August signals the start of back to school, and our client, the OtterCares Foundation, is inspiring students to become entrepreneurs and philanthropists. In this two-part Foundation Friday Series, we’ll be sharing more about their philanthropic journey—from the causes they’re passionate about to important lessons they’ve learned along the way. We hope you enjoy this conversation and “master class” in corporate philanthropy!
About Your Philanthropy
What inspired the creation of the Foundation?
OtterCares was founded in 2009 by Nancy Richardson, co-founder of OtterBox. Nancy founded OtterCares to create lasting change in education through philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and innovative education. We believe that one young and inspired mind can change the world.
What causes are you most passionate about?
The Foundation is passionate about learning experiences and environments that inspire students to become entrepreneurs and philanthropists who create lasting and impactful changes in their communities.
What is one of your corporate foundation’s achievements that you are proud of and why?
We’re proud of our external grants. We see educators as innovative and entrepreneurial in their ideas. Often, they recognize the needs and problems faced by students and the schools in which they work, and they devise solutions. We appreciate the opportunity to listen to educators’ ideas related to these needs and provide seed funds, so to speak, for new ideas and programs.
One example of this is Geometry in Construction where two educators (one a math teacher and one a Career Technical Education Teacher) created a solution to a problem they both were seeing in education. The math teacher saw Geometry as the most failed class across the US at the high school level, and the CTE teacher saw declining enrollment in the construction pathway. The two educators created a new course, “Geometry in Construction.” The class became one of the most popular math and CTE classes in their school because students loved the hands-on, innovative learning environment and were fueled by purpose and passion as they built each home. The educators established a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, and each year, the students in the class would build a house for the organization. The students met the family, and now they were constructing not just a building, but also creating someone’s next home. The connection to philanthropy (using your time, talent, or treasure) resonated deeply with them. The initial grant, seed-funded by OtterCares, was approximately $10,000, and the funds were used to purchase trusses for the house’s construction. The educators started a nonprofit and subsequently expanded the program to over 1,000 schools in the US.
Another example of this is the nonprofit Engineering Brightness, which was established by an educator who was inspired by students’ desire to solve light poverty. Students learn STEM principles as they connect with children in other countries and build solar-powered lanterns tailored to their specific needs.
Project Heart is another example. This philanthropy program was created in 2016 for educators and youth program providers. The website serves as a digital hub where educators and youth program providers can inspire one another with ideas to integrate the language and experience of philanthropy into their learning environments. Our dream is to create a movement of philanthropy in the next generation!
Internally at Otterbox, we serve as the connection point of nonprofits to employees. Consistently, our corporate engagement rate of employees volunteering is over 90%. Last year, 96% of OtterBox employees volunteered for at least one hour, with an average of 18 hours per employee. We also facilitate closed2open, a day where Otterbox closes all doors and all employees open their hearts to their community, volunteering for the day. You can watch a recap video of our 2025 closed2open and see the incredible stories and moments including:
- 540 Otter employees volunteered across 13 countries and 4 continents
- 4,320 total hours contributed
- $144,677 in estimated value delivered to nonprofits
- 31 in-person projects in Northern Colorado, 42 remote projects, and 4 virtual collaborations
What would you want other philanthropists to know about your work?
Educators and youth program providers inspire us, and to best understand what they hope to achieve, building a relationship and seeing their work and impact is extremely important! Most educators aren’t great at writing grants, so seeking to understand is vital to us. We fund in a small geographic footprint, so knowing who we are investing in and the ideas they have is significant. It also allows us to connect like-minded grantees and grow the impact of the dollars we invest in them.
We would like to thank the OtterCares Foundation for sharing their story with us! Plus, keep an eye out for part two of this interview! To learn more, visit ottercares.org.
Have a Foundation Source story you’d like to share?
Write to us at for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue!
Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.
