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I have been thinking a lot lately about the power of corporate philanthropy, especially at a company like Ford that has a 122-year history of supporting communities around the globe. We have stepped up to help during world wars, pandemics, and global disasters. But the needs of todays communities are increasingly urgent and varied. Our country faces record-breaking billion-dollar natural disasters, and food insecurity affects one in five children. Compounding this, 77% of nonprofits say the demand for their services and programs has increased. This is the moment to innovate. Its going to take all of us, working together and trying new approaches, to address some of our communities biggest challenges. Here are three key ways that corporate philanthropies can get more strategic about maximizing impact: Build on your core strengths. Funding is, of course, always important, but innovative philanthropy is about so much more than just writing a check. Think about what other resources you can activate when, for example, a disaster hits or youre trying to help solve a problem related to food or healthcare access. Your products? Your technologies? Logistics infrastructure? Earlier this year, I participated in a great discussion at the Milken Institutes Global Conference on how corporate philanthropy can better align its core competencies with the needs of the communities they serve. AT&T Foundation president Nicole Anderson shared how AT&T deploys mobile command centers to help people impacted by disasters access internet connectivity. PepsiCo Foundation president C.D. Glin talked about engaging PepsiCos distribution network to get resources to communities in need. In Fords case, our mobility expertise is an obvious strength, but so is something less obvious: a global dealer network with over 9,000 locations, each deeply embedded in its communities. We look at them as hyperlocal activation hubsplaces where we can partner to host blood drives, food collections, disaster preparedness trainings, and more. We even built an interactive volunteer map to connect dealers and community partners with resources and support. Its a highly efficient way to increase both the local relevancy and the scale of our impact. Empower your people and lean on their expertise. Your people, and their passion for giving back, are a powerful asset. How can you make the most of their desire to volunteer? Start by matching your employees skills to real community needs. This can come in many forms. Imagine structural engineers lending their time to an organization like Habitat for Humanity, or vehicle designers and technicians helping to customize mobile health units. Also, think more strategically about how the structure of your volunteering initiatives will best support your partners. Ford Philanthropy works with a number of disaster relief organizations, so weve helped champion an extended PTO policy at the company that empowers employees to volunteer for multiple days at a time. This was especially helpful in our work with partner Team Rubicon following Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year, and were currently leveraging this policy to mobilize employee volunteers to support relief and recovery efforts in communities impacted by the recent devasting Central Texas flooding. Create alliances. No individual, company, or organization can solve every problem. But when we collaborate together, we can do so much more than we imagine. Thats why our philosophy is to put our nonprofit partners at the center of our work, telling their stories. They are the boots on the ground that best understand the needs of local communities, and everything we do is designed to help them scale their operations and expand the reach of the incredible work they do every day. Beyond our partner relationships, we are also always thinking about ways that we can act as a convener by rallying industry peers, local stakeholders, and other connections that can complement our efforts. So, as you look to maximize impact, think also about who else you can bring to the table. Perhaps its an organization that can help fill a resource gap or share a unique perspective or area of expertise. More people at the table leads to more ideas, more innovation, and more impact. Communities need more support than ever, and meeting the current moment requires fresh ideas and a willingness to evolve beyond traditional approaches. Thats why Ford recently launched a new effortBuilding Togetherthat unites the full power of our people, products, expertise, and dealer network behind four of our nonprofit partners: American Red Cross, Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity, and Team Rubicon. In practice, this means training and mobilizing volunteers with specific skills to support our partners when fresh food needs delivering or after a disaster strikes. It means providing loaner vehicles, fleet management technology, and activating our vast dealer network in a more coordinated way, with the goal of helping our partners expand their capabilities and reach. And it means having a strong foundation in place to quickly and effectively meet diverse and ever-changing community needs, both urgent and ongoing. Strong, resilient communities dont just happen. Theyre built by people and organizations willing to roll up their sleeves and take action. Now is the time for corporate philanthropy to get innovative about how we channel the full strength our resources, knowledge, and connections to help communities thrive. At Ford Philanthropy, were eager to work with like-minded corporations with similar goals. We know that we can have much more impact together. Mary Culler is president of Ford Philanthropy.
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E-Commerce
This week, Taylor Swift teased the release of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, through a clip from today’s episode of New Heights, the podcast hosted by her boyfriend, NFL player Travis Kelce, and his brother, former NFL player Jason Kelce. When the clip went up, the internet erupted into a familiar frenzyone that weve come to know all too well. Whats interesting about this particular album announcement, however, is that for someone as famous as she is, Swift actually lays pretty low. The 35-year-old singer rarely agrees to interviews and shes reportedly never appeared on a video podcastuntil now. Though there are many strategies Swift uses to command our attention, from easter eggs to community building, one strategy in particular stands out with this album announcement. Swift touched on it in the last public interview she gave back in 2023, when Time magazine chose her as its Person of the Year. She says it all goes back to the 2009 VMAs, when she learned that record labels were trying to replace her after Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech. Her response? I thought instead Id replace myself first with a new me, Swift says. Its harder to hit a moving target. That strategy led Swift to experiment with different kinds of music, bending genres and storytelling methods over the course of the past decade and a half. It also seems to underpin her promotional strategy for the Taylor Swift brand. When almost everything Swift does is so meticulously planned, slight changes feel like groundbreaking shifts. So when she decides to do something unexpected, like re-record her albums before buying them all back, like she did 12 weeks ago in May, or appear on a podcast, her audience is hooked. The excitement around this week’s announcement continued when Swift launched a curated Spotify playlist featuring 22 of her songs, starting with 22 off of her album Red, with a runtime of one hour and 22 minutes. Fans were quick to point out that each of the songs are produced by Max Martin and Shellback, hypothesizing the duo produced this upcoming project. Jack Antonoff, a co-producer and co-writer on Swifts past 11 releases, and whose wedding Swift attended last summer, appears to be missing from the credits. Fans expect Swift, like all artists, to release new music. But Swifts unexpected moves and manufactured guessing games seem key to how she continues to keep the world entranced. It’s not unlike the strategy that has consumers feverishly collect limited edition Stanley Cups and Labubus. As Inc.com columnist Bill Murphy wrote about Swifts strategy during her last album announcement, In short, never let the story end. When youve got your fans attention, always make sure to have something else to announce that they look forward to. By Ava Levinson This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
U.S. President Donald Trump will appoint Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia to lead a team charged with remaking the governments digital services, according to two officials familiar with the matter, as part of his goal to transform federal agencies in the name of efficiency. Trump signed an executive order creating a National Design Studio to improve the usability and aesthetics of federal digital services. Trump named Gebbia the chief design officer. He will report to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to the order. Since taking office, Trump has remodeled federal agencies. Gebbia, who joined the administration earlier this year, is poised to help lead the next phase of that effort as chief design officer. Billionaire and former Trump adviser Elon Musk led the administration’s initial project, called DOGE, to remake government in the name of efficiency. The initiative involved slashing jobs, shuttering departments, and clawing back funding to achieve Trump’s political objectives. Former President Joe Biden in 2021 set a similar goal to make government websites easier to use. The Trump administration halted a few projects to accomplish that, including the IRSs free tool to file taxes directly to the agency. Former IRS Commissioner Billy Long said in July that the agency would wipe out that program. Long left the agency in August. Trumps National Design Studio will close in three years, according to the order. The studio will advise agencies on how to reduce duplicative design costs and use standardized design on sites where people interact with the government, according to the order. By Christian Martinez and Bhargav Acharya, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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