Pledge Now

We are pleased to announce that MOVEMENT is now part of the Pledge 1% family, a corporate philanthropy initiative of which member companies pledge 1% of their equity, profit, employee time and/or products to charitable causes. MOVEMENT is a smartphone case maker and social enterprise with a mission to keep plastic waste out of the world’s oceans before it becomes a pollution risk. An important part of MOVEMENT’s mission is supporting organizations that focus on marine pollution cleanup and prevention projects, therefore we are donating 50% of profits from every purchase to organizations that champion our values by using science and education to fight this global health crisis.

Our MOVEMENT launched in 2017 with the recognition that plastic pollution not only manifests in single-use plastics but also in lesser known durable plastics from discarded technology hardware and accessories. The current lack of infrastructure to recycle post-consumer durable plastics led us to launch MOVEMENT’s “Buy One Recycle One” program. The program targets an opportunity to recycle used phone cases from the general public, most of whom cannot physically access or amass the scale to dispose of durable plastics at the right facilities. Customers can take advantage of the prepaid return shipping included with each purchase to mail in old cases for recycling with our recycling partner. However, we enthusiastically encourage non-customers to participate in the program as part of MOVEMENT’s core commitment to fight plastic pollution.

Environmental responsibility is and always will be part of MOVEMENT’s DNA. As a young company in the business of making products, we are adopting extended producer responsibility early on because we believe that the practice is non-negotiable with or without the enforcement of law. All numbers have led us to the same conclusion: Durable plastics have become a high waste footprint that is only growing bigger faster. The technology research firm Gartner reported that nearly 1.5 billion smartphones were purchased in 2016 worldwide, while 3 out of 4 smartphone owners will go through at least one case during each phone’s life cycle. That is roughly 65 million pounds of durable plastics heading to the landfills in the next couple of years. In addition, McKinsey & Company estimated that 3 billion people from developing nations will rise to the middle class by 2030. Whereas that is great news for societies, higher purchasing power creates an ever greater demand for products, raw materials and energy. Growing income and reliance on mobile technology will make no exceptions of demand for smartphones or tech accessories.

The environment must not bear the costs from these statistics especially because many solutions already exist. We implore businesses, producers, and suppliers to assume stewardship that bridges hope to reality while there is still time. As the venerable Sir David Attenborough recently said, “It is one world. And it’s in our care. For the first time in the history of humanity, for the first time in 500 million years, one species has the future in the palm of its hands. I just hope he realises that that is the case.”

Originally posted: January 1, 2018

At CRM Science we are committed to charitable causes in our community by contributing 1% of our time, profit, and product. One of our biggest passions is supporting the National MS Society, through our participation with the Salesforce & Friends Bike MS team.


 

In 2016 we had 8 team members travel to San Francisco for the Salesforce & Friends Bike MS Waves to Wine. After that amazing experience, we made a goal as a company to bring the excitement we had at Bike MS Waves to Wine to the East coast by creating a Salesforce & Friends team for Bike MS City to Shore. Our initial goal was to raise at least $15,000 with a team of 15 riders and we crushed it! On Saturday, September 23, 2017, our inaugural team cycled through the countryside of New Jersey on their way to Ocean City completing a total of 1,710 miles traveled, over $20,000 raised, with a team of 20 riders. We finished 2nd in the rookie team of the year recognition and had 2 riders in the Top 250 out of 6000+ riders for an event that is the #2 fundraiser in the world for MS.

Over the last 2 years, CRM Science has directly donated over $45,000 to the MS Society which accounts for well over 1% of our profit. Our total impact on the MS Society has been over $110,000 through direct donation, matching contributions and team participation and fundraising. We plan to continue into 2018 with another $25,000 direct donation to start the year and already have team members committed to riding again.

Originally posted: December 22, 2017

From the RFPIO team.

It’s hard to believe we’ve already made it to Q4 and are closing out what’s been such a great year for RFPIO. But beyond the growth of our business and the excitement that has brought us, something we are really proud of is our commitment to the Pledge 1% movement. Their objective is to integrate giving into the fabric of company practices, and we are in full support.

We’ve had a chance to return the favor back to our community in some incredible ways this year. We donated to the Oregon Food Bank, worked with SOLVE to clean up Kelley Point Park, and contributed to Elmonica Elementary School’s MakerSpaceprogram.

This quarter is a special one, though. Now that the holiday season is in full swing, we know it’s an extra difficult time for many people.

Screen Shot 2021-08-30 at 5.13.57 PM.png

According to data from the Oregon Center for Public Policy, Oregon’s poverty rate is higher on average than the United States as a whole. Among those living under the poverty line in Oregon, one in five is a child under the age of 18.

With that in mind, the RFPIO team wanted to offer up some holiday cheer to children in our community. We came across many fantastic organizations to choose from, but found our match with the Christmas Family Adoption Foundation (CFAF).

CFAF was created in 2002 when founder Mike Burright gathered gifts for a local family that didn’t have much that Christmas. Since then, they have adopted over 2,500 families. The organization’s mission is, “to create a positive and memorable holiday by giving gifts, clothing, and necessities to families in need.” With their help, RFPIO had the opportunity to adopt an area family who is going through a hard time, and check some items off their Christmas wish list.

Screen Shot 2021-08-30 at 5.14.33 PM.png

So in the spirit of the season, we encourage you to join us! You can go to the CFAF website and choose a family to sponsor or nominate for adoption, or take a look at the ways to donate financially.


Happy Holidays from the RFPIO Crew! 

Originally posted: December 15, 2017

By the team at NEEV.

Every #GivingTuesday since NEEV was founded, we have supported our partner NGO the Power of Love Foundation with 30% of net proceeds. This year, we are giving 30% of net proceeds during our #GivingTuesday initiative to the Power of Love Foundation, an American charity empowering women impacted by HIV and AIDS in Zambia.  Plus we are giving our customers, 30% OFF any purchase of our handmade products through December 17, 2017. Use Code LETSGIVE30.

You can read more about our campaign here. 

As a BCorp, we are also honored to be on the B Corp Best of the World 2017 list – in no less than four categories. A link to our blog post on making the Best for the World 2017 list. Additionally, NEEV was featured on the BtheChange media on ‘Stories of True Changemakers: How These Companies Grew Their Impact‘.

Originally posted: December 15, 2017

By John Snow Labs.

Although we have a huge amount of data, still we are not able to fully address the needs of underrepresented and underserved populations around the world. Issue that the United Nations have been trying to solve with their recent creation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the overall growth of the climate, people, and the planet. In order to achieve these targets, public institutions and private companies need to get actively involved and collaborate. As access to proper technology, data, and appropriate analysis become critical tasks at this stage, the concept of data philanthropy comes also into action. The next step should be that private companies start collaborating together so that they can donate data and create efficient resources to solve global challenges.

Unlimited flow of data:

Stats reveal that we produce almost 2.5 quintillion data bytes every day and the amount is further increasing exponentially. This huge amount of data can assist in finding appropriate solutions to social issues. Studies reveal that only 0.5% data out of this amount is available for analysis throughout the world. It means we still have many opportunities to fully explore this incredible digital universe in a profitable and impactful manner.

Why are we not finding right solutions to rise?

It’s a well-known fact that private companies around the world possess the majority of essential data and they utilize it to just drive efficient business decisions. However, the same data can be utilized to serve many other purposes as well.

Let us take a simple example. In 2013 Orange Telecom launched its Data 4 Development challenge where researchers were supposed to collect anonymized data over mobile networks in Senegal. As a result, they collected details on where people were traveling during variable weather conditions, holidays and work days throughout the year. After this, they analyzed public health datasets and were able to collect information about patterns related to malaria infections with population migrations. With these details, researchers found some insights about when outbreaks can occur in society so that local service providers can take preventive actions on time.

Now, if we suppose that only 1% of data out of al the privately owned 10 Billion Terabytes was made accessible to researchers, then they would be able to make great changes in the society.

How can tech companies help?

Tech companies are capable enough to power up this data philanthropy movement by simply developing new techniques to generate important missing data, donating data or even better, donate the time or the skills to analyze data for social good. For example, stats reveal that almost 350 million people all around the world could be absent from the essential public census data and it directly leads to 25% boost in the global poverty. The best idea to fill this technology gap is to initiate collaborative movement among various international institutions and tech companies so that much better solutions to social issues can be developed.

Data philanthropy gaining momentum

If the exponential rate of data production continues to rise, we may not have to wait too much longer before data philanthropy is something that every company will consider as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

For example at John Snow Labs we’ve partnered last year with London’s SHM Foundation to help with Project Khuluma – a mobile phone support group initiative to address the mental health and wellbeing needs of HIV positive adolescents in South Africa.

Tackling mental health is a major global health challenge. Nearly 75% of the 450 million people worldwide with a mental illness live in the developing world, and 85% of these people have no access to treatment. The social and economic costs are enormous.

Our global data operations experts’ team contributed data products and data science specialists to analyze over 40,000 messages using machine learning and natural language processing.

This was all part of a much wider Data Philanthropy Program, which is part of our company’s mission and culture, allowing us to make a positive impact while using our domain expertise for social good.

More awareness about data philanthropy is urgently required for humanitarian purposes and our hope is to help as many nonprofits projects, organisations and social issues as possible.

In order to collect more details, you can read the brilliant article written by Matt Stempeck on the Harvard Business Review. Here we have mentioned few aspects to initiate this campaign:



It doesn’t matter whether you are planning to donate technology, tools, analytics skills or big data for the Data Philanthropy movement, because all efforts in this direction will provide valuable insights into the future of our culture, environment and planet. We don’t have the scarcity of information or intelligence; all that is required is collaboration to lead some positive changes in society.

Originally posted: December 14, 2017

By Ida Lucente, John Snow Labs.

If you have the skills to work as a data scientist then there are lots of job opportunities waiting for you in the Data Philanthropy sector. Have you ever observed that your talent could also provide benefits to nonprofit organizations and other mission-driven companies?

If we review some facts, the number of data scientists around the world is still increasing day by day. However social organizations are not able to find these skilled people to handle their projects. The reason behind is that they are not able to provide the right platform to attract these professionals. Data scientists are more likely to get attracted by workplaces that provide better opportunities to grow their own skills. They wish to work with an active community of data scientists within an inspiring environment where they have easy access to data. But the sad truth is that very few NGOs have such kind of interactive platforms to offer.

It is time to understand that data scientists are some of the smartest people in the world and so they love to work for a greater mission. Most of these experts love to use their creativity for Data Science, DataOps and Data Analysis, beyond the mere financial gain. They want to improve opportunities in the environment by working on more challenging and purpose-driven projects. Data scientists can even do better jobs for disease analysis and they can definitely solve more pressing social issues. These innovative people love to play with massive datasets, which are for them like creative puzzles to be solved. And the great news is that social organizations have indeed many opportunities for them. It means that data scientists can think of working on part-time social good data projects after their normal 9 to 5-day jobs to achieve some impactful results for the greater good and public interest.

We should start thinking about the mechanism that can connect data scientists to social projects. Up to now, this has been achieved by many for-profit employers and companies, which make sure to translate their company mission into solid social impact. These connections can also be created by third parties via their specially designed networks. For example, Rayid Ghani who was the Chief Data Scientist for the Obama 2012 Campaign, yet he is running a useful project for data scientists with its Fellowship on Data Science for Social Good program. This platform connects unlimited Data Science experts from the University of Chicago to work on meaningful projects, collaborating with various federal agencies, local governments, and nonprofits. Another big platform for data analysts is nowadays the UN Global Pulse, which allows data science experts to address various developing nations’ social issues that can affect their growth.

More recently, we have witnessed the enormous explosion of social good Hackathons. One example is DataDives, high energy, marathon-style events where mission-driven organizations work alongside teams of volunteer data scientists, developers, and designers to use data to gain insight into their programs, the communities they serve and more.  These popular weekend events, organized by DataKind, attract various expert data scientists to address social issues that nonprofit organizations cannot otherwise solve with their limited source of in-house data science expertise.

There are more great tools that can develop meaningful connections such as is the “social good conferences”, as they provide an opportunity to start discussions on data solutions for social issues worldwide. However, they often stick to limited topics so we cannot completely rely on this resource. Ultimately, the major question is how talented data science experts can get easy access to various data for good projects on a larger scale.

Now, the great news is that if you want to join the “Data for Good Movement” then John Snow Labs, with its Data Philanthropy Program, can help you to get free and easy access to curated and updated datasets within the cybersecurity, life science, and healthcare category. The Data Philanthropy Program is all about allocating the right opportunities to the right people. It can help nonprofits to get skilled staff to complete their projects as well as Hackathons and universities under its 1% pledge so that more purpose-driven and social good projects can see the light. This is the case for Finder at HackPrinceton or Request2D at HopHacks.

To advance as a society we would like to see more data for good virtual marketplaces that can help data scientists to make direct connections with NGOs so that they can find the right opportunities to suit their own skills and time. It may appear a complicated thing for some of you but if you look at the progress made by technology within last few years when an email was just a dream, then we can believe that this is also possible in near future.

Originally posted: December 6, 2017

It is a timely reminder during Refugee week, from Sunday 18 June to Saturday 24 June 2017, which celebrates the contributions by refugees to Australian society, is that Australians of all status add to our society and give back to our communities in many ways.

Be it the recent announcement of the largest private donation in Australian history by philanthropists Andrew and Nicola Forrest, who donated $400 million of their personal fortune to charity, or immeasurable donation of time that volunteers give, there is notable momentum in philanthropy.

According to the Giving Australia 2016 report, corporate Australians donated over $17 billion during 2015 to 2016 and the report highlights that these donations come in all sizes. The immense donations from the like of Mr & Mrs Forrest and Graham and Louise Tuckwell, who have pledged more than $200 million to the Australian National University, is a rarity and not the norm.

In fact the report highlights that over 75% of all SMEs donate each year and increasingly donations from individuals and small business is increasing each year as a result of our desire to give back to the community and by the presence of new innovative organisations championing the benefits of philanthropy.

One such organisation is Pledge 1%, a global movement that is creating a new normal for companies of all sizes and stages to give back.  Founded by Salesforce, Atlassian and Rally, the Pledge 1% movement encourages and empowers businesses to donate 1% of their product, profit, equity, and/or time to the charity of their choice.  Already over 2,000 companies in 50 countries have publicly taken the pledge and committed to use their resources to have a meaningful impact in their communities.

One company is Wollongong Accommodation provider, Emerald and Aqua who specialises in the marketing and management of holiday homes in the Illawarra and have been members of Pledge 1% for over a year.

Greg Channer, Managing Director of Emerald & Aqua said, “we direct our pledge to assist refugees in our local community via Green Connect as we recognise that there are many members of our community that do not have a home, or they are making a new home in the Illawarra and while our business creates memorable experiences for those in a position to enjoy a holiday home we aim to give back to those re-settling their lives in Australia establishing a home.”



In addition to Mr Forrest, the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, and his wife, whose donation has made the national Media, there are many organisations like Atlassian, the Australian software technology company, who consistently support many not-for-profits. When Atlassian was still very small, Atlassian’s founders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar pledged 1% of the equity, profit, time and product of the company for the benefit of the wider community. Following Atlassian’s success, that pledge has turned into a huge level of support for not-for-profits the world over.

One not-for-profit Atlassian works with is Settlement Services International (SSI), a leading community-based not-for-profit organisation for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Atlassian’s support has taken two forms – leveraging their supply-chain to purchase products and services from SSI and by providing skilled-volunteering assistance in a number of technology related projects.

Corporate Philanthropy does not need to be hundreds of millions of dollars. It can be small, it can be time and it can be as simple as 1%.

Originally posted: December 5, 2017

New York, New York – November 29, 2017  – Pledge 1% is ringing the Nasdaq bell today to honor the Pledge 1% companies who have gone public already, as well as the thousands of Pledge 1% members who are making a meaningful difference in the world long before their liquidity events. To date, the top Pledge 1% companies alone have already ignited over $500 million in new philanthropy.

Recently named one of Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies and #1 Most Innovative Non-profit, Pledge 1% is a global movement that is creating a new normal for companies to give.  It’s simple, flexible and scalable model helps founders integrate giving back into their company cultures and values early by committing to give 1% of equity, time, product, and/or profit to any cause of their choosing.

With a growth rate of 150% a year since its inception, the Pledge 1% movement now includes over 3,400 member companies in 85 countries, including tech leaders like Salesforce, Atlassian, and Yelp, recent IPOs such as Twilio, Nutanix, and Okta, and some of today’s fast growing companies like Postmates, Pluralsight, PagerDuty, and InsideSales, among others.  Influential Tech eco-system partners have also backed the movement, including 500 startups, Techstars, TechCrunch, SV Angel, Foundry Group, and Salesforce Ventures.  

Why Pledge 1%? Aside from the huge potential for impact, leaders and investors are increasingly recognizing that there is an ROI to doing good.

“Pledge 1% isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do.  We invest in founders who understand this,” said Ron Conway,  one of the leading venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and founder of SV Angel.



Expectations of tomorrow’s leaders and companies are changing. Much of this is driven by millennial employees, customers, and founders themselves.  By 2025, 75% of workforce will be millennials (catalyst.org).  According to the most recent Deloitte Millennial Report, 9 in 10 millennials (86%) believe that the success of a company should be measured by more than its financial returns.  And according to the 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study, 76% of millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work, and nearly two thirds won’t take a job if a potential employer doesn’t have strong social responsibility practices. Yet today, only 5% of the philanthropy in the US comes from corporate donations according to Giving USA’s annual benchmarking report.

Michael Litt, founder/CEO of Canadian based Vidyard, who was introduced to Pledge 1% through Salesforce Ventures, states “Pledge 1% is absolutely core to Vidyard’s ability to attract and retain top talent.  We believe in this so strongly that we’ve based our executive compensation on an employee net promoter score driven in a large part by employee engagement and impact.”  

Millennials want to make a difference in the world and they see their workplace as the place to do it.  But even beyond “winning the talent wars,” millennial founders see culture and values as the key to building a legacy far beyond financial success.  

“We’re seeing a shift in the status quo” states Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive of Pledge 1%. “In the past, companies have waited until they were larger and successful before they set up programs to give back. These programs were often run on the side via a separate foundation and typically through impact grants.  With Pledge 1%, founders are recognizing that they can have an impact long before their liquidity event.  Instead of at the end, on the side, and just money founders today are setting their aspirations to give back at the beginning, integrating it into the core, and leveraging much more than money.  By weaving Pledge 1% into their culture and core business values from day one, they are empowering all of their employees to be part of something bigger than themselves, to share a piece of their success with the world.”

“People know they want to give more than 0% and less than 100% but often don’t know where to get started,” said Scott Farquhar, co-founder of Pledge 1% and co-CEO of Atlassian. “Pledge 1% gives people a working model to get started and the confidence of seeing thousands of other companies that have succeeded already. Committing to Pledge 1% was one of the best choices Mike and I have ever made – and I’m confident the same will be true for every founder who does the same.”

As Pledge 1% has proven, startups can have a real impact, even long before liquidity:


These are just a few of the many examples of how Pledge 1% companies are having a positive impact.  And Pledge 1% is only getting started.  

“We’re excited for Pledge 1% to celebrate its three year anniversary,”  said Suzanne DiBianca, Salesforce‘s EVP of Corporate Relations and Chief Philanthropy Officer. “Salesforce co-founded Pledge 1% to encourage companies of all sizes to build philanthropy into their business models and we are thrilled to see the continued momentum of thousands of companies taking the pledge. All companies can do more to give back! Today’s customers and top talent are rewarding companies who have strong values and social impact programs.”

“We are on a mission to create a new normal for giving back, ignite billions of dollars of new philanthropy through money, time, product – to drive meaningful change in the world,” summarized Lesnick.

To learn more about Pledge 1% or to join the movement, visit www.pledge1percent.org.

About Pledge 1%

Pledge 1% is an effort spearheaded by Atlassian, Rally, Salesforce 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. To learn more or to take the pledge, please visit www.pledge1percent.org.

Originally posted: November 29, 2017

Easy Agile is an Australian based software company, creating agile apps in the Atlassian Marketplace. Their commitment to Pledge 1% began long before the birth of their company in 2015.

Co-Founder’s and Atlassian alumni, Nick Muldoon and Dave Elkan began their journey with Pledge 1% all the way back in 2007.

It was then that they learnt of Atlassian’s 1% commitment. For Atlassian, this meant committing 1% of equity and profit into the Atlassian Foundation, plus 1% of employee time and 1% of products.

As part of Atlassian’s 1% employee time commitment, Nick and Dave would spend 1 day per quarter volunteering in community initiatives of their choosing. From serving meals at the Matthew Talbot Hostel to raising $30K and participating in the Cancer Council Relay for Life at the Macquarie University – Nick and Dave saw the impact of their 1% time commitment firsthand, and the importance of giving back.

Room To Read


During their time at Atlassian, founders Mike and Scott, challenged all employees to think bigger! Stop trading one hour of time for one hour of impact. Find a way to be multipliers.


Atlassian illustrated this movement in their support for Room To Read, a charity established to help low-income communities become their own multipliers by:


By focusing on literacy and gender equality in education, generations of young girls are becoming multipliers, increasing the quality of education in their own communities, lowering fertility rates and encouraging women to have careers.

Easy Agile were extremely proud to have made their first Pledge 1% contribution of 1% FY17 profit to Room To Read.

The choice to contribute to Room To Read was very personal for Nick and Dave as they both have daughters (Dave even has 2!). Wanting to ensure their own daughters had great opportunities in life, they think the same should be available for every young girl.

Since Easy Agile’s first contribution to Room To Read, they have thought a lot about how they can continue to be multipliers in their own backyards – Wollongong, NSW Australia.

100 Miles for Mat – 1% for Easy Agile

In Q1 of this financial year, Easy Agile showed their support for a local ultra-marathon runner who said he would be “going for a bit of a trot” to raise awareness and money to fight Motor Neuron Disease. It turned out “a bit of a trot” meant over 100 miles! Mat participated in the Hume and Hovell Ultra marathon finishing 3rd overall in an impressive 23 hours, 44 minutes and 35 seconds!

As a part of their 1% pledge, Easy Agile donated 1% of their quarterly profits to Mat’s cause, more than tripling the amount of money he was able to pass on to Cure MND Charity.


MND (and it’s derivative conditions) is a topic close to home for Mat and a number of the Easy Agile employees, so they were extremely proud of Mat’s accomplishments and their ability to help.

Continuing to impact locally, Easy Agile made their third donation to the Siligong Valley team participating in Movember – growing horribly brilliant moustaches during the month of November to raise money and awareness around men’s health.

A Snapshot into the Future

Easy Agile have some pretty ambitious goals for the next few years, and they are all driven by the desire to be able to make a large impact in their local area of Wollongong, NSW Australia. This goal sits at the core of Easy Agile’s painted pictures, and is centrepiece on the whiteboard that sits in the centre of their workspace.

“Our journey so far with Pledge 1% is something we are extremely proud of. Our commitment forms the basis of who we are as a company, and we sincerely urge others to jump on-board and make their own pledge!” – Nick Muldoon, Product Manager and Co-founder @ Easy Agile

Originally posted: November 28, 2017

Ready to get involved?
Pledge Now