Ford uses its dealership empire to revamp how corporate America helps charities

Ford is activating its national network of dealerships to directly support some of the nation’s biggest nonprofits, such as the American Red Cross, Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity and Team Rubicon. 

As part of Ford Philanthropy’s “Building Together” initiative, which kicked off in June, the auto company is leveraging resources across its organization from its cars, employees and dealers, to help these organizations make a tangible impact. Ford Philanthropy is the global philanthropic arm of Ford. 

As part of the effort, dealerships will host blood donation drives for the American Red Cross, collect food for local food banks in Feeding America’s network as well as pre-owned tools and materials for Habitat ReStores. Some dealerships will also host free disaster preparedness workshops led by Team Rubicon. 

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In addition to on-the-ground efforts, Ford is donating $7 million to the four nonprofits to further support their missions.

Mary Culler, president of Ford Philanthropy, told FOX Business that 75 activations are underway throughout the country. Culler said dealerships in Michigan have already launched blood drives and dealerships in Texas are helping Feeding America with food distribution. In Minnesota, dealers are working with Habitat for Humanity, and out in Colorado, where they have a lot of wildfires, they are hosting training sessions to help residents “really understand how you actually show up when there’s a crisis,” Culler said.  

Ford has invested over $2.4 billion over the past four decades in support of local communities. However, this marks the first time philanthropy is using Ford’s vast network to support nonprofits, many of which have seen a decline in donations due to economic uncertainty.  

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In 2024, the number of donors and the rates at which donors are retained declined by 4.5% and 2.6%, respectively, compared to the previous year, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The decline in donor participation was significant among smaller donors, who donated gifts under $100, who saw a decline of 8.8%, association. They also made up just over half of all donations. 

“We had actually been working with some of the organizations on disaster relief. And on community resiliency. So every time there was a crisis, we would show up and support them,” Culler said. “But we began to realize that we had so much more to give than just our philanthropic dollars because we have this incredible company that has employees who wanna volunteer, that has dealerships all across the country. We have, of course, vehicles that are relevant in some cases, and then we just have expertise.” 

The company said it is increasing its Volunteer Paid Time Off policy from 16 to 56 hours to enable employees to volunteer with four specific partners. Ford also expanded its pool of loaner vehicles that the company’s nonprofit partners can tap into on an as-needed basis for things like disaster response.

Culler said dealerships will begin to “find their own ways of supporting these organizations throughout the next several months and throughout the year.” Meanwhile, the company is setting its sights on expanding the initve globally later this year.