Corporate Partners
Corporate Partners
Why we partner with corporations
We believe that corporate-charity partnerships can help positively influence both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to achieve greater social good and change the world. Through our corporate partnerships, we have been able to achieve a remarkable rate of financial efficiency and maximise the delivery of our social programmes and initiatives through innovation and scaling, to uplift lives at home and around the world.
At the heart of our partnership philosophy is UN Sustainable Development Goal #17: Multi-Stakeholder Partnership and the belief that businesses have an essential role in supporting social causes and solutions.
Corporate partners are important to furthering our mission, and we engage corporations in order to:
1. Ensure financial efficiencies.
2. Secure sustainable funding and deliver long-term system-change programs.
3. Ensure accessibility to our programs.
4. Engage companies in sustainable development.
Here’s a look at how and why we place an emphasis on corporate partnerships
Leveraging the power of big companies to do good
We strongly believe that companies can be one of the greatest forces for social impact because they have the resources to scale and cause change on a massive level. Their reach and power exceeds what charities could ever attain on their own. With their vast resources and networks, companies have an unparalleled ability to lead and deliver change. When combined with the grassroots development expertise of charities, such joint ventures can be one of the greatest forces in the modern economy to achieve significant social impacts.
Hosting WE Day in three continents
Our generous partners cover the costs of WE Day, which includes production costs. General funds donated to WE Charity do not fund WE Day, which is only funded by specific corporate partners and patrons.
Corporate sponsors also help us expand WE Day and WE Schools into areas where we would not otherwise have the resources to deliver programs. We wouldn’t have WE Day Illinois, for instance, without Allstate footing the bill to bring schools, especially inner city schools, to the event.
Some 63% of the U.S. schools that run our programs are Title 1 eligible—meaning students receive free or reduced-cost lunch. Canada and the UK don’t have such a classification, but we believe demographics are similar. While we serve all schools, the vast majority are public schools, and many are in challenged regions. If WE Day wasn’t free, many students wouldn’t be able to participate. Service shouldn’t be a privilege of wealth.
Our corporate and foundation partners help us with volunteers—each WE Day requires as many as 1,000 volunteers, who generously give of their time to ensure the event runs smoothly and kids are always kept safe
Making companies more active corporate citizens
In accordance with the UN SDG #17, WE Charity believes that corporations have a fundamental responsibility to create a more just, human and equitable world. WE Charity has always followed a standard partnership assessment (“vetting process”) that was established by senior leadership in collaboration with WE Charity’s Board of Directors.
Our partnership assessment process has consistently weighed a variety of key factors including the mission/vision of the organization, alignment of values, corporate social responsibility efforts, brand reputation, relevance of causes supported by proposed partner with young people and previous charitable affiliations, and sound practices (environmental, community relations and labor practices).
While we benefit from the knowledge of our partners’ business expertise and in-kind support, WE Charity’s financial operations and decisions are determined exclusively by the executive leadership in consultation with the Board of Directors.
Through our corporate partnerships, we achieve a remarkable rate of financial efficiency and maximize the delivery of our social programs and initiatives. We are grateful to our partners and proud of what we have achieved together.
An excerpt from WEconomy:
“Charities can benefit from corporate partnerships that will help scale social change. But they need to carefully avoid companies that will negatively impact their mission. Each charity establishes its own protocol for vetting corporate–charity partnerships. As many will say, it’s neither an art, nor a science. For example, some companies have steady track records of socially responsible action, but almost every company could be doing more. How much is enough? Other companies have failed in the past on ethics, but subsequently improved their practices. How long do charities keep them on the blacklist? We certainly don’t have all the answers for a kaleidoscope of charities, each with its own unique causes and stakeholder groups. But in case our methods are helpful to some, here’s a look at the three lenses we applied to designing our partnership vetting system. Applying such lenses might help other charities develop their own criteria. Companies should also consider how their practices affect their chance at a beneficial purpose partnership. First, we looked at charities that work with similar stakeholders, youth and families, to determine how they vet and establish partnerships with companies. Craig is a former member of the Scouts Canada Board of Directors, and we borrowed heavily from their vetting guidelines. For example, there’s zero chance you’ll see a tobacco sponsor anywhere near our WE Day stage. Second, we looked to the best practices of socially responsible businesses. ME to WE, our social enterprise, went in the running to become a B Corp, a designation granted by the third-party certification system B Lab, which puts companies through rigorous testing on environmental impact, worker well-being, and ethical sourcing. ME to WE excelled in these standards and is now a certified B Corp. The insider insight and learnings gained through the certification process informed our own analysis of potential corporate partners. Finally, we relied heavily on our WE Charity Board of Directors for their expertise. In fact, we still bring them case questions. Our Board has extensive experience in nonprofit governance, ethics, education, child and youth protection, and other related fields.
“Depending on your cause, you may want to seek specific topic experts. Our research systems and Board assist in weeding out inauthentic companies. We have declined many corporate offers in the past, and we know other charities have, too. We believe in challenging the corporate sector to be better. In our early days we held our share of protest signs and wrote petitions and campaign letters, lobbying for higher standards in business. We strongly believe that there is still a role for this type of pressure. Likewise, we should also reward companies and social enterprises seeking to do good: the ones that actively create well-paying jobs, promote social progress, and give back to communities. We believe that the best corporate–charity partnerships will help influence both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to achieve greater social good.”