This story was submitted by Cyntexa Labs Pvt. Ltd.

At Cyntexa, we are on a mission to unlock purpose within the communities where we live, work, and grow. We believe in the transformative power of collaboration with our customers, partners, and local communities to innovate and drive results that shape and secure the future of societies worldwide.

Our commitment extends to educating and empowering youth, particularly in the rapidly growing Salesforce economy, by harnessing its power and emerging as an industry leader. Aligned with our belief in the inherent responsibility of giving back, we are thrilled to join Salesforce’s Pledge 1% movement. This resonates with our dedication to positively impacting the lives of the youth, disrupting conventional learning norms by imparting free Salesforce training globally through online platforms.

Recognizing that communities are integral to comprehensive growth, Cyntexa is committed to fostering education and empowerment. To support this commitment, we have meticulously crafted a free online Salesforce training program. This program gives students a helping hand to seamlessly conquer through the diverse variety of Salesforce certifications.

We aim to provide accessible and valuable learning resources, ensuring that individuals can enhance their skills and contribute to the thriving Salesforce ecosystem. Through the collaborative efforts of our experts, we have made this training accessible to students across the world, expanding their mindset and empowering them to drive success and innovation.

In the journey of growth, a mentor is the compass, guiding the student to navigate challenges and confidently reach their destination. Fueled by a vision to empower the youth, we personally engage in shaping career paths through mentorship. At Cyntexa, teaching transcends profession; it’s a noble calling that transforms into an elevated responsibility.

Till date, Cyntexa has been able to help more than 50,000 students in building their careers in the rapidly growing ecosystem with free Salesforce training and mentorship. The story of Cyntexa isn’t just about technology and business; it’s a narrative of empowerment, transformation, and a commitment to nurturing the leaders of tomorrow.

Cyntexa Labs, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, is a leading Salesforce Consulting Partner with a global footprint, serving over 560 clients across 55+ countries. Our mission is to leverage tech power through in-house expertise, consistently delivering excellence. We blend technology and industry expertise to fuel sustainable growth, challenge norms, and drive global digital transformation while fostering lasting connections built on trust and exceptional experiences.

This story was submitted by Salesforce

Author: Emily White

As a company, Salesforce has always been focused on “doing well by doing good” and leveraging our business as a platform for change. We understand that critical challenges like climate change, conflict, and inequality require businesses, governments, and the social sector to innovate together.

Our purpose is strongly aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals — the global to-do list for people and the planet. Salesforce is focused on advancing 10 priority SDGs through our technology, our philanthropy, our equality and sustainability initiatives, and our partnerships with community organizations. We are committed to listening and learning from our nonprofit partners and leveraging our resources and platform to support their missions.

This Giving Tuesday, we’re highlighting 10 nonprofit organizations aligned with each of Salesforce’s 10 priority SDGs. These nonprofits will be featured across Salesforce social channels starting on Giving Tuesday to share with our networks how they can support these causes and advance progress on the SDGs.

The Hidden Genius Project | SDG 4: Quality Education
The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.

Salesforce leverages our 1-1-1 model to provide the Hidden Genius Project employee volunteers, product donations, and philanthropic support through the Salesforce Catalyst Fund, which provides unrestricted capital to nonprofits led by underrepresented leaders.

CARE | SDG 5: Gender Equality
CARE works around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice by putting women and girls in the center. CARE works with local partners with the aim to reach 50 million people affected by crises by 2030.

With less than 2% of disaster funding going to disaster preparedness and resilience, Salesforce supports CARE’s humanitarian relief efforts before disasters strike to help them pre-position supplies, prepare response teams, and ultimately jumpstart relief efforts.

New Energy Nexus | SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
New Energy Nexus is the world’s leading ecosystem of funds and accelerators supporting diverse clean energy entrepreneurs. Their vision is 100% clean energy for 100% of the population, in the shortest possible time.

In addition to achieving 100% renewable energy for our own global operations, Salesforce is committed to supporting nonprofits, like New Energy Nexus, that advance equitable access to clean energy worldwide. We also help companies accelerate their own climate action through our Climate Finance Playbook.

Year Up | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.

Salesforce has partnered with Year Up since 2008 to create an alternative pipeline of entry-level talent. Year Up also uses Salesforce technology to scale its impact and connect more young adults to successful career paths.

Urban Synergy | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Urban Synergy is a youth empowerment charity on a mission to inspire, guide and ignite the ambitions of young people.

Because talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, Salesforce supports Urban Synergy as part our commitment to expanding access to opportunity to people from all backgrounds.

Habitat for Humanity | SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Habitat for Humanity helps families build and improve places to call home. They believe affordable housing plays a critical role in strong and stable communities.

Salesforce employees are passionate Habitat for Humanity volunteers around the world, donating more than 91,000 hours to build and repair homes, host fundraisers, serve on their local board of directors and volunteer at a Habitat ReStore.

Reforestamos | SDG 13: Climate Action
Reforestamos Mexico’s mission is to achieve sustainable development through thriving forests. Their vision is to make forests our main allies to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals.

As part of Salesforce’s Climate Action Plan, our vision is to sequester 200 gigatons of carbon through protecting our oceans, energizing the ecopreneur revolution, and conserving, restoring, and growing 1 trillion trees through partnerships with organizations like Reforestamos.

The Ocean Foundation | SDG 14: Life Below Water
As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s mission is to support, strengthen, and promote those organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world.

Salesforce is committed to advancing SDG14 through our Ocean Policy Priorities and our philanthropy. We support The Ocean Foundation through our $100 million Ecosystem Restoration & Climate Justice Fund to increase the resilience of coastal ecosystems in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Acción Andina | SDG 15: Life on Land
Acción Andina aims to protect and restore one million hectares of high Andean, native forest ecosystems over the next two decades across the entire Andes of South America.

By partnering with ecopreneurs like Acción Andina, Salesforce aims to make a substantial contribution to 1t.org, an ambitious initiative we co-founded to conserve, restore and grow a trillion trees by 2030.

Pledge 1% | SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals
The mission of Pledge 1% is to inspire, educate, and empower every company to leverage its unique assets to be a force for good.

Salesforce is proud to be a founding partner of Pledge 1%. To date our own 1-1-1 model has led to $676M in all-time giving, 8.5M employee service hours, and 56,000 nonprofits and schools using our technology. We created a free Trailhead module, Business as a Platform for Change: The 1-1-1 Model, to enable others to join this global movement.

This story was submitted by Procore Technologies.

Procore has donated 1,000 accounts to schools, universities, union and trade association training centers, nonprofits, and emerging disadvantaged business enterprise.

They also partnered with The B1M, construction’s leading video channel, to launch a global initiative called “Get Construction Talking” to raise awareness about mental health in the construction industry.

To date, The B1M’s YouTube series on mental health in construction have amassed over 250,000 views, making it the most viewed series on the topic, and we’ve raised over $80,000 for nonprofits dedicated to this cause across the globe.

This story was submitted by Personio

Personio Foundation is an independent foundation based in Germany. The entrepreneurial DNA of Personio and our founders guides the Foundation, together with a genuine commitment to responsibility, impact and innovation.

From day one, Personio’s shareholder agreement has included the commitment to transfer 1% of Personio’s equity to a charitable foundation at the time of an IPO.  As a result of the 1% commitment, Personio Foundation is a shareholder in Personio whilst operating as a 100% independent entity from Personio.

However, as we cannot afford to wait to tackle our generation’s most pressing issues, Personio Foundation has already been launched in Q4 2021 to start supporting organisations that drive positive change for people and planet.

Besides the 1% equity stake, Personio Foundation received $3M in initial donations from our founders, Personio’s investors and from Personio to start operating.

This story was submitted by VidMob

By Jamie Bradley, Senior Director of Content Marketing at VidMob

We all have a responsibility to give back and giving back takes many forms. Whether it’s monetary donations, donating your time or contributing resources to a cause. But, how do we give in a way that drives long-lasting systemic change across the non-profit sector? That is the question VidMob is focused on solving.

In 2022, VidMob took the 1% Pledge and committed VidMob Gives, their non-profit arm, to using AI-powered technology to change the way NPOs advertise in order to stretch their media budgets and increase impact across their causes. Since VidMob Gives was formed in 2018, they have worked with over 200 NPOs, developing hundreds of ads for global non-profits to help them fulfill their missions.

Many NPOs struggle when it comes to advertising. While paid campaigns are a great way to increase awareness and drive donations, with limited resources, it’s hard to develop enough creative to fuel their campaigns. On top of that, when they’re relying on donations to keep their company in business, they want every dollar to go towards the cause, not wasted on a poor-performing ad that doesn’t drive performance. That’s where VidMob comes in.

VidMob’s work centers around empowering NPOs with the creative data they need to understand which creative elements are driving performance and then develop new creative that implements those insights. No wasted dollars and a lot more impact. One such campaign working with Techo, a youth-led non-profit org that works to create a just society without poverty, Ana Testa, Techo’s Director of Marketing and Communications said “The campaign gave us good insights and ideas on how we should approach our upcoming campaigns.” VidMob campaigns have helped support a wide array of causes, with a campaign that helped 67 people living with HIV get the support they needed and another that helped generate 689 welcome gift sign-ups and cards for military families. Jessica Teachey, Senior Director of Community Engagement at The MusicianShip says, “Because of this partnership, we’re a sharper marketing team that’s learning how to drive content based on real, measurable KPIs and demographic goals.”

VidMob Gives is committed to setting up a foundation that others can then build upon to drive lasting change in an organization. Whether it’s helping a global NPOs build a campaign strategy, or helping a local charity build homes for 3 families in need, at VidMob, we believe in building the future we want to see. A future where companies understand their responsibility to act and be a driver of good across local and global communities. A future where giving compounds on itself to drive incredible, lasting impact for charities and the causes they are committed to serving.

This story was submitted by Addteq.

In the spirit of giving, Addteq is proud to announce its commitment to donate $5000 to Pledge 1% this Giving Tuesday. But this act of generosity is not just a corporate gesture; it is deeply rooted in the personal journey of Addteq’s CEO, Sukhbir Dhillon.

CEO Sukhbir’s Inspiring Journey
Sukhbir’s story begins in Sion Koliwada which is near Dharavi, Mumbai, where he faced challenging conditions growing up in pre-librealised India. As the first engineer in his household, Sukhbir recognized the transformative power of education in his own life, and of the people around him. This realization fueled his determination to make education accessible to those who needed it most.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
~Nelson Mandela

The Birth of Iris Foundation
Sukhbir’s commitment to education took a more personal turn when he founded the Iris Foundation. Named after his daughter, Iris, this initiative was launched when Iris was just one year old. Now, as Iris approaches her tenth birthday, and Addteq refocuses itself on its software tools to increase collaboration and accessibility in the workplace, Iris Foundation also refocuses itself, driven by the belief that education can be a powerful catalyst for change.

Iris: The Young Philanthropist
Iris, following in her father’s footsteps, has taken up the cause of philanthropy in her own unique way. Earning money through chores, Iris has pledged to donate 1% of her income to support the education of children in developing countries. Her commitment reflects the values instilled in her by Sukhbir and the Iris Foundation.

Addteq’s Support for Iris’s Cause
In a demonstration of solidarity with Iris’s initiative, Addteq is contributing an additional $5000 to Pledge 1% on Christmas. Furthermore, Addteq is launching a GoFundMe page, inviting everyone to participate in the collective effort to empower education. This initiative goes beyond a mere corporate donation; it’s a commitment to fostering a culture of giving within the Addteq community.

Conclusion
The power of education lies not only in its ability to transform individual lives but in its potential to create a ripple effect of positive change in communities around the world. Addteq, Sukhbir, and Iris stand united in their dedication to this cause, inviting others to join them in the collective effort to make education accessible to all.

As we approach the season of giving, let us remember that every contribution, no matter how small, has the potential to make a significant impact. Together, we can create a world where education is a universal right, empowering individuals and communities to build a brighter future.

Contribute to Go Fund me here: https://gofund.me/d96ff848

This story was submitted by Yelp

Beyond the usual philanthropic playbook, the Yelp Foundation pushes the boundaries of grant-making, focused on a trust-based approach and three guiding principles. These principles allowed us a more dynamic and collaborative strategy that created greater impact this year. These guiding principles include: first, it’s our job to find, research, and evaluate a nonprofit organization before we ask anything of them. Second, we trust the nonprofit to know much more about how funds should be spent than we do. As a result, we always give unrestricted funding. We want our nonprofit partners to keep their lights on, pay their employees fairly, and keep the organization’s wheels turning so they ultimately keep doing the work we want to support. Lastly, the Yelp Foundation has resources and expertise outside its grant funding that could help our nonprofit partners raise money, tell their story, and expand the reach of their efforts.

With our established principles in mind, we adopted a more dynamic and collaborative strategy which led to greater impact this year.

ONE: This year, we sought to deepen our relationships with our grantee partners. We wanted to do more than just write a check by using our resources to help them tell their stories. In partnership with Yelp’s Studios team, we spent a few months traveling to our grantees’ sites filming and interviewing nonprofit employees and their beneficiaries. We wove that footage into a short-form video for each of the Yelp Foundation’s strategic partners. These brief, punchy films tell the story of the organization through the eyes of a funder who believes in their mission and proudly promotes their efforts. Our aim was to help each organization raise money from other prospective donors by pointing to each respective video that ends with a statement of clear support by Yelp Foundation.

TWO: In partnership with two grantee partners, Yelp Foundation used its brand and voice to advocate for causes we mutually care about by co-authoring joint op-eds. In July, we co-wrote a two-part series in Triple Pundit in partnership with Hot Bread Kitchen entitled “How Supporting Gender Equality in the Workplace Supports Us All.” The second piece in the series was “Agency Begets Equity: A Holistic Approach to Help All Workers Succeed.” In partnership with i.c.stars, we published “Honoring Authenticity: The Key to a Thriving Workforce.” These articles not only serve as a touchpoint for meaningful partnerships we already have with these organizations, they also speak to our shared values. Yelp Foundation has and will continue to use our voice to advocate for causes that matter to us and our partners.

THREE: At the end of this year, we’ll celebrate the completion of our first-ever multi-year grant cycle. Each of our partners received $50,000 annually for three consecutive years. This time together enabled us to establish mutual trust. We received regular updates from our partners, keeping us informed of their programmatic wins and organizational changes. While obtaining the necessary information from them, we demonstrated clearly that we are committed for the long haul. In Yelp Foundation’s opinion, multi-year funding is not only generous, reasonable, and logical, but also the most effective way to showcase commitment to nonprofit partners, supporting and believing in both their operational effectiveness and their mission.

We firmly believe that as our program evolves, grows, and expands its reach, that we can be better partners, better supporters, and better advocates by leveraging creativity and building a foundation of trust.

This story was submitted by Pacific Point

Pacific Point, a Salesforce consulting partner headquartered in Hawaii, has had a long history of having a positive social impact to the community from youth mentorship to beach clean-ups. In 2020 Pacific Point made their commitment official by joining the Pledge 1% movement with a focus on inspiring youth to pursue careers in technology. Deena Tearney, CEO of Pacific Point is personally invested in supporting youth programs focused on women in business and technology enablement. She shares, “What I have found through my time speaking to and mentoring youth is that this next generation is truly empowered professionally and will fearlessly try new things. I’d like to help inspire young people to follow their career dreams and develop their global consciousness.”

Since 2020, Pacific Point’s Pledge 1% commitment has grown beyond Hawaii into other states and globally! Their team of consultants volunteers at the Hawaii STEM Conference annually and finds themselves inspired by the energy and enthusiasm (and smarts!) of the junior high students. Pacific Point’s team additionally supports university level student mentorship at the University of Hawaii and the University of Colorado in a variety of ways from mentoring, mock interviews, networking, and Salesforce student group workshops. Pacific Point has been 3-year sponsor for the University of Colorado Low-Code Hackathon and the team jumped in with their time too supporting the teams with their apps and pitches.

Pacific Point, in partnership with Mile High United Way, has an annual tradition of ending the year with holiday cheer by hosting a toy drive in Denver to help families in need each holiday season. Mile High United Way makes it easy for Pacific Point’s global team to show support through online donations or Amazon Wish List. This December marks the 3rd Annual Pacific Point x Mile High United Way Toy Drive.

This theme of giving has now gone global as the Pacific Point Singapore team volunteered at the United Women Singapore STEM Fest focused on empowering young women to enter explore and enter technology fields.

Investing in future technology and business leaders is something Pacific Point continues to prioritize for its Pledge 1% commitment.

This story was submitted by Appfire

By Fabian Lopez, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Appfire

At Appfire, we believe in the power of doing good. We’re committed to giving back and we do so in a variety of meaningful and tangible ways to support initiatives and philanthropic organizations both big and small. It’s why we were drawn to the Pledge 1% community and why we established our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, Appfire Town.

Now in its second year, Appfire Town continues to deliver on what it originally set out to do — to ignite a social impact movement. We do this by supporting any individual who wants to propose an idea and see it through. We like to say, “If it’s big in your heart, it’s big to us.”

Since launching Appfire Town, we have seen our own team members fully embrace the concept and rally around one another to support causes important to each other. Over the past year, this has led to a 77% engagement rate by Appfire team members, and we are very proud of that.

But engagement with Appfire Town doesn’t stop with our own team. The program also invites our partners, customers, community members, family, and friends — a group we call “our neighbors” — to let us know what’s important to them. We look for ways to support them in giving back, and provide access to resources and encouragement from Appfire Town.

In fact, Appfire Town impacted over 940 organizations, volunteered 4,369 hours, and donated $450,000 to support a vast range of causes worldwide in the last year.

Here are just some of the important initiatives we supported in 2023 thanks to our team members and neighbors who came forward to highlight the causes that are important to them:

• Hosting the second “Resilience and Empathy” music festival in Argentina to support International Day of Persons with Disabilities.


• Participating in Adrenaline Therapy Sessions with California-based Warfighter Made, a program that supports veterans and their families.


• Packing “welcome home” kits for Transition House clients impacted by domestic violence in Cambridge, MA.


• Planting trees and building amenities in Ecuador with CHOICE Humanitarian.


• Teaming up with Ocean Rescue Alliance International to protect marine life by working on an artificial reef in South Florida.


• Partnering with ENGin, a nonprofit organization that pairs youth and young adult Ukrainians affected by the war with English speakers for free online conversation practice and cross-cultural connection so they can practice English and prepare for future global work opportunities.


• Refurbishing a school and a home for the elderly in Hyderabad, India.


• Conducting a kayak excursion to clean up Dushantsi Lake in Bulgaria.


• Providing assistance following natural disasters by purchasing and organizing emergency kit supplies through Global Empowerment Mission, collecting monetary donations for relief funds, and assisting local families with housing.


• Mentoring high school students in Boston, Palm Beach, and New York City during a business competition designed to help nurture their interests and goals, in partnership with SuitUp.


• Supporting the Jean Maggi Foundation through adapted bike-building events globally.


• Making stuffed animals with patients at children’s hospitals throughout the US.


• Continuing ongoing efforts in Moshi, Tanzania, by purchasing land, building a daycare, and providing other community support.


• Purchasing necessities for The Women’s Rights Center and Shelters for the Homeless in Warsaw, Poland.

None of this would be possible if it weren’t for the individuals who raised their hand and shared their ideas, their interests, and their willingness to give their time for these causes.

We refer to Appfire Town as “The Global Town with Heart and Soul,” since it encourages everyone to come together to generate a strong social impact in our local and global communities, and we’re always looking for ways to expand our reach in doing good. With a strong engagement rate from Appfire and such thoughtful ideas and actions from our neighbors and broader community, we’re excited to see where Appfire Town will help next.

Learn more about Appfire Town.