Corporate Sponsorship Spotlight: Bloomberg Philanthropies
Chief Program Officer Yuri Morales talks to SCORES students and Bloomberg volunteers
Bloomberg Philanthropies is all business when it comes to its mission of saving and improving lives. The foundation arm of Bloomberg Media gives hundreds of millions of dollars each year to organizations around the globe focused on arts, education, environment, government innovation, and public health, deliberately seeking out strong partners focused on innovative, data-proven solutions to pressing challenges. Among Bloomberg Philanthropies’ partners is America SCORES Bay Area.
“They’re a leading example for corporate funders of nonprofits—their support is holistic and whole-hearted,” says Angela Bailey, America SCORES director of corporate and community engagement. “They’ve taken the time to really get to know us. They care about providing engaging and meaningful volunteer opportunities for their employees. And they’re answering the question facing all of us now: how do we respond and pivot to meet new realities?”
One big question about new realities: What happens when the nonprofit you support must temporarily transform itself into an all-virtual organization, committed to continue providing robust soccer and poetry programming to students quarantined in their homes. How do you respond in a way that provides mutual benefits for everyone involved?
To answer that question, it’s worth examining how the relationship between Bloomberg Philanthropies and America SCORES grew into a true partnership and evolved to include support of SCORES students heavily impacted by the fall-out from COVID-19
Bloomberg Philanthropies first got involved with America SCORES Bay Area in June of 2018, fielding a soccer team for that year’s Corporate Cup, the largest corporate soccer tournament in the Bay Area. The co-ed tournament mixes high-energy soccer with team-building and networking opportunities. All proceeds help fund the innovative after-school programming SCORES provides to more than 2000 kids in 80 sites throughout the Bay Area.
Rob Harrison, Enterprise Data Sales and Relationship Manager at Bloomberg LP, was an early critical internal champion in the developing Bloomberg partnership with America SCORES. A lifelong soccer fan, he captained the Bloomberg team and started volunteering at SCORES field day events, getting to know the organization more closely.
Encouraged by Harrison’s enthusiasm, Malia Simonds, West Coast Lead for Corporate Philanthropy and Special Projects at Bloomberg Philanthropies, reached out to invite America SCORES to be the non-profit beneficiary for the San Francisco Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, the local version of a one-mile corporate team-building relay run in financial districts around the world. The Extra Mile allows race participants to contribute to their own cities in bigger, more meaningful ways. The event was a success, and Bloomberg extended the beneficiary benefit to SCORES for 2019.
Come June of 2019, and Bloomberg was back for the Corporate Cup, stepping up to be the first-ever presenting sponsor of the Corporate Cup (the Cup debuted in 2003), kickstarting the giving with a $25,000 contribution. The event ultimately raised $140,000—enough to provide a full year of SCORES’ programming to 150 additional low-income youth—plus a tournament win for the Bloomberg soccer team.
Along the way, Bloomberg employees volunteered to run games and competitions for the SCORES poet-athletes at a special field day event at Paul Revere Elementary School, came out to Civic Center game days, and hosted a SCORES poetry slam at Bloomberg’s San Francisco headquarters.
“Bloomberg has a long history of philanthropy, and we like to support the communities where our employees and customers live,” says Simonds. “Partnering with an organization like America SCORES makes great sense because the work SCORES does affects the entire Bay Area community. SCORES combines health, athleticism, and teamwork with literacy through poetry and writing. And the emphasis on service excites us because giving back is such a big part of our culture and our values at Bloomberg.”
So back to late March of 2020 and that original question. What do you do when the world turns upside down? Bloomberg had been a big supporter of SCORES physical events -- games, races, slams, field days, but what now when so much was on hold?
Bailey had ideas and approached Simonds to discuss possible funding opportunities for the online engagement platform SCORES had rapidly developed to serve its community during shelter-in-place. SCORES students, more than 85% of whom are lower-income, were being heavily impacted by the COVID-19 fallout and needed a way more than ever for their voices to be heard.
And their voices were being heard. No longer learning in classrooms and playing on fields, SCORES students were now engaged in soccer and poetry through SCORES U. They were connecting through online poetry and soccer lessons, presenting their poems on KALW radio and by way of a virtual slam, and gearing up for an inter-scholastic poetry competition. Why not engage Bloomberg employees too? Bailey suggested, envisioning ways they could connect with students as poem-pals, commentators, and judges for an interactive poetry contest. Simonds liked the idea and gave the go-ahead.
“This is incredibly important to SCORES,” says Bailey. “By connecting with our students through poetry during this unprecedented time, Bloomberg employees are giving our kids powerful reinforcement. Our students know that their voices are being heard, not only by their supportive coaches and mentors, but also from young professionals who live a very different life than they do. In the process, they’re getting a vision of possibilities for their future.”
Colin Schmidt, America SCORES Bay Area executive director is excited about the future. “This is an excellent example of a meaningful corporate partnership. It’s built on relationships and the active engagement of Bloomberg Philanthropies employees who really care about the work we do at SCORES. We’re looking forward to the next chapter.”
