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Francis says.“ Embedding pro bono work into the financial advisory profession would be a powerful step toward greater financial equity.”
Making Pro Bono Work
While some might feel it’ s a moral imperative to give back, it’ s not always easy to persuade professionals to give away their core product— financial advice— for free, especially when they’ ve got their minds on other important matters— such as a competitive landscape that has firm founders more concerned about mergers and acquisitions or building out artificial intelligence platforms, according to Dauphiné.
And beyond these day-to-day entrepreneurial worries, many firms and advisors simply don’ t know how to get into the pro bono game.
Dauphiné has embraced the challenge of raising awareness through his work leading the Foundation for Financial Planning. The foundation says it has“ activated” more than 30,000 advisors over the years and has some 100 RIA partners, ranging from mega-firms such as Edelman Financial Engines to Abacus of Santa Monica, Calif.
A lawyer who early in his career worked pro bono to help some Boston residents avoid evictions, Dauphiné allows that the younger financial advisory profession is just“ scratching the surface” in becoming more like the legal world in incorporating pro bono service into its larger business models and strategies. But he’ s encouraged enough by the rising interest among RIAs and current trends to reaffirm his“ aggressive” goal of having 30 % of all CFP professionals reporting pro bono hours to the CFP Board by 2030( currently, it’ s about 17 %).
He says it was a landmark moment when the CFP Board began recommending two years ago that all certified professionals provide at least 20 hours of pro bono annually. The board is considering a proposal that would allow some level of pro bono service to count toward continuing education credit.
The foundation acts as an intermediary for advisors looking to volunteer and ac- cess its ProBonoPlannermatch. org platform. It also makes grants to nonprofits such as Saavy Ladies whose constituents need financial assistance. The foundation matches volunteer advisors with advisors at partner firms such as ReFrame Wealth. To encourage volunteers, the organization has also begun to offer complimentary liability insurance, Dauphiné says.
The Financial Planning Association is also pushing pro bono efforts. Pete Bosse, a retired Army major general who is now on the board of directors of the FPA’ s San Antonio & South Texas chapter, says that more than 104,000 licensed advisors continue to increase their pro bono engagement through the FPA— and that volunteer hours rose 30 % year over year from 2023 to 2024.( Bosse also heads a one-man practice, MFPA Financial Planning, in the San Antonio area.)
Francis, of Francis Financial, tells other RIAs thinking of providing these services to“ start small and be intentional. The biggest challenge is often logistical— allocating time and resources while maintaining client service standards,” she says, so it’ s important to“ align your efforts with organizations that share your values, and be sure to create structure around how advisors can participate.”
‘ You Can’ t Afford Not To’
The Trump administration’ s downsizing of the federal government has led to legions of laid off low- to moderate-income federal workers seeking financial assistance. The Foundation for Financial Planning has stepped into the breach by providing such workers access to retirement-planning webinars and other services.
Meanwhile, consulting firms such as McKinsey & Co. are predicting a significant shortfall in advisors in the industry as older ones retire. That means it’ s simply incumbent on RIAs to find ways to stand out to advisors such as Wilson or lose the chase for a shrinking pool of talent.
For industry veterans such as Clark of Charles Schwab, the question for firms and advisors isn’ t whether this activity pays off. The question, he says, is:“ Can you afford not to be doing pro bono?”
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JULY / AUGUST 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 23