This two-year initiative gives local organizations free access to skilled pro bono talent—helping leaders build resilience, run stronger organizations, and advance economic mobility for kids and families.
Nonprofits across Los Angeles County are being asked to solve bigger problems with fewer resources. Between shifting grant cycles, rising overhead, and the ongoing work of helping communities recover from the 2025 wildfires, teams are stretched thin.
Preparing for the perfect match
Like mission-driven teams across the country, local leaders are constantly pushed to "do more with less." The reality on the ground often looks like:
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Funding that only covers programmatic work, but leaves core operating costs unfunded
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High consultant fees that small organizations simply cannot afford
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Technology and software that promise efficiency, but require training and time that lean teams don't have
For most nonprofit leaders, the roadblock isn't a lack of vision or drive. It’s simply not having enough hours in the day or hands on deck.
To help bridge that gap, Ballmer Group is partnering with Catchafire to expand access to skills-based volunteering across Los Angeles County.
Through this two-year initiative, local nonprofits can join Catchafire at no cost. The platform pairs organizations directly with experienced professionals who donate their time and skills in finance, marketing, technology, human resources, fundraising, and more.
The goal is practical: help nonprofits shore up their back-office operations, stretch limited budgets, and keep their attention focused where it matters most—on their communities. The sector calls this "capacity building." We simply think of it as getting dedicated teams the day-to-day help they need so they can focus on their mission.
Why Catchafire?
Ballmer Group focuses on investments that leverage proven, established platforms capable of putting meaningful resources to work quickly.
Catchafire was built around this operational need. As the nation's leading platform for skills-based volunteering, Catchafire has helped more than 15,000 small and mid-sized nonprofits close critical staffing and skill gaps. Pairing on-demand professional expertise with traditional funding helps organizations create lasting internal infrastructure without draining their budgets—allowing every direct dollar to go further.
Rather than limiting access only to current Ballmer Group grantees, this initiative is open to the wider Los Angeles community. Program access is available to:
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Community organizations supporting ongoing recovery from the 2025 wildfires
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Nonprofits currently on Catchafire’s waitlist
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Existing Ballmer Group partners
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Additional local organizations connected through regional networks
“Nonprofits are the backbone of Los Angeles, yet so many leaders are forced to spend critical hours troubleshooting administrative bottlenecks instead of delivering direct services. By partnering with Catchafire, we can remove the cost barrier and connect hundreds of community organizations with dedicated, high-caliber talent—unlocking millions of dollars in pro bono support and delivering a practical, countywide resource for Los Angeles.”
— Christine Tran, Portfolio Manager, Los Angeles
As an anchor investment, Ballmer Group’s grant covers foundational program costs, lowering the financial threshold for peer foundations to extend Catchafire to their own grantee networks. This shared approach fosters a truly collaborative, countywide ecosystem of support for Los Angeles nonprofits.
How it works
Catchafire is an online platform that matches nonprofits with experienced professionals for flexible, short-term support. Whether an organization needs a 60-minute advisory call or a multi-week project, Catchafire provides pre-scoped templates and hands-on guidance so projects move quickly off the to-do list and into action.
For Los Angeles County nonprofits, this support spans four core areas:
- Strengthening teams and operations: Draft employee handbooks, refine hiring practices, build volunteer programs, or connect with an executive coach during leadership transitions.
- Building financial resilience: Review accounting systems, build operating budgets, forecast cash flow, and set up clear internal financial controls.
- Expanding communications and technology: Refresh websites, map out digital marketing strategies, design annual impact reports, or learn how to safely adopt AI tools.
- Advancing fundraising and governance: Review grant proposals, identify new prospective donors, plan fundraising campaigns, or assess board engagement.
At Catchafire, that’s the gap we’ve built our work around: not another one-time intervention, but infrastructure supporting — a layer that sits underneath the grant, available continuously, sized to fit organizations with two staff members and organizations with 200, and structured so that asking for help is never mistaken for admitting failure.
Funders don’t have to choose between funding programs and funding capacity. The nonprofits doing the sector’s most important work need both — and they need the second one to actually last. We’re grateful to the Ballmer Group team for this partnership.
