Tool Bank Lends Service Projects the Power to Do More

Good ideas and good will are two important elements of service—but they can take the everyday philanthropist only so far. Then you need shovels. And rakes, jigsaws, ladders, drills, axes, and maybe a wheelbarrow or two.

[pullquote]For Chicago service projects, @ToolBankUSA loans hand + power tools to put more volunteers to work[/pullquote]

That’s where ToolBank USA comes in. This national organization loans other nonprofit groups the tools they need to implement their projects. The Atlanta-based group is in the process of establishing up its ninth location: a Chicago chapter, in an 11,000-square-foot warehouse at 15th Place and Western Avenue.

On a recent Saturday, president Stacy McDonald and half a dozen members of the fledgling Chicago Community ToolBank board gathered in their new headquarters to do the gritty work of getting a startup off the ground: cleaning, creating an inventory of the brand-new tools just arriving, and painting dozens of handles the signature ToolBank electric blue.

In a Douglas Park warehouse, volunteers prepare for the opening of the ninth ToolBank USA location, where Chicago nonprofits can gear up for service projects by borrowing anything from paint trays to circular saws.

According to a ToolBank survey, the projects nonprofit groups most often undertake are outdoors cleanup and landscaping efforts.

But board member Kyle Smith, a financial adviser who serves as treasurer on the Chicago Community ToolBank board, says he knows from experience what it’s like to show up to a volunteer project and spend most of the day “standing around, drinking coffee”—simply because there aren’t enough tools on the worksite to go around.

Beginning in June, Chicago-area community groups will be able to order all the tools they need online from the new ToolBank. Orders will then be available for pickup at the warehouse on Western.

Groups can use the tools for up to eight weeks, although a one-week loan is most typical, according to executive director Alisha Wenc. Groups don’t need official nonprofit status to borrow; they can be a PTA, a block club, or any other group assembled for service.

While “tool libraries” circulate a wide variety of tools with a small volume of each available, the “tool bank” model offers fewer tool types but more of each—helping equip bigger teams to make impact on a single-day or short-term project.

Borrowers pay 3 percent of retail value per week, or $3 for every $100 worth of tools: enough to give groups “some skin the game,” Wenc explains.

ToolBank is “such a simple idea,” says board member Rick Duda. “It’s a brilliant way to enable groups to do their work.”

Danielle Ayers, senior director of affiliates for ToolBank USA, explains that the group only expands into cities where it’s invited. ToolBank sponsor Stanley Black & Decker logged the original request for a ToolBank in Chicago. The call was supported by a chorus of recent transplants in the local nonprofit scene who were familiar with ToolBank from cities where they had lived previously.

But need is not enough to bring ToolBank USA into a town. Local would-be founders must demonstrate “infectious” enthusiasm for starting a nonprofit from the ground up.

Online ordering will begin as early as June, with a grand opening scheduled for fall 2016. Nonprofits pay a nominal fee for the rentals: just enough to give the borrowers “some skin the game,” executive director Alisha Wenc explains.

That extra fillip of energy is part of the appeal of the job for board president Stacy McDonald, a self-described “go-getter” who works as vice president for major accounts business consultants for ADP, the global provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions. McDonald learned about the group from a co-worker, who was familiar with ToolBank from Phoenix.

McDonald, who lives with her family in west suburban St. Charles, explains, “It’s been a tremendous experience: learning how to start a business, and also getting a feel for the pressure nonprofits are under, living month to month.”

“We have to roll our sleeves up and get our name out there.”

For ToolBank board president Stacy McDonald, who works in the corporate sector at ADP, leading the Chicago launch has been “a tremendous experience, getting a feel for the pressure nonprofits are under, living month to month.”

Growing up in the small town of Berrien Springs, Michigan, McDonald did service projects over the years—”always small things, never anything big.” She says she had come to the point where she realized “I needed to step it up, regardless of how busy I was. I do care, and I’m in a good position to do good for others,” especially given the business skills she has gained through more than 20 years working around the Midwest with ADP.

“There’s no way we’d be here without Stacy,” says Kyle Smith. “She’s the one who’s led by example, making presentations, picking up the phone and cold-calling.”

Chicago and the suburbs have plenty of service-oriented residents. The challenge for the Chicago Community ToolBank will be connecting with those volunteers. “Stacy has all the energy and drive to keep this going,” Smith believes.

McDonald says she is excited about the prospect of putting the Chicago Community ToolBank to work “accelerating” the work of other nonprofits.

“This is something I know is really needed in Chicago,” she says. “It’s something I can be passionate about.”