by Jen Rinehart

When government grants to a popular afterschool program expired, forcing the program to charge fees, a local bank provided scholarships for families that could not afford to pay.

When an afterschool program based in a housing project needed art supplies and computer equipment, local businesses stepped in to provide them.

When organizers of a ?Lights On Afterschool? celebration lacked the funds to provide door prizes and refreshments, local coffee shops and businesses provided them free of charge.

Partnerships between afterschool programs and businesses are thriving in communities across the country and are often built or brokered by mayors or other city leaders. So it is no wonder that, when the Afterschool Alliance and NLC jointly sponsored the Afterschool for All Challenge and National City Afterschool Summit in May, they engaged both longtime and new afterschool supporters from communities, foundations and businesses.

More than 100 mayors, council members and senior municipal staff participated in the three-day, Washington, D.C., event, which also featured some 400 afterschool program providers and dozens of business and philanthropic leaders.

In addition to representatives from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Wallace Foundation and the Open Society Institute, the event featured participation by the Atlantic Philanthropies, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Microsoft, NAMM (formerly known as the National Association of Music Merchants), FowlerHoffman LLC, T-Mobile USA Inc., Washington Partners LLC, Winning Connections Inc., and Time for Kids. This was by far the greatest level of corporate and philanthropic sponsorship yet for the 5-year-old event.

?The tremendous popularity of afterschool programs makes this kind of sponsorship, as well as other types of public/private afterschool partnerships, a win-win for everyone involved,? said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. ?Municipal leaders support the afterschool programs their constituents rely on, and businesses demonstrate commitment to their communities by contributing money, equipment and even staff time to afterschool programs.?

Growing Business Partnerships
A new report from Corporate Voices for Working Families, an organization that brings the private sector voice into the public dialogue on issues affecting working families, finds that business contributions to afterschool programs are strong and growing. The ?Corporate Investments in Afterschool? report shows that the 2005 contributions of just eight American companies (Allstate, JCPenney, Knowledge Learning Corp., LifeCare Inc., Philip Morris, Providian, Prudential, and Public Service Gas and Electric) equaled more than 13 percent of the federal dollars that went directly to afterschool programs that year.

That same year, while the federal government put $981 million into the 21st Century Community Learning Centers afterschool initiative, which provides expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children attending low performing schools, the eight companies alone invested $136.6 million in afterschool. If it could be tracked and tallied, the full contribution of all-American companies would be much larger.

?This is just a broad look at how employers are addressing a societal need that is not being met with enough federal funding,? said Donna Klein, president and CEO of Corporate Voices for Working Families. ?As the issue of afterschool continues to grow in importance, we hope this report will provide a valuable roadmap for increasing interest and effectiveness of corporate investment.?

In addition to financial contributions, companies reported in-kind donations such as mentoring and tutoring programs at corporate headquarters, transportation to afterschool sites and donations of high-tech equipment with technical assistance.

What Elected Officials Can Do
Mayors, council members and other municipal leaders can support afterschool programs by encouraging businesses in their communities to provide both cash and in-kind contributions. They can join the annual national rally for afterschool by speaking at a ?Lights On Afterschool? event this October, encourage Chambers of Commerce and United Ways to support afterschool, and convene corporate leaders to become visible champions for afterschool.

City leaders are also well-positioned to encourage businesses to volunteer and allow time off for employees to mentor in afterschool programs. Local elected officials can challenge community members to support these essential programs by presenting local data on the need for programs, and even join the boards of directors of local afterschool programs.

Details: For more information on the need for afterschool programs, visit www.afterschoolalliance.org.

Visit www.cvworkingfamilies.org to download Corporate Voices for Working Families? new report, ?Corporate Investments in Afterschool.?

To learn more about municipal initiatives on afterschool or to obtain the NLC Institute for Youth, Education, and Families? action kit, ?Expanding Afterschool Opportunities,? visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Bela Shah at (202) 626-3057 or shah@nlc.org.

Jen Rinehart is vice president of policy and research at the Afterschool Alliance.