By Neha Sampat, Founder and CEO at Contentstack

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

With the global pandemic of COVID-19, communities and economies everywhere are facing an unprecedented challenge, but we are also experiencing solidarity and support like never before. Some people are staying home to keep loved ones safe and to slow the spread of this vicious virus. Others with essential roles like grocers, farmers, healthcare workers, and public officials are risking exposure to care for their communities and our loved ones. For their dedication, we are unwaveringly grateful.

In the community of Vasai-Virar, where the engineering hubs for Contentstack and Raw Engineering are based, we are faced with a unique challenge to local Indian communities. Many workers are stranded far from their homes without the luxury or privilege of being sheltered safe with their families. They are fighting this pandemic without food or shelter, and in some cases, without access to proper healthcare. Necessity forces many to work, risking exposure – just to be able to feed themselves or their families.

We are seizing the moment to give back directly to the Vasai-Virar region, who has given us so much opportunity over the last decade. Raising funds in this part of the town is not easy, so we are asking everyone to come together and contribute what you can to support this community now. 

The founders of Contentstack and Raw Engineering are working with a trusted local organization with a goal to raise 1 Crore (approximately $140,000 USD) in the coming weeks, including a $70,000 match from the two of us. The organization is called Vishnu Waman Thakur Charitable Trust and they are actively feeding 3.5 lakhs families (approximately 1.5 million people) today. The Trust has also committed to providing PPE and additional facilities for overrun health institutions for the isolation and care of COVID-19 patients. Every rupee will go to a good cause and support COVID relief in the Vasai-Virar area. Please contribute what you can and thank you for your generosity.

You can either:

• If you are in the US or Europe, please contribute through GoFundMe. 


• If you are based in India, please contribute through Milaap. Any amount donated through Milaap is eligible for tax exemption (for donors based in India).  

Thank you, and please stay safe.

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

It almost goes without saying that COVID-19 has disrupted the relationship between employers, employees, and job candidates. What we took for granted just months ago about how we interview candidates at our offices has been up-ended by stay-at-home orders and work-from-home as the norm. Employers need to rethink where they deploy their talent within their organization in order to address their most pressing business needs. 

For employees, the new reality of WFH creates both stresses and opportunities. Taking an Attention attribute into consideration, employees who like working from home tend to fall on the left side of the spectrum, which indicates take a methodical approach to zeroing in on relevant details to get through a task. On the other hand, those on the right side of the spectrum are biased to respond to new stimuli, which might make it tough to be productive outside the office. 

We are squarely in a new world of talent. In hiring, that means virtual interviews. Similarly, business leaders are interested in how to repurpose workers, rather than laying them off. For employees, it means helping them better understand their inherent attributes and how they can best apply those at work.  

At pymetrics, our vision is a world where everyone’s potential is realized, and our mission is to connect everyone with their best-fit job accurately and fairly. We believe this is even more critical at times like these, and so to help companies navigate the current landscape, we are offering several of our products at no cost through June 30, 2020: 

• For companies shifting to an increasingly remote interview strategy, our Digital Interview solution allows companies to interview candidates remotely. Digital Interview is a one-way, online interview that allows recruiters to gain more information about a job seeker’s potential fit for a role. Employees can continue to learn more about your candidates and move your hiring processes forward, all virtually. 


• For companies who find themselves in a difficult situation of needing to repurpose people internally to meet this new climate, our Internal Mobility solution helps move current employees to different, future roles. We use a gamified approach to assess the cognitive, social, and emotional attributes of employees and use a data-driven approach to match them to other roles in the organization where they’re likely to be a good fit.  

Candidates and employees who play the pymetrics games receive a personalized trait report, which helps them understand their inherent attributes and can be a tool to help increase engagement during these uncertain times.  

Companies who are interested in learning more about pymetrics’ offerings to help navigate the new world of talent we are now in can email us at info@pymetrics.com.  

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

Originally published on TaskRabbit’s blog.

Here at TaskRabbit, we’re passionate about our core values. These values guide us to care deeply, level up, lead the future together, and be better neighbors, and we strive to live by them every day. They’ve also inspired us to give back to the communities in which we operate — and help make them better places to live.

To do so, we created TaskRabbit for Good (TR4G). TR4G makes it easier for clients, Taskers, and our employees to give back locally and make a difference on issues that matter. A portion of TaskRabbit’s service fee from all TR4G initiatives is donated to local nonprofits tackling challenges aligned with our goals — strengthening communities and helping neighbors in need find work and a place to call home. Keep reading to learn more about what TR4G and what we are doing to support our neighbors.

Community Grants

We support small, grassroots organizations aligned with our mission to help our neighbors in need find work and/or a place to call come. Grants are funded through profits from donation drop-off tasks and contributions from TaskRabbit employees.

Workforce Development

We partner with community-based organizations to help individuals in need earn a meaningful, flexible income on our platform through leveling up their skills and work experience as Taskers.

Local Volunteerism

We empower Taskers, clients, and employees to give back to the communities we call home through organized volunteer opportunities at local charities doing incredible work. We challenge our employees to think globally about their impact and how we can all use TaskRabbit as a force for good, including our Tasks for Good initiative. Tasks For Good allows vulnerable populations to get the help they need — at no cost. Through Tasks For Good you can become a volunteer Tasker and help your neighbors who need it most.

Pledge 1%

In November 2019 TaskRabbit joined the Pledge 1% movement along with thousands of other companies worldwide, to strengthen communities by helping neighbors in need find work and a place to call home. Given the unique nature of our technology platform, which connects people looking for work to those who need help around the home, our TR4G mission — and now our commitment to Pledge 1% — built into our DNA since day one.

How You Can Get Involved

Book A Donation Drop-Off

If you have items you’re looking to donate, book a Tasker to pick them up and donate them to your preferred charity. When you do, TaskRabbit will give a portion of the service fee from your donation drop-off tasks to local nonprofits through our TaskRabbit for Good Grants.

Donate

You can now add a $1 donation to your next task! When you do, it will go directly to partner organizations helping your neighbors who need it most.

Become A Partner

The TaskRabbit for Good team partners with nonprofit organizations and companies looking to positively impact the communities in which they operate. Have a great idea of how we could work together to make an impact? Email us at TR4G@taskrabbit.com.

By Laura Galbraith, Community Engagement Program Manager at Vidyard

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

At Vidyard, we watched as the world quickly joined one another in support amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As a video platform for businesses, located in Kitchener, Canada, we knew there was plenty we could do to contribute to the relief efforts, so we worked together in three key areas to help. In the span of only seven weeks, we’ve made new products available, provided local support and volunteer services to our community, and shared our video expertise with nonprofits and educators so they could feel more confident communicating on video while working remotely. We knew these small efforts would go a long way.  

Bringing free video tools to educators, school districts, teachers, and nonprofits

We knew we could rally together to make video tools available that would quickly address the struggles that educators and nonprofit organizations were experiencing–staying connected. So our teams moved quickly to launch two tools and made them free during COVID-19 to ease the tension and stress that comes along with the rapid shift to becoming an overnight remote worker: 

• Helping School Districts, Teachers and Students Stay Connected with Free Video Tools: Vidyard has opened up free access to our online video and virtual teaching tools to help K-12 school districts and teachers take their communications online with private video content.


• Vidyard Made Easy for Nonprofits – Internal Communications Tool: Vidyard has introduced a new free offering, Vidyard for Internal Communications, to help nonprofits stay connected with others via secure video content and messaging. Staff can now easily record, secure, and share private videos both internally with colleagues, or externally with donors, staff, volunteers, and more, in just a few clicks from their web browser and email app.

Supporting the community with meal donation, volunteer services, and financial support

We knew that tools were important, but we also knew that our support of front line workers and hospitals in our community was needed during this time. To address these needs, we’ve provided vital support through:

• Meal donation: Vidyard is providing meals for health care workers (while also supporting local restaurants), one meal a week for two months, at its local hospital. 


• Volunteer services: Our local hospitals indicated that there was additional support needed for health care workers: tutoring of their children, dog walking, grocery pick up, lawn care, etc, and Vidyard was able to help organize volunteer supports for these areas. The team also recorded and shared a Thank You video for front line workers to show our appreciation. 


• Financial support: In addition to meals being provided, Vidyard is also financially supporting local hospitals to help provide PPE protection or emergency supplies needed for staff during this time. 

Providing video knowledge, best practices, and tips to nonprofits and educators

It’s not all about products or volunteer hours; it’s also about sharing best practices for video use within organizations. This information can be the vital resource for nonprofits struggling to communicate with their teams during a time of transition and change. To help address these areas, Vidyard is supporting in a few key areas: 

• Outreach Support for Educational Institutions: Vidyard is supporting local schools and outreach programs by sharing best practices, tips, training and tools that show how video can be used to ease communication between students, mentors, and teachers. Vidyard is also helping to support local student outreach programming groups to find ways they can continue their programming, virtually through the use of video. 


• Community Support Services: Vidyard has helped a variety of local nonprofits, who serve our communities most at risk; sharing additional access to video tools so they can better communicate both internally within their organization and externally with donors, staff, and volunteers. 

We are incredibly thankful to have such a powerful team of frontline workers helping to keep this community safe, and we hope these ideas help to inspire other technology organizations to consider how they too can share their time, talents, and treasures to help combat COVID-19.

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

Leaders are coping with the scale and impact of COVID-19 on the workplace. They are reminded of how precious life is and the significance of safeguarding employees’ health. This is the time to put people first to make certain that employees are safe and have the support they need to work through this unprecedented and challenging situation surrounding the outbreak.

The shift to remote working has created major challenges for team members and their managers. Traditionally, 66% of remote employees experience difficulties with loneliness, work-life balance, collaboration, and staying motivated. We suspect this percentage is much higher with the involuntary shift to remote work. Today, more than ever, managers need the right tools to overcome these virtual workplace challenges.

To support this shift we released Cassiopeia’s Remote Work Solution to empower remote leaders with the insights they now need the most. By analyzing communications patterns (not content) within teams, we are able to provide practical recommendations to increase team collaboration, belonging and mental health. Weekly email reports are delivered to managers which include insights about less connected employees, team collaboration, how certain subgroups, such as parents are engaging, work overload, and actionable recommendations on how to overcome the specific challenges the team members are facing. 

In order to support companies during the abrupt transition to the virtual workspace, we are offering free 2 months to expedite adoption and results.

In order to get a more accurate picture of their teams, culture, and inclusion, managers need to use additional data sources, especially communication analysis that has become extremely insightful as all communications transition to online these days.

There is also a positive takeaway from this crisis. These new challenges can help companies grow and make them even stronger at the end of the day. Leaders should be aware of these new challenges and use relevant tools and methods to improve collaboration and make sure their teams feel supported.

By Hayden Brown, CEO of Upwork

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

For over 20 years, Upwork has connected businesses with remote professionals to help tackle their most pressing challenges. Right now, we all face a common challenge—mobilizing our resources to mitigate the devastating impact of the virus on our communities and economy. This challenge requires us to work quickly and at scale across a broad range of skills and with fresh thinking.

On April 28th, we announced the launch of our Work Together Talent Grants program. The program was created to help us meet these challenges head-on by offering businesses $1 million in talent grants to fund projects with missions directly tied to mitigating COVID-19’s impact on individuals, communities, and the economy. 

Upwork will provide selected organizations up to $25,000 in talent credits to be used on the Upwork site, for a total of one million dollars in grant funding. In turn, these funds create economic opportunities for the independent talent hired to work on the grantees’ projects. 

If your project is selected, our team will help match you directly with remote professional(s) who have the specialized skills you need. The grant funds will pay for some or all of their time on your project.

You can learn more about the Work Together Talent Grants here.

In addition to the Work Together Talent Grants, we are taking ongoing efforts to aid independent professionals and clients in maintaining business continuity, so they can remain resilient throughout the pandemic and emerge from it even stronger:

• Co-founded the Freelancers Relief Fund. In partnership with the Freelancers Union, the fund aids independent workers experiencing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.
  


• Help talent gain payment peace of mind. Talent can enjoy the certainty of guaranteed payments on Upwork for their non-Upwork clients too by using our new Direct Contracts solution. We’re also working on ways to speed up payments to talent from clients on our platform.
  


• Created the remote work resources center. We share tips for building and successfully managing remote teams on a regular basis. Topics range from how to get started with working remotely, to leveling up security functions, and thought leadership articles on the future of work.
  


• Supported the  #COVID19StartupWeekend. The online event brought together developers, marketers, nurses, students, scientists—anyone with an idea to tackle COVID-19. For 3 days, thousands of people from around the world joined forces to develop prototype solutions unique to each country.

As we navigate the new challenges ahead, our commitment to having a positive impact on our community remains at the core of everything we do. Our team is working around the clock to embody our company’s mission and ensure that the work we do today helps get the world back together tomorrow. 

Upwork giving back in action can be found here.

By Susy Schöneberg, Head of Flexport.org

Hello everyone, 

Almost four years ago, I founded Flexport.org, the impact team of Flexport, a global transportation company. After witnessing the power of Flexport to move goods efficiently, I knew that we have the ability to get medical goods and other aid supplies where they need to go during crises. And I know first hand how important this is, as I once struggled to receive medical aid myself when I contracted Cholera and fought for my life. Since Flexport.org was formed, we’ve shipped aid to over 50 countries during crises like the Syrian Civil War and the consequent European Migrant Crisis, Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and the California Wildfires.

Today, amidst this unprecedented pandemic, our work transporting medical equipment is more crucial than ever. We activated our COVID-19 relief efforts this January, three days before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, by shipping masks to medical clinics in Wuhan, China. As of today, Flexport has shipped over 96 million units for the response efforts, including 91 million masks and respirators as well as medical supplies and hospital equipment. 

Since launching our GoFundMe Frontline Responders Fund campaign, we’ve raised over $7.4 million, 82% of which has already been awarded to over 65 incredible organizations who are equipping frontline responders with PPE and keeping communities safe. 

Donations have already been used to bring goods to the frontlines. We have:

• Shipped over 10.8 million units of PPE and COVID-19 response items, including approximately: 9.5 million masks, 240,000 gowns, 1,000 ventilators, 235,000 gloves, and even 252,000 meals for vulnerable populations disproportionately impacted by social isolation


• Delivered to ICUs, emergency rooms, hospitals, and healthcare facilities, but also to medical distribution nonprofits such as MedShare, nursing homes and elderly care centers, government agencies, food aid distribution centers, and even supplies to domestic production facilities


• Sent goods throughout the US, particularly hotspots in New York and Los Angeles — you can see the concentration of shipments in the map below. And our focus is global to ensure every responder is equipped to safely fight this battle: we’ve helped ship to the UK, Ireland, Greece, Burkina Faso, and Haiti, with support coming for South America.

We’re grateful for those helping our mission, including:

• The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Shutterfly


• BeautyUnited, a coalition of beauty and wellness brands focused on awareness to our campaign, as well as coordinating product donations to health care workers from their own companies


• The National PPE Coalition, who is coordinating all response organizations activating for COVID-19 relief


• Atlas Air, United Airlines and Airlink, who have helped to provide chartered flights in an incredibly constrained air market


• FiveStar Freight, who are discounting all trucking services in the New York and New Jersey area for Frontline Responders Fund shipments


• You, our donors and supporters, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support from each and every individual who has contributed to or shared our campaign.

This is what we have done in just a few weeks, but even as millions of supplies start to arrive, we know the response efforts will be a journey. The current demand outpaces our available funds: we can only support less than 30% of organizations who have applied for help.

Please share our mission and our Frontline Responder Fund initiative with your friends and families: beginning today, anyone can text FRONTLINE to 41411 to donate. With everyone’s support, we can provide the essential medical equipment that allows doctors and nurses to save peoples’ lives and continue to serve those who have been impacted by the economic repercussions of social distancing. Together, we can truly help more people. 

Thank you,

Susy

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

Procore is a people-first company, and its values of ownership, openness and optimism continue to guide its work during these challenging times. As the construction industry and global community grapples with COVID-19, Procore is committed to delivering resources and information that help support during these challenging times.

Procore’s mission to create a global platform for everyone in construction remains central to its daily operations in light of the new reality we face. Its employees, customers, and partners are critical to the work they do and the communities they serve, especially during times like these. 

With this in mind, Procore has focused its efforts on supporting each of those groups with specific initiatives in response to COVID-19. Some of the latest initiatives include:

• Supporting our employees while we all practice social distancing 
  
  
  
  • Procore is in a fortunate position, as we are able to continue to run our business remotely. As we’ve transitioned into this new reality, one where many of us work alongside roommates or have children and pets joining our video conferences, we’ve introduced the following initiatives to help our employees as they continue to support the construction industry: prioritizing communication and connection, living our values, ongoing tech and facilities support, creating space for working parents and caregivers, and realizing our mission.  
  
  
  
  


•  Procore’s commitment to customers in response to COVID-19
  
  
  
  • Relationships form the backbone of our industry. From general contractors to specialty contractors to owners, it’s the people that make this industry great. As the industry and the world continues grappling with COVID-19, this has never been more apparent. Procore is in this together with you — our customers, partners, associations, and the construction industry at large. Click here to read six new ways that Procore is offering customer support in these very challenging times.  
  
  
  
  


• Team Rubicon mobilizing resources and volunteers in response to COVID-19
  
  
  
  • To raise awareness of Team Rubicon’s efforts to support our neighbors and communities in response to the COVID-19, Procore is inviting those who are interested to get involved in the Team Rubicon mission.
  
  
  
  

Procore is focusing on making it easier to make a difference while providing the highest level of support. The company is committed to the health, safety, and success of their employees, customers, and our partners. As a partner to the construction community, we are all in this together.  

 

This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.

Giving Tuesday is different this year. COVID-19 has disrupted volunteering plans across the world, and it’s brought much of our society to a screeching halt. But as for our work at Fluxx? We’re busier than ever. Fluxx is a grants management platform that provides innovative solutions to power modern philanthropy. We help funders (those who give away money) and recipients (nonprofits) manage and streamline their grant lifecycle. And now we’re rallying around funders old and new to help them tackle COVID-19 in a multitude of ways.

Today we’d like to tell you about how we supported a brand new COVID-19 initiative – from ideation through deployment. Our team’s labor was provided at no cost. This pro bono work is part of our Pledge 1% commitment, and frankly, it’s the right thing to do at a time like this.

We’re excited to share that Fluxx was recently selected to power the new state-wide Colorado COVID Relief Fund. Driven by the Colorado Governor’s Office and supported by our client The Colorado Health Foundation, this initiative was formed to provide grants up to $25k to nonprofit organizations, local governments, school districts and small businesses of Colorado to help support communities most disproportionately impacted by the crisis.

Within two weeks, the Colorado COVID Relief Fund Fluxx solution was live. In record time our team built the Fund’s web portal for accepting applications and backend site for administrators to process and review grants through our solution. The fund started with $10 million and the team continues to fundraise in the hopes of growing that grant pool. The Fund received over 1,000 applications within the first two-week grant cycle. 

“We’re forever grateful to Fluxx for donating their services to build the application platform for the Colorado COVID Relief Fund. We know that every minute help is delayed has a real impact on people’s lives, and this partnership has revealed the power of nimbleness in the midst of crisis. The team rolled up their sleeves and threw out the rulebook to stand this up quickly, and now, just a couple weeks later, funding is on its way to Colorado communities bearing the brunt of the health, social and economic ramifications of the coronavirus crisis. Fluxx is certainly more than grant management software. It’s a group of people who care about the same things we do,” said Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation and Executive Committee Member for the Colorado COVID Relief Fund.

With so many government and private institutions currently buckling under the strain of this global pandemic, we are proud to see philanthropy step up to the plate and rapidly deploy resources and assistance. We’re honored to support the Colorado Governor’s Office and The Colorado Health Foundation’s efforts to mitigate COVID-19’s impact on their state.

So this Giving Tuesday our team will continue to work and support all of our amazing clients, many of whom are fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines, funding research, and supporting innovative health-related solutions!