By: Loren Coleman
With America’s 250th birthday just weeks away, Keep America Beautiful (KAB) is helping lead the national celebration through the Greatest American Cleanup – a two-year initiative designed to inspire Americans to take pride in their communities by collectively picking up 25 million pieces of litter ahead of July 4, 2026.
For more than 70 years, KAB has united businesses, local governments, community organizations, and volunteers around a shared mission to reduce litter, improve recycling, and beautify public spaces. That legacy – combined with the organization’s sophisticated approach to corporate partnerships – recently earned KAB recognition as Nonprofit of the Year at this year’s Engage for Good Halo Awards.
KAB’s mission to clean, green, and beautify communities is one that resonates broadly across the country, making it especially compelling for corporate partners seeking authentic, community-based engagement opportunities. Research consistently shows Americans overwhelmingly agree litter is a national issue, with 76% saying litter is a problem in their own community. Cleaning up is seen as a civic duty and one that engenders pride in where we live.
As many brands have looked for meaningful ways to participate in the America 250 celebration, KAB has emerged as a natural partner – offering turnkey programming, measurable impact opportunities, and evidence-based strategies that allow companies to contribute to communities nationwide. The organization’s multi-year lead-up to the 250th led to new national sponsors, employee volunteer activations throughout the year, and collaborations with hundreds of local affiliates and government agencies across the country, as well as provided a door opener to many new conversations and relationships curated by For Momentum on behalf of KAB.
One of KAB’s longstanding partners, The Coca-Cola Company, was especially well-positioned to join as presenting sponsor of the Greatest American Cleanup. The collaboration illustrates several best-in-class partnership practices that reflect the top ways companies engage with nonprofit partners – through employee engagement and partnerships at both the local and national levels:
- Employee Engagement that Connects Purpose to Action
For Momentum’s 2026 Best In Class Partnerships report found the top three activations that were part of successful cause marketing campaigns involved employee engagement (58%), employee education (41%) and employee volunteering (34%). KAB works closely with corporate partners like Coca-Cola to create structured employee engagement and volunteer opportunities that directly support community impact goals. Through both the national organization and KAB’s extensive affiliate network, companies can activate employees through local cleanups, tree plantings, recycling drives, sustainability education campaigns, and more.
Over the years, KAB and Coca-Cola have partnered on numerous volunteer activations, including local bottlers teaming up with KAB’s affiliates nationwide. During Earth Week this year, 250 volunteers from Coca-Cola’s headquarters worked with KAB to paint a massive mural in Atlanta as part of the company’s celebration of America’s 250th. Coca-Cola is also encouraging employees to participate in a national SMS campaign KAB launched to track and report litter collection efforts in real time.
- Local Partnerships That Deliver Visible Community Impact
One challenge many national nonprofits face is translating large-scale corporate support into meaningful local impact. KAB addresses this through its powerful network of more than 700 community-based affiliates nationwide.
This decentralized model enables corporate sponsors to support projects tailored to the specific needs of local communities while still aligning with broader national impact goals. As part of its sponsorship of the Greatest American Cleanup, Coca-Cola has helped fund grants supporting cleanup and beautification projects in communities across the United States leading up to the nation’s 250th celebration.
These grants have sparked local revitalization projects, volunteer engagement efforts, and partnerships with Coca-Cola bottlers and community organizations – creating visible, place-based impact that residents can see firsthand.
- National Programs Grounded in Research and Measurable Outcomes
While much of KAB’s work happens locally, the organization also provides partners with opportunities to support national-scale initiatives grounded in data and long-term measurement.
A key example is KAB’s National Litter Study, one of the most comprehensive and longstanding research efforts focused on litter in the United States. Sponsored in part by Coca-Cola, the latest study provides important insights into how litter patterns are changing over time and where additional progress is needed.
The research helps inform public policy, corporate sustainability efforts, and community programming while also giving partners meaningful data they can use to assess and strengthen their own environmental commitments. For companies like Coca-Cola, participating in research-backed initiatives demonstrates a commitment not only to awareness, but to real solutions and long-term accountability.
A Blueprint for Best-in-Class Corporate Partnerships
KAB has successfully transformed corporate partnerships from traditional sponsorship arrangements into operational drivers of community impact. Its model demonstrates how nonprofits can align corporate engagement with quantifiable environmental and civic outcomes while maintaining mission integrity and community trust.
What sets KAB apart is not simply its ability to attract corporate funding, but its ability to translate that investment into scalable programs, local action, volunteer engagement, and long-term behavioral change. KAB offers a compelling blueprint for how nonprofit and corporate partnerships can create lasting value for communities across the country.
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