Ford rethinks philanthropy for better community reach and disaster response

- Ford Motor Co. is launching Ford Building Together, a new philanthropy program uniting corporate leaders, employees, dealerships, and nonprofits.
- The program aims to improve disaster relief and community building through coordinated efforts and shared resources.
- Ford is increasing employee paid volunteer time off to 56 hours and implementing a vehicle-loan program for nonprofits.
Ford Motor Co. is taking its philanthropy to the next level with a new program that gives employees more paid time off to volunteer, has more involvement with its national dealership network and even loans its vehicles to those nonprofits in need.
The Dearborn-based automaker announced the launch of Ford Building Together on June 17. Ford Building Together is a new program aimed at better unifying Ford corporate leaders, Ford employees, Ford dealerships and nonprofit groups when responding to a crisis. The idea is if they work closer together and share the same visions, making the response more effective.
"We know if we brought the whole power of the organization together we can have a better impact," Mary Culler, president of Ford Philanthropy, told the Detroit Free Press. "The goal here is to think about disaster relief and community building. If everyone is moving in the same direction to support those in need and have the same goals, that will have a bigger impact.”
To promote the new program, Ford called on actor Bryan Cranston, most famous for his role as a chemistry teacher turned meth maker in the 2008 hit show Breaking Bad. Cranston, who is big on philanthropy, also voices many of Ford's car commercials. He is also the voice of Ford Philanthorpy videos, Culler said.
"Bryan is one of the most amazing philanthropic people I know," Culler said. "He approached us asking ... how could he help us amplify some of the work we’ve done after he’d done some work with us in Puerto Rico a few years ago."
Culler said Ford Building Together will focus its efforts on four specific nonprofit organizations that it has worked with for many years: the American Red Cross, Feeding America (the largest network of food banks), Habitat for Humanity (a global nonprofit providing housing for the needy), and Team Rubicon, the veteran-led humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief and aid nationwide. By uniting Ford's entire organization, plus its dealers, with the nonprofits, it will help these nonprofits have more community reach, she said.
“Imagine when you have a disaster and you’re trying to build resilience in a community and every dealer in the country did a blood drive?" Culler said. "What an impact that would have! So this is about networking.”
Culler said Ford Building Together has already started on a small scale. In Texas, Ford dealers are currently collecting food to help Feeding America. In Minnesota, Ford dealers will be collecting tools and home materials to support Habitat for Humanity and in Colorado, some dealers are holding community disaster preparedness seminars.
Besides calling on the dealership network, Ford has increased its Volunteer Paid Time Off policy from 16 hours to 56 hours to encourage Ford employees to lend their skills and expertise to the nonprofits, Culler said.
“Volunteering in this country is so needed," Culler said. "Our volunteering has gone up 56% this year alone because we have made it easier to volunteer and have added paid time off to do it. It’s giving our Ford employees a sense of purpose, which is core to our DNA as a company.”
The program will also include vehicle loans, Ford said, so that it can lend its technology and vehicles to strengthen the services of the nonprofits.
Culler noted that earlier this year, Ford Philanthropy partnered with dealers to help aid in the California wildfires and it had a significant impact. When the fires broke out, she said, Ford's dealers across 13 western states called Ford Philanthropy asking how to donate goods and help the community in other ways.
"We decided together to have a consolidated approach … in a coordinated effort," Culler said. "We decided to fund two organizations where we provided funding and the dealers matched the money.”
The dealers joined together to donate funds to those impacted by the California Wildfires and together with Ford Philanthropy contributed $465,000 to local organizations. The money supported food distribution, housing for people displaced, clothing and more.
“Ultimately the organizations will benefit from whether it’s financially or the other resources we’re bringing to the table such as expertise, the volunteers, and with Team Rubican, for example, a lot of people didn’t know what it was and we helped lift them up and tell their story," Culler said.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.