Managing your business during these trying times.

In the blink of an eye, the Covid-19 pandemic has halted the economy, thrown marketing plans out the window, put sales targets at risk, and forced organizations to find new ways to drive demand with their buyers. We are all seeking ways to make ends meet, trying to keep the business running, while trying to ensure our loved ones are safe. Above all, we should be taking the necessary precautions to protect our family, friends, colleagues, and community by following appropriate CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.

We’ll get through this together.

We are proud to be a part of an industry—and community—that is committed to ensuring that all teachers and students have the tools and resources necessary to support continued learning during this crisis. To that end, we have put together resources and tools to help you efficiently adjust your marketing plans, reach educators, and stay informed with actionable insight.

Education Resources

• We are maintaining a database to keep track of K-12 school closures (and eventual openings). Contact your MDR representative or email us at mdrinfo@dnb.com for more information.
• Our WeAreTeachers community is maintaining a collection of free online resources for educators – providing unique editorial opportunities for MDR partners with appropriate products to promote their resources to millions of educators at no cost. To participate, please contact us at mdrinfo@dnb.com.
• Similarly, we are curating K-5 Resources for Learning at Home for families – and again, providing MDR partners with appropriate products a no cost option to connect with teachers and parents.

Sales and Marketing Tools

MDR’s ConnectED Cloud platform is the gateway to innovative tools that enable sales professionals with timely and complete firmographics about schools, districts, administrators and teachers. Create an account for free, give it a try, and purchase credits as needed.

• MDR's ConnectED Cloud ListBuilder allows sales and marketing teams to build and download targeted lists from over 7 million school personnel with contact data, including email, phone, and hundreds of demographic characteristics and attributes.
• MDR's MarketView, on the ConnectED Cloud platform, enables your individual and team sales performance by providing timely and complete firmographics about schools, districts, administrators and teachers, including insights on available funding, test scores and contact data.
  • On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, with $182 billion in this third round of COVID-19 relief funding for education. This is a significant addition to the $54.3 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund and the $30.75 billion that was allocated when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was approved in March 2020.
    • You can track American Rescue Plan ESSER III Act grant dollars for each state, along with the district recipient lists, as reported by their state departments of education. Currently grants for the following 36 states (AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IN, KY, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WV, WI, AND WY) are available in MarketView’s Grants feature, with more states added as the data becomes available.
    • Round two CRRSA Act Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF) II grants for 39 states (AK, AL, AZ, CA, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WV, WI, AND WY) are available in MarketView’s Grants feature, with more states added as the data becomes available.
    • Round one ESSER grants for districts in 50 states (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NC, ND, NJ, NM, NY, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, TN , UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY) are available in MarketView’s Grants feature, with more states added as the data becomes available.
• Our Marketing Best Practices and Checklists are quick refreshers to be sure your strategy and messaging is on point.

Supporting the Education Industry to Ensure that Learning Continues

Social distancing has recently become part of our vernacular and quickly becoming our new normal. We are dealing with an environment, particularly in education, different than any of us could have ever imaged happening all at once. Nearly everyone in the U.S.— at least 297 million people in roughly 38 states, is being urged to stay home. That means millions of us are working, teaching, and learning, from home. Nearly all U.S. students are learning at home and it is  possible they won’t be returning to the classroom before the end of the school year.

For years our industry has debated the move to digital, year-round learning and state standardized tests.  We’ve advocated for better connections between home and school, equity in education and changes in funding and legislation to better support our schools, educators and students. Seemingly overnight, we are living in real time many of these shifts.  And although these are troubling times, we’ve seen first-hand that there are many bright spots that demonstrate the ways in which we’re coming together to successfully cope with this time of unprecedented change.

This is no more apparent in any community than the education community. Hundreds of organizations are offering free tools, resources and curriculum to teachers and parents to help them make the transition to remote learning and ensure that all students stay on track, regardless of where they are learning. We are so proud to be part of this amazing community and to offer assistance.