewarding, both for the volunteers and the organizations they support. OR professionals have a unique opportunity to leverage their expertise to create meaningful change in the world.

So today in Feasible, the article will be a bit different. Rather than write my own take, I decided to go straight to the source: I reached out to the leaders of two of the most active pro bono initiatives in our field, Pro Bono Analytics at INFORMS and the Pro Bono OR programme at The OR Society (UK), and asked them a series of questions about how these programs work, how anyone can get involved, and what kind of impact they’re making.

Below, you’ll find their answers… Clear, thoughtful, and straight from the people driving these efforts.

I hope this piece of content may help not only potential volunteers and the societies I mention here, but also encourage other OR societies around the world to do similar, as well as organizations to connect with the societies to look for some help in this regard.

Ready? Let’s dive in… 🪂

🇺🇸 Pro Bono Analytics (INFORMS)

Here’s the conversation I had with Victoria Chen and Paul Rubin. I knew Paul was part of the PBA project as he said that in his blog, and he rapidly pointed me out to Victoria Chen, who is the current Chair of the PBA committee at INFORMS.

Victoria’s responses have been very detailed and helpful, so you’ll find them here along with extra comments from Paul:

1️⃣ What are the 3 projects you're most proud of?

This a tough question because our Pro Bono Analytics (PBA) Committee members will have their own favorites. I can refer to completed projects with 3 nonprofit clients from which we have testimonials: Housed Working and Healthy, Mobile Integrated Health, Mentoring Mentors.

All 3 of these clients had multiple projects with PBA. There are also ongoing projects that are highly impactful, including one with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that is studying human trafficking, one with Neighborhood Defender Service that is studying bias in municipal court proceedings, and one with Taimaka that is studying malnutrition in children.

→ Comments from Paul:

I'll mention two of my favorites.

We are winding down a project with Taimaka, an NGO that works to ameliorate the effects of pediatric malnutrition. They're working in Nigeria. Our volunteer team is helping them create statistical models and a dashboard to assist in determining which children to send home with nutritional supplements, which need follow-up care, which need to be admitted to a hospital and what their projected morbidity/mortality is. The work they are doing saves children's lives, and we are hopefully making it easier for them to do and potentially improving outcomes.
One of the first projects I did was with Mentoring Mentors, a nonprofit in Baltimore that mentors young people, primarily people of color and primarily (I think) from economically disadvantaged communities. This was my first encounter with the term "social entrepreneur" -- someone who sees a need and starts a nonprofit from scratch to fill that need, roping in friends and relatives to get it off the ground and build it the point that they can raise sufficient funding to make it a stable venture. The founder, Alphonso Mayo, learned that he needed "analytics" to generate the sort of evidence required by funding agencies these days. He had no data and no idea how to get started, so he was profoundly grateful for the assistance we were able to provide, first in determining what data to collect and how to collect it, and then in analyzing the data. I'm in turn grateful to him, because he spread the word to his network of local social entrepreneurs and got us several additional projects (two with other mentoring organizations).

2️⃣ What kind of organizations typically benefit from Pro Bono OR?

One way to gather this information is to review the PBA Our Work page and check out the filter by Organization Type.

The most common is nonprofits that help vulnerable populations, including youth programs, health care programs, assistance for low-income families and homelessness.We have also served nonprofits in the arts, sports and recreation, conservation, and animal welfare.

3️⃣ What skills or backgrounds are most useful for volunteers?

The most common needs for nonprofits involve data collection, data management, and impact measurement.

It is a common misconception that a PBA project starts with data. The fact is that many nonprofits are unsure of what data to collect.

They know what impact they want to show, but they are unsure how to measure it. This is where a PBA volunteer can bring their experience to translate “impact” into metrics, define the desired data to obtain these metrics, identify available data, and determine if new data collection is needed and/or is feasible.

Once data are collected, then the analysis skills are needed, including the ability to display the analysis pertaining to impact in a manner that is easy for the client to interpret. Finally, data management skills are needed to organize these data and provide a process for continued data collection by the nonprofit client.

I would say that many projects handle only a piece of the process above.

4️⃣ How much time do volunteers usually commit to a project?

It is up to each PBA volunteer to specify their availability, but a commonly stated amount is 5-10 hours/week.

Honestly, we do not have a shortage of potential PBA volunteers. We have thousands more volunteers in our pool than we have nonprofit clients. Each Call for Volunteers yields about 20 responses, and only 2-4 of them will be selected.

→ Comments from Paul:

I would say 10-20 responses, but I completely agree that potential time commitment does not seem to be a barrier to getting volunteers. Also, it is not uncommon for volunteers to drop off a project if the time commitment becomes too high or other aspects of life intervene, and we can always recruit more volunteers if needed.

5️⃣ Is there any training or support offered to volunteers?

We are currently working on creating better processes to on-board new volunteers.

In general, we try to create teams of volunteers, with each team member bringing different perspectives and different levels of experience. In general, volunteers that have work experience are already comfortable working with a variety of clients. Less experienced volunteers, such as students, can be included under the supervision of these experienced experts.

The challenges typically involve the “pro bono” aspect of the work, where there are not strict timelines or deliverables, so the urgency to keep on task, for both nonprofit clients and PBA volunteers, is absent.

6️⃣ Have any of these projects led to long-term collaborations or changes in the organizations?

We continually seek to retain prior nonprofit client connections, with varied success. The longevity of a relationship can been observed with the number of projects a client has with us (also seen on the Our Work page).

In general, clients know that they can reach out to us again in the future.

7️⃣ How do you usually find or select projects to support?

We have had a few outreach events sponsored by T. Rowe Price, in which they invite nonprofit organizations to a PBA webinar, and we have had in-person activities at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in which we engage with local nonprofit organizations at the meeting location.

Recent locations were Seattle in 2024, Phoenix in 2023, Indianapolis in 2022, and we are planning an in-person event at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta this year. Since we have been operating for several years now, word-of-mouth has also been a generator of potential projects, where a nonprofit can submit a project inquiry via our website.

As for the selection of projects, there are very few nonprofits that we turn away, but the primary criterion is whether or not analytics can help them. Because a nonprofit may not know how analytics could help, the first conversation is typically trying to understand the client’s needs and resources, then scoping an initial analytics investigation.

Usually, we can find a way that analytics can help.

→ Comments from Paul:

Referrals from satisfied clients has definitely been a source of projects.

8️⃣ Is there any advice you'd give to other OR societies looking to set up something similar?

I would advise trying to be flexible.

The individuals that are leading such as effort, in our case, the PBA Committee members, should have open minds. In our case, PBA started with the vision of helping nonprofit organizations analyze their data or streamline operations. However, the reality is that pro bono efforts have to start from the ground floor.

If a client stays engaged with us long enough, then a project can reach the analysis stage and possibly even the decision stage, but one cannot have that expectation up front.

Our goal is to help these nonprofits with whatever is best for them.

→ Comments from Paul:

I'd also advise other societies to check out our "sister" program in the UK, Pro Bono OR. Their model is a bit different from ours in some respects, in part because they tend to have more "in person" projects whereas our volunteers work remotely with very few exceptions.

🇬🇧 Pro Bono OR programme (The OR Society)

Paul gave me a very good last response as I already wanted to highlight the Pro Bono OR programme.

I had a conversation with Sarah Davies that led to raising the same questions to Isma Shafqat, the Pro Bono OR Manager at The OR Society. She went one step further and answered me in an already article-like style. I hope you enjoy it 🙂

Applying Operational Research to Support the Charity Sector

Charity leaders face a triple challenge: increasing costs, unpredictable demand, and emotionally demanding decisions. Many lack the specialist analytical tools required to navigate these complexities. The Pro Bono OR programme bridges this gap by enabling third-sector organisations to access expert help free of charge.

Since 2011, the scheme has engaged over 2,100 volunteer hours across more than 200 projects, benefiting charities big and small.

The types of organisations that benefit from Pro Bono OR are as diverse as the challenges they face. Most are small-to-medium charities and non-profits with limited internal analytical capacity but big ambitions to help people and communities. These include:

Health and wellbeing charities, such as hospices or mental health support organisations, aiming to optimise service delivery or understand client outcomes.
Education and youth services, working to track long-term impact or target interventions more effectively.
Environmental groups, seeking help prioritising conservation efforts or improving resource allocation.
Social justice and crime prevention charities, like Crimestoppers, which used Pro Bono OR to redesign its staffing model for efficiency and resilience.
Community-focused causes, including food banks, bereavement support charities, and organisations tackling homelessness.

Who Drives the Change

The programme is structured around volunteers who are either ORS members, skilled analysts with relevant OR experience, early career professionals or postgraduate students endorsed by university supervisors. Projects vary in scale, from brief engagements to comprehensive six‑month engagements, typically requiring between 2-8 volunteering days.

From Kick‑Off to Close‑Out: How It Works

1. Finding Projects

Charities reach out to us by filling out an expression of interest and sharing their challenges with us. We draft project adverts on our website outlining their goals, data needs, and volunteer expectations.

2. Volunteering

Analysts sign up for project advert alerts, fill out the application, and are selected by the charities. Once matched, they convene with charity staff, develop a project plan, and set data and timeline expectations.

3. Working Together

During the project, volunteers apply core OR techniques such as data analysis, simulation, process optimisation, impact measurement, strategic planning—to help streamline operations, refine fundraising strategies, or measure social outcomes. The ORS supports each volunteer with handbooks, debrief tools, and QA resources.

4. Wrapping Up

Each project is formally closed with a debrief session, feedback collection, and a short case study written by the volunteer. Completed projects are often shared at ORS events, inspiring others.

Real‑World Impact

Harvey Hext Trust, a small bereavement charity, gained a structured database from past invoices. The system now helps them measure outreach, identify gaps, and strengthen funding bids.
RUHX, an NHS-related charity, used OR-led analysis to understand donor behaviour, enabling more targeted campaigns and improved engagement.
Crimestoppers received a simulation‑based staffing solution for its call centre, reducing costs while boosting performance.

Testimonials:

“The ORS processes were seamless and smooth. We got what we were looking for, and then some. The final outcome was exactly what the NSPCC needed, and the training and upskilling provided have equipped them with a solution they can now use to accomplish things they couldn't do before."
Kevin West, NSPCC

“Pro Bono OR’s modelling transformed our budgeting decisions—suddenly we saw clear paths through complexity.”
Director, UK youth services charity

“As a result of support from Pro Bono OR, Contact has a much better understanding of the ethnicity of our service users; how it varies by entry point and area of the UK; and how it compares to the Census. The evidence informed our strategy planning process immensely”
Silvia Laraia, Contact

“Their process‑mapping helped us halve our administrative burden.”
CEO, Midlands food‑poverty organisation

Explore more of our case studies to see the impact in action.

While charities receive powerful insight for free, volunteers build new skills, gain cross-sector experience, and contribute to something bigger than a bottom line.

How to offer Pro Bono OR help

Thinking of setting up a similar scheme? The OR Society offers three key tips:

Start small but structured - Pilot a few projects with clear documentation and volunteer support materials before scaling.
Designate a coordinator - A part-time project manager is crucial to match charities and volunteers, track progress, and maintain quality.
Build visibility and trust - Run webinars, publish case studies, and partner with sector bodies to attract both volunteers and charities.

Most importantly, focus on mutual value - when both the charity and the volunteer grow from the project, success becomes self-sustaining.

Get Involved

If you are a charity looking for help with your data, please contact us by filling out this EOI form.

If you are interested in volunteering, please sign-up to our mailing list to receive regular project updates.

Isma Shafqat
Pro Bono OR Manager

🙌 Final thoughts

Volunteering in OR may not be as visible as other career paths, but it’s deeply meaningful, and it's already happening in structured, impactful ways. These initiatives show that there's room for everyone to contribute.

I hope this article serves as both a guide and a spark:

A guide to understand what volunteering in OR looks like today
A spark to help more societies, individuals, and nonprofits see the potential in this kind of collaboration

If you know of other pro bono OR efforts, or have participated in one, I’d love to hear about it. Just reply to this email or message me directly.

And if you want to explore more about these programs, go to the Pro Bono Analytics and Pro Bono OR pages.

Let’s keep optimizing,

Borja.