What’s the best way to work with your nonprofit partner? How do you build a culture of trust? And how do you lean on a nonprofit’s expertise and guidance to deliver truly impactful programs - because, almost always, they’re the subject matter experts?

In today’s episode, EFG's Alli Murphy is joined by Subaru of America’s Community Commitment Marketing Manager, Ashley Estes, and Love Promise Community Commitment Specialist Nick Saraceni to talk about Subaru Loves Learning and the automaker’s partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org.

92% of classrooms across the country have students whose families can’t afford to purchase school supplies for their children, and 96% of teachers bridge that gap by buying supplies with their own money. Through Subaru’s partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, over 600 retailers are matched with high-need (Title 1) schools in their community. The dealers “adopt” classrooms by providing $500 in flexible funding that teachers can use to purchase school supplies and learning materials.

The partners launched their first national retail program in 2021, impacting more than 5,000 classrooms and 133,000 students. By the end of this year, they will have impacted over 300,000 students and are now AdoptAClassroom.org's largest corporate supporter.

In today’s episode, we’ll explore:

• How the automaker’s partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org began and how it’s evolved
• How Subaru relies on AdoptAClassroom.org’s expertise and how the partners developed a partnership built on flexibility, open-mindedness and trust
• How the automaker communicates the campaign to retailers and consumers
• How well-intentioned gifts were transformed into data-driven, impactful supply kits for classrooms
• Ashley & Nick's advice for building impactful partnerships

This episode is brought to you by Subaru of America.

Links & Notes

• Subaru Love Promise
• Subaru Loves Learning

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• 00:00 - Welcome to Engage for Good
• 02:18 - Introducing Ashley Estes & Nick Saraceni
• 03:14 - What is the Love Promise?
• 04:36 - Subaru Loves Learning
• 05:01 - Adopt-a-Classroom
• 07:21 - Finding a Clear Fit
• 11:23 - Who handles the messaging?
• 12:42 - Metrics of Success
• 13:13 - Engagement ... Year Round
• 16:18 - Process Improvement
• 20:30 - Leveraging Partnership Expertise
• 23:58 - Lessons Learned
• 27:50 - Learn More