Continue supporting NGO's that provide education opportunities to children of low-income communities

About Room to Read

Room to Read (hereinafter referred to as “RTR”) is a global NGO that is changing the lives of millions of children in low-income communities through literacy and gender-equal educational opportunities.
They work with local communities, partner organizations, and government agencies to help all children develop a habit of reading during their primary education to improve literacy and to help girls to complete their secondary education.

Since 2008, ABeam Consulting has been providing continuous support for more than 10 years as Japan's first sponsor of the project. We empathize with the fact that the local staff are well versed towards the needs of the regions they support and with the organization's management approach of clarifying the results and achievements of its activities.

ABeam will continue to support RTR's activities on an ongoing basis by leveraging its consulting skills.
 

ABeam’s Support

ABeam Consulting's two main initiatives to support RTR’s activities are as follows.

①Skill Support (pro bono activities)

ABeam supports RTR Japan's efforts through pro bono activities* that leverage its consulting skills. One such activity is the formulation of strategies for obtaining support from RTR Japan's corporate partners.

To help RTR Japan gain support from more corporate partners, we researched and analyzed the market trends surrounding donations and the trends of companies that support RTR Japan and proposed an action plan for securing support from corporate partners.

The Action Plan has been discussed at the RTR Japan board meetings and will serve as input for future RTR Japan activities. ABeam will continue to provide support for some of the initiatives presented in the Action Plan.

Additionally, we are also implementing various approaches both internally and externally for RTR, such as providing volunteer support for donation events and holding lectures to increase donations and raise awareness of its activities.

*1 Pro bono activities are social contribution activities that utilize one's own skills and expertise.

②Financial Support (corporate donations)

ABeam has been a corporate supporter of RTR and has made ongoing corporate donations since 2008. In addition, ABeam provides financial support in the form of donations from employees and through its “Cafeteria Plan ”, an employee benefit platform that allows members to exchange points for goods, services as well as donate the points to NGOs.

The choice of how to use this funding is made based on the opinions of ABeam employees who have donated as well as RTR’s specific needs. To date, RTR has supported the construction of more than 35 libraries/reading rooms and kindergartens/primary schools in six Asian countries: Vietnam, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Laos. Since 2014, the funds have also been used to implement literacy and girls' education programs, and to publish children's books in local languages.
 

 

In addition to provide ongoing support, we also place importance on confirming and verifying the results of our activities. To this end, since 2013, ABeam's RTR team members have been conducting site visits to the beneficiaries to confirm and verify how the donations are being utilized.
(A report summarizing the details of and impressions from past site visits to beneficiaries can be found at the link below).

We visited Sri Lanka in 2018 and Cambodia in 2019 to meet with children attending the kindergartens and primary schools supported by RTR. Seeing the efficient operation of the facilities and the children's enthusiasm for learning at the places we visited reaffirmed the significance of engaging in this activity. In the future, we plan to involve ABeam's overseas offices to provide more support.
 

 

ABeam Consulting has always been very accommodating and supportive of our activities.
We are very grateful to them for taking time out of their projects as consultants to support us.

The support provided by their consulting skills is reassuring, and the collection of case studies they provided as a tool for acquiring corporate partners has helped us in our awareness-raising activities.

We were also impressed by the fact that volunteers from the Sustainability Unit visited the recipients to see the results of their support firsthand. The reports and video from the visits were very detailed and easy to understand, and we were encouraged by the smiles on the children’s faces.

We hope to continue to work together as good partners to create a leading example of collaboration between NGO's and corporations.
 

 
  Kaho Matsumaru
  Representative, Room to Read Japan