City Year’s Information Packet for Corporate Partnerships

City Year has a long history of forming partnerships with companies, largely through its Team Sponsor Program. Today more than 100 companies and foundations sponsor City Year teams of 8 to 12 young adults who work in struggling public schools.

When City Year starts a new partnership, it hammers out the terms so that both sides know what to expect. It establishes the ways City Year can help promote the company, determines the exact amount of money the company will contribute in return for its sponsorship role, and names point people on both sides to steward the relationship.

“A lot of this is pretty straightforward sales and account management,” says Chris Mann, City Year’s vice president for corporate partnerships. “The fundamentals of that don’t change just because we’re selling service and impact.”

City Year uses the attached template in presentations with its corporate partners to outline the contours of the relationship. The completed agreement is a helpful document to have once the relationship has been established, because it states clearly what each side is expected to contribute.