Partnership Overview

Save the Children has been a frequent partner for Discovery’s local employee engagement activities. For their 2020 global day of employee volunteerism, Impact Day, Discovery hosted a broad range of globally and locally available virtual employee engagement activities such as virtual letter writing and the creation of literacy kits. Around the globe, 16 Save the Children offices were invited to collaborate on country-specific activities for Impact Day. In 2021, mentoring programs were initiated, allowing Discovery employees to share their skills with Save the Children employees and program participants.

RISE: Reducing Inequalities and Supporting Empowerment

In 2018, Discovery developed their new global social good strategy and selected Save the Children as the signature partner for the launch of their RISE (Reducing Inequalities and Supporting Empowerment) campaign.

In partnership with Save the Children, the four-year RISE campaign will support 10 million people in 22 countries identified as having the most need, bringing scale to the education and social mobility programs to children and families in under-resourced communities. Additionally, RISE is activating at a local level to address inequality and empowerment in communities and drive further impact around the world. RISE represents their most comprehensive commitment to ensuring children around the world survive, are protected and have a chance to learn.

Overhead shot of a child at a laptop writing on a piece of paper.

Employee Engagement

Discovery employs approximately 10K people across nearly 35 countries and, through the RISE campaign, employees have been engaged at all levels of leadership, working across business teams, sectors and countries, bringing commitment, creativity and a truly collaborative spirit to support our mission.

While Save the Children has frequently been a partner with select local activities for Discovery’s global day of employee volunteerism, Impact Day, for their 2020 virtual Impact Day. In 2020, Discovery hosted a broad range of globally and locally available virtual employee engagement activities such as virtual letter writing and the creation of literacy kits. Additionally, 16 global Save the Children offices were invited to collaborate on country-specific activities for Impact Day.

A woman in a facemask holds a box of supplies.

Local Engagement

At a country level, our teams across the globe have worked to find innovative and impactful opportunities to leverage RISE to meet the needs of children while supporting business needs, including creating digital content for Discovery platforms and using storytelling to build greater awareness and engagement.

In Mexico and Colombia, Discovery has actively promoted and helped drive visibility for Save the Children initiatives like #SavewithStories, leveraging Discovery network talent and gift-in-kind media to significantly increase visibility and brand awareness for Save the Children in those markets.
In South Africa, Discovery has partnered with the accredited Jozi Film Festival and invited up and coming local film-makers to compete for the opportunity to tell the stories of Save the Children’s beneficiaries. The partnership raises awareness for RISE and Save the Children while bringing a charitable element to their award category and compelling content to their channels.
In Italy, Discovery and Save the Children Italy are supporting families most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic through the Not Alone campaign by providing food, access to devices, and educational materials. Discovery Italy is also driving awareness through on-air PSAs running across their portfolio of channels.
In Japan, Save the Children Japan delivered a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) workshop to their Discovery partners to discuss how to incorporate SDGs into their business and what how our work together supports these efforts. During Covid-19, Discovery also provided emergency support to 250 after-school programs and to children from single parent families facing financial difficulties.

A boy and girl hold a sign that says "Vote for Kids."

Advocacy Efforts

Leading up to the 2020 election, Discovery and Save the Children implemented a co-branded pledge to “Rise Up for Kids” in collaboration with No Kid Hungry. Co-branded GOTV geo-targeted ads were also put into place with national on-air efforts, encouraging audiences to make a plan to vote. Moving forward, our intention is to use the power of our combined voices to continue to advocate for kids and elevate their voices on issues of social injustice and equality.