Salesforce.org Expands Force for Change Grants Program by More Than 300 Percent to Accelerate Social Impact

SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce.org, the philanthropic arm of Salesforce [NYSE: CRM], today announced the expansion of its 2016 Force for Change grants program, focused on increasing social impact by supporting the innovative use of technology in the global nonprofit and education sectors. This year, Salesforce.org will provide $4 million in Force for Change grants—an increase of more than 300 percent from last year.

The Force for Change grants program started in 2010, and has since supported dozens of organizations around the world creating technologies to address some of the planet's most urgent problems.

This year, Salesforce.org is aligning and evaluating Force for Change grants against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 goals designed to transform our world, in an effort to help create a lasting, positive impact on society and the planet.

The grants are open to nonprofit organizations and education institutions—public and private—from around the world. The program will fund solutions that are innovative, repeatable, and scalable in three categories:

• Education: Solutions designed to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning (SDG #4)
• Workforce Development: Solutions designed to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all (SDG #8)
• Labs: Solutions designed to make substantial progress against other SDGs

"We're doubling down on technology innovation to help nonprofits and education institutions better serve their communities and deliver on their mission," said Ebony Frelix, SVP of Philanthropy & Engagement at Salesforce.org. "By significantly increasing our investments in the most creative technology solutions that will be publicly available, we hope to create a ripple effect in their respective sectors, accelerating change and creating a better tomorrow for the next generation."

The window for Letter of Inquiry submissions is open from July 7-29, and the grantees will be announced in January 2017.

For additional information on the Force for Change grants program, including eligibility, criteria, timeline and how to submit a Letter of Inquiry, please visit: http://www.salesforce.org/grants/force-for-change/ 

About Salesforce.org
Salesforce.org is based on a simple idea: leverage Salesforce's technology, people and resources to improve communities around the world. We call this integrated philanthropic approach the 1-1-1 model. Since 1999, Salesforce technology has powered more than 28,000 nonprofit and education institutions; Salesforce and its philanthropic entities have provided more than $115 million in grants; and Salesforce employees have logged more than 1.3 million volunteer hours throughout the world. For more information on Salesforce.org, please visit www.salesforce.org.

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