More than 500 Companies Join Pledge 1% Movement in First Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- #GivingTuesday -- Pledge 1%, a corporate philanthropy movement founded by Atlassian, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, Rally for Impact and Salesforce.org, announced today that more than 500 companies have joined the Pledge 1% movement in its first year—including high-growth companies such as DocuSign, Glassdoor, Lookout, Twilio, Xactly and Zuora. By pledging 1 percent of employee time, equity, product or profit, these 500+ companies have committed to making the community a key stakeholder in their businesses. Pledge 1% plans to secure 1,000 new pledges in the next year, reaching 1,500 pledges by #GivingTuesday 2016, as a way to activate social impact in communities globally.

Comments on the news:

• "The momentum we've seen with Pledge 1% has been incredible—there's been a groundswell when it comes to the next generation of companies adopting philanthropy as a key value," said Suzanne DiBianca, president and co-founder, Salesforce.org. "We truly believe that giving back is a key component to building a great company."
• "The real power of Pledge 1% is that it inspires companies to bake corporate philanthropy into their business model from day one," said Scott Farquhar, co-CEO and co-founder, Atlassian. "It becomes a core part of their culture, not just another box to tick off. Having reached the initial goal of 500 companies, we're excited to triple the number by the end of next year."
• "Pledge 1% has been a rocketship in its first year," said Ryan Martens, founder, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado and Rally for Impact. "We've found that companies are truly ready to give back and drive incredible impact in their communities—500 pledges is just the beginning."
• "We couldn't be more thrilled to join the Pledge 1% movement," said Robert Hohman, co-founder and CEO, Glassdoor. "Our commitment to fulfill our pledge of donating equity, time, and product is perfectly aligned with Glassdoor's mission to help people find a job and company they love. As part of our pledge, we look forward to supporting groups and communities that help those who might be disadvantaged, develop job skills and find meaningful work."

More Than 500 Companies Join Pledge 1%

Since launching in 2014, more than 500 companies—from small startups to post-IPO companies—have joined the Pledge 1% movement and committed to making the community a key stakeholder in their businesses. Of the first 500+ companies that have joined the movement, 59 percent pledged a percentage of equity, 54 percent pledged a percentage of employee time, 39 percent pledged a percentage of product and 18 percent pledged a percentage of profit.

Companies that joined the Pledge 1% movement in its first year include: 6sense, AppNexus, Campaign Monitor, DocuSign, Dstillery, General Assembly, Glassdoor, Hampton Creek, Lookout, MediaMath, Planet Labs, Sage, Twilio, Weebly, Xactly and Zuora. Pledge 1% has also partnered with leading venture capital firms including Bessemer Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Foundry Group, Obvious Ventures and SV Angel and startup accelerators including Techstars to include Pledge 1% as a key part of the startup process. 

Building Philanthropy into the Next Generation of Companies

Companies today are fighting a war for top talent, especially among millennial employees. Corporate leaders are realizing that to better engage employees and attract and retain top talent, giving back needs to be at the center of a company's culture. In fact, companies that integrate corporate citizenship into their businesses have 2.3 times the employee retention¹ and an increase of 29 percent in new hire commitment than companies that do not,²  showing the true business value that philanthropy can bring to an organization. According to Deloitte's 2015 Millennial Survey, six out of ten millennial employees say that a "sense of purpose" is part of the reason that they chose to work for their current employers.³

In addition to increased recruiting, retention and employee engagement, philanthropy and corporate responsibility efforts can also affect the bottom line. According to Nielsen, 55 percent of global online consumers are willing to spend more on products from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact.⁴ 

Pledge 1% provides the tools and best practices to empower companies to dedicate 1 percent of employee time, equity, product or profit to improve communities around the world—making it easy for companies of all sizes to incorporate philanthropy into their business models. While 1 percent seems small, it can have huge impact—if every "unicorn," or pre-IPO company valued at more than $1 billion joined Pledge 1%, it would generate more than $5 billion in equity alone.⁵

To learn more about how your company can take the pledge, visit www.pledge1percent.org.

About Pledge 1%

Pledge 1% is an effort spearheaded by Atlassian, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, Rally for Impact, Salesforce.org and Tides to accelerate their shared vision around integrating philanthropy into businesses around the world. Pledge 1% encourages and challenges individuals and companies to pledge 1% of equity, product and employee time for their communities, because pledging a small portion of future success can have a huge impact on tomorrow. Pledge 1% offers companies turnkey tools and best practices, making it accessible for any company to incorporate philanthropy into their business model. In 2016 and beyond, Pledge 1% will be partnering with Tides to leverage its global network and expertise to scale the Pledge 1% model. To learn more or to take the pledge, please visit www.pledge1percent.org.

¹ Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship: State of Corporate Citizenship, 2013: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/276918559_The_State_of_Corporate_Citizenship_2014 
² Knopp, Brian. "Maximizing the Effectiveness of Corporate Volunteer Programs" (webinar). CEB. July, 2014.
³ Deloitte: The Deloitte Millennial Survey, 2015: http://www.deloitte.com/MillennialSurvey 
⁴ Nielsen: Nielsen Global Corporate Responsibility Report, 2014: http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/apac/docs/reports/2014/Nielsen-Global-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Report-June-2014.pdf
⁵ CBInsights, The Unicorn List: Current Private Companies Valued At $1B And Above: https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

SOURCE Pledge 1%

Related Links

http://www.pledge1percent.org