A global movement for corporate impact - Pledge 1%

7 min read Original article ↗

support for rural children

We’re on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower every company to leverage their unique assets for good. 

Our impact in numbers

$3B

Ignited through equity

Amy Lesnick and Scott Farquhar ringing the Nasdaq closing bell on Giving Tuesday 2024 to kick off Pledge 1% 10-Yr Anniversary

Impact that grows with the business

Since the inception of Pledge 1%, we’ve helped over 60 unicorn companies formally set aside equity to fund social impact, igniting billions of dollars in new philanthropy.

Pledge 1% provides a simple, flexible framework for setting aside a percentage of staff time, product, profit, and/or equity for social impact that allows companies of all sizes and stages to have impact. 

Scott Farquhar

Scott Farquhar

Co-Founder and Board Member, Atlassian

“Joining Pledge 1% is one of the best decisions a founder can make. Atlassian took the pledge early on, well before we were successful. As we grew, we donated tens of millions of dollars for great causes. New employees rate philanthropy as one of the top three reasons they joined Atlassian.”

Atlassian

Melanie Perkins, Canva

Melanie Perkins

CEO, Co-Founder of Canva

“We have this wildly optimistic belief that there is enough money, goodwill, and good intentions in the world to solve most of the world’s problems. Canva is proud to be part of Pledge 1%, committing 1% of our equity, profits, team’s time, and product to be a force for good in the world.”

Canva

Steve Huffman

Steve Huffman

Co-Founder and CEO, Reddit

“As part of our IPO, we’ve dedicated 1% of our common stock to expand Reddit for Good through Pledge 1%. This commitment reflects our belief in communities creating positive change and underscores our mission of bringing community, belonging, and empowerment to everyone in the world.”

Reddit

Sameer Dholakia, Bessemer Venture Partners

Sameer Dholakia

Partner, Bessemer and Former CEO, SendGrid

“Pledge 1% acts as a powerful force multiplier, enabling companies to leverage their assets for increasing social impact as they grow. And, for CEOs like myself who have taken the pledge, motivating others to join amplifies our impact, often translating into tens of millions in social value – an extraordinary return on one’s philanthropic time!”

Bessemer Venture Partners

Laela Sturdy

Laela Sturdy

General Partner, CapitalG

“It’s exciting to see business leaders leverage their platforms to address pressing social, environmental, and racial justice issues. Supporting organizations like Pledge 1% is not only the right thing to do; it’s also a business imperative.”

CapitalG

Chris Comparato, Toast

Chris Comparato

Board Member and Former CEO, Toast

“I first learned about Pledge 1% from our Toast co-founder Aman Narang long before talks started about our public debut. While social impact was already in our DNA, having the support of Pledge 1% and investors along our path to IPO made it easy to set aside meaningful assets to fund our social impact efforts.”

Toast

Rich Wong, Accel

Rich Wong

Partner, Accel

“As a longtime supporter of Pledge 1%, it has been amazing to watch the movement ignite … Social impact is among the most inspiring parts of my job, and I imagine taking part will be essential for top VCs in years to come.”

Accel

Jennifer Tejada - PagerDuty

Jennifer Tejada

CEO, PagerDuty

“Social responsibility is embedded in PagerDuty’s business and culture through employee volunteerism, technology donations, and investments that benefit our non-profit customers. Since pledging 1% of our equity, employee time and product in 2017, social impact remains foundational to our communities through our people and technology.”

PagerDuty

Cliff Obrecht, Canva

Cliff Obrecht

Co-Founder and COO, Canva

“Our Two-Step plan is integral to Canva’s DNA: Step 1: Become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Step 2: Do the most good we can. Pledge 1% was absolutely instrumental in helping us get started.”

Canva

Vijay Tella, Workato

Vijay Tella

Co-Founder and CEO, Workato

“As leaders, we have an obligation to give back to our communities. Everyone at Workato can drive positive change and lasting impact. We are so proud to be part of the Pledge 1% movement through Workato Cares, committing our time, resources, and product to help create a more equitable and thriving future.”

Workato

Byron Deeter - BVP

Byron Deeter

Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

“CEOs of late-stage companies are sometimes cautious to propose an equity pledge to their Boards. However, from our perspective, with Pledge 1%, this is increasingly a natural step as customers, employees, and investors put increasing value on how companies show up as corporate citizens.”

Bessemer Venture Partners

David Yuan, Tidemark

David Yuan

Founder and Partner, Tidemark

“It’s so encouraging to see these large, public companies commit to social change in a real and sustainable way. We are seeing this trend accelerate through Pledge 1%, and it’s thrilling to see the impact on the organizations and causes these companies support.”

Tidemark

David Cohen

David Cohen

CEO and Co-Founder, Techstars

“One of Techstars’ core values is to Give First. We believe by partnering with Pledge 1% we’re building stronger companies and stronger communities.”

Techstars

pledge-info-graphic

Together we achieve more

An ecosystem to accelerate impact

We envision a future with a new blueprint for business success, one in which profit is intertwined with purpose and social impact is a business norm.

And, we’re not alone. We’ve built a powerful ecosystem across CEOs, social impact leaders, investors, banks, stock exchanges, and other business stakeholders to inspire and support more companies and accelerate this vision.

The force multiplier

Global Visionary Council

Our Global Visionary Council (GVC) is made up of industry leaders who have not only led their companies to join the Pledge 1% movement, but also  invested their money and time to actively inspire other industry leaders to  join Pledge 1% and set aside equity to sustainably fund long-term social impact. 

Godard Abel

Godard Abel

CEO and Co-Founder, G2

Neeraj Agrawal

Neeraj Agrawal

General Partner, Battery Ventures

Chris Comparato

Chris Comparato

Board Member & Former CEO, Toast

Ron Conway

Ron Conway

Founder & Managing Partner, SV Angel

Byron Deeter

Byron Deeter

Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

Sameer Dholakia

Sameer Dholakia

Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners & Former CEO, SendGrid

Suzanne DiBianca

Suzanne DiBianca

Chief Philanthropy Officer, Salesforce

Scott Farquhar

Scott Farquhar

Co-founder & Board Member, Atlassian

John Hering

John Hering

Founder Lookout, Co-Founder Coalition, Partner Vy Capital

Ken Hirsch, Goldman Sachs

Ken Hirsch

Partner, Goldman Sachs

Vahe Kuzoyan

President & Co-Founder, ServiceTitan

Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson

Founder & Former CEO, Twilio

Cliff Obrecht

Cliff Obrecht

Co-Founder and COO, Canva

Melanie Perkins

Melanie Perkins

CEO, Co-Founder of Canva

Dan Springer

Dan Springer

CEO, Ironclad

Jennifer Tejada

CEO, PagerDuty

Randall Ward

Founder & CEO Emeritus, Appfire

Yvonne Wassenaar

Yvonne Wassenaar

Board Member, Braze and Rubrik & Former CEO, Puppet

Rich Wong, Accel

Rich Wong

General Partner, Accel

Godard Abel

Godard Abel

CEO and Co-Founder, G2

Neeraj Agrawal

Neeraj Agrawal

General Partner, Battery Ventures

Chris Comparato

Chris Comparato

Board Member & Former CEO, Toast

Ron Conway

Ron Conway

Founder & Managing Partner, SV Angel

Byron Deeter

Byron Deeter

Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

Sameer Dholakia

Sameer Dholakia

Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners & Former CEO, SendGrid

Suzanne DiBianca

Suzanne DiBianca

Chief Philanthropy Officer, Salesforce

Scott Farquhar

Scott Farquhar

Co-founder & Board Member, Atlassian

John Hering

John Hering

Founder Lookout, Co-Founder Coalition, Partner Vy Capital

Ken Hirsch, Goldman Sachs

Ken Hirsch

Partner, Goldman Sachs

Vahe Kuzoyan

President & Co-Founder, ServiceTitan

Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson

Founder & Former CEO, Twilio

Cliff Obrecht

Cliff Obrecht

Co-Founder and COO, Canva

Melanie Perkins

Melanie Perkins

CEO, Co-Founder of Canva

Dan Springer

Dan Springer

CEO, Ironclad

Jennifer Tejada

CEO, PagerDuty

Randall Ward

Founder & CEO Emeritus, Appfire

Yvonne Wassenaar

Yvonne Wassenaar

Board Member, Braze and Rubrik & Former CEO, Puppet

Rich Wong, Accel

Rich Wong

General Partner, Accel

How it works

01

Pledge

Get executive signoff and take the pledge. Taking the pledge signals to your employees and stakeholders that social impact is important to you. We’ll send you the resources you need to get started!

Take the Pledge

02

Engage

Now it’s time to ramp up your social impact efforts and propel your pledge to action. Engage with the Pledge 1% community and resources, collaborate, learn, and share insights.

03
Inspire

Become a force multiplier. Announce your pledge, share your impact stories. Spread the word and inspire others. Help us grow the Pledge 1% movement and create lasting change.  

More information on how it works.

How it works

01

Pledge

Get executive signoff and take the pledge. Taking the pledge signals to your employees and stakeholders that social impact is important to you. We’ll send you the resources you need to get started!

Take the Pledge

02

Engage

Now it’s time to ramp up your social impact efforts and propel your pledge to action. Engage with the Pledge 1% community and resources, collaborate, learn, and share insights.

03
Inspire

Become a force multiplier. Announce your pledge, share your impact stories. Spread the word and inspire others. Help us grow the Pledge 1% movement and create lasting change.  

More information on how it works.

Get more info

Let’s get acquainted! Tell us a little bit about your company and we’ll send you information on how to get involved.