How Can We Help? Pitch Night – Use Your Skills to Support Nonprofits

Looking for ways to support your local impact community? Tap your professional skills as a volunteer at How Can We Help? Pitch Night.
About this Event

How Can We Help? Pitch Night is a live, skills-based volunteering event where local nonprofits share real challenges, Vancouver brand leaders respond as strategic panelists, and their teams step forward to help with the skills they use every day at work.

On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, from 6–9 pm at BCIT’s Tech Collider, brands, teams and independent professionals will come together in downtown Vancouver to turn intention into action.

This is not another networking mixer or feel-good panel. It is a focused, three-hour experience where impact-driven organizations from across Vancouver pitch specific problems they are trying to solve, from brand and marketing gaps to product, tech, HR, operations and strategy challenges. Instead of applause and business cards, they walk away with offers of real help from local brands and professionals—many with paid volunteer hours to deploy—who are ready to roll up their sleeves.

Hosted by Vancouver-based nonprofit at BCIT’s Tech Collider in the heart of the city’s innovation community, the event is designed for collaboration, conversation and, most of all, action. Light drinks and snacks, an intimate pitch format and an open networking space make it easy for leaders and teams to connect with causes that resonate.

These meet-ups have been selling out quickly, so grab your spot today. Tickets are by donation and free for Brands for Better volunteers. Donations are appreciated and help cover the costs of hosting this event and supporting Brands for Better’s ongoing good work as a not-for-profit in Vancouver.

How it works

• Local nonprofits and purpose-led organizations pitch real challenges they need help solving.
• A panel of brand leaders, business experts and nonprofit leaders responds in real time, offering encouragement, questions and strategic perspective.
• Employees, freelancers and teams in the audience listen for the moment when their skills match a need.
• After the pitches, volunteers and organizations connect one-on-one to sign up for skills-based opportunities that fit their expertise, schedule and interests.
• Volunteers apply their professional skills to causes close to their hearts, or join as a team to activate their company’s mission and purpose.

Volunteer coordination and follow-on opportunities are supported so volunteers can be matched to projects, track commitments and keep momentum going after the event.

Want to make a “How Can We Help?” pitch?

For this Pitch Night, we are inviting local nonprofits and purpose-led organizations to share short 5-minute “How Can We Help?” pitches on stage. It is your chance to present a real challenge you are trying to solve—from brand and marketing gaps to product, tech, HR, operations or strategy—and clearly describe the stakes for your community and the kind of support that would move you forward.

Instead of walking away with applause and business cards, you leave with offers of real help from Vancouver brands and professionals who are ready to roll up their sleeves, many with paid volunteer hours to deploy. Our goal is to raise awareness, connect volunteers and resources, and build a pipeline of live projects that carry on long after the event ends.

Space is limited, so please apply early if you would like to be considered. Fill out this to apply to pitch. Deadline to apply to pitch at this event is June 26, 2026.

Why attend

If you have ever wondered how your skills in marketing, design, tech, strategy, HR, finance or operations could make a real difference, this is your moment. Looking for ways to support your local impact community? Start by showing up, listening to real nonprofit needs and asking the simplest question of the night: how can we help?, and how can your professional skills be part of the answer.

Who should attend

• Brand, marketing, HR, ESG/CSR and people & culture leaders
• Employees from any department with professional skills to share (strategy, design, marketing, product, tech, operations, HR, finance and more)
• Nonprofit and purpose-led organization representatives interested in pitching or connecting with potential volunteers
• Independent professionals and freelancers looking for meaningful, skills-based volunteer opportunities

Whether you are an established company, a fast-growing startup or a creative agency, you are welcome at How Can We Help? Pitch Night.

What we’re asking companies to do

• Nominate one senior leader to join the event as a potential panelist.
• Invite a small group of 5–10 employees who are open to skills-based volunteer opportunities.
• Encourage interested employees or teams to use their paid volunteer hours for follow-on opportunities connected to the nonprofit pitches.
• Where possible, support the event with in-kind or financial sponsorship to help cover venue and production costs.

Every one of these actions sends a clear message to your employees and to the broader community: your brand is here to do more than talk about purpose—you are here to help.

Agenda

• 6:00–6:30 pm – Arrival, check-in, networking and refreshments
• 6:30–7:45 pm – Nonprofit pitches and panel responses
• 7:45–8:45 pm – Skills-matching conversations and volunteer sign-ups
• 8:45–9:00 pm – Closing remarks and next steps