This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Empower your employees to give back at the individual level by downloading our new Virtual Volunteering Playbook, which includes ideas and best practices on how to excite and inspire individual giving.
From the global pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement, our status quo will never be the same. But despite the exceptional challenges we face today, we also have an unprecedented opportunity to build a better world. This past year has shown how critical it is for businesses to become more value-driven and play a role in moving the needle on social issues — to step up and find new ways to respond in these extraordinary times of need.
Salesforce is proud to participate in the #GivingTuesday movement and to encourage others to join the wave of generosity, engagement, and action. In celebration of giving back and the customers we support, we’re recognizing three inspirational Salesforce partners who are reimagining how to make an impact for our communities.
Lowes: Building an inclusive future
As we recover from the pandemic, business leaders have an opportunity “to redefine company values and back them up with action,” explains Salesforce’s Global Growth Evangelist, Tiffani Bova.
Home improvement retailer Lowe’s is a prime example of backing up principles with action. Lowe’s donated $55 million in grants to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, with $30 million in new funding for minority- and women-owned businesses, which continue to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. More than 2,000 businesses nation
wide have received critical funding since the summer when the grant funds were first announced. The next round of funding applications launches Nov. 30 and closes Dec. 6.Visit LISC.org/lowes to learn more or apply for a grant.
With the company’s ongoing commitment to empower minorities and economically vulnerable communities, Lowe’s teamed up with Salesforce to beautify an underserved Black community in Charlotte, N.C. Collaborating with the Art Pop Gallery, Lowe’s and Salesforce commissioned Abel Jackson — a local Black artist (also one of 22 artists who worked on Charlotte’s Black Lives Matter mural). Titled “Self Love,” the mural brought to life a message of hope, inspiration, and unity for the future, with the depiction of children “Hearing, Imagining, and Being Love.”
Lowe’s also launched a social media campaign, #BuildThanks, to encourage Americans to make DIY thank you signs for healthcare (and other essential) workers and first responders. The initiative inspired communities to get creative with supplies they already had at home, showing their gratitude to front-liners on their front yards — and sharing these messages online with the hashtag #BuildThanks.
Gap Inc: Helping communities return to work and school
According to a recent Salesforce survey of more than 20,000 people in 10 countries, people believe that the highest priority for businesses should be ensuring workplace health safety.
With the onset of COVID-19, leading global retailer Gap Inc. responded to this need with the production of masks. They leveraged their deep supply chain relationships and agile operations, to provide companies and healthcare communities with high-quality reusable, non-medical grade cloth face masks for employees.
John Strain, Chief Digital and Technology Officer explained: “At the beginning of the pandemic, Gap Inc. quickly responded to a customer need for high-quality reusable, non-medical grade cloth face masks.” As offices began re-opening, “We started hearing from companies who wanted to help meet the high demand for personal safety, by providing masks to employees. This led to the launch of our B2B mask program.”
Launching their mask program in only a few weeks, they leveraged Salesforce Commerce Cloud to quickly create a B2B channel and digital storefront. To date, the B2B product program has sold more than 10 million face masks to employers, including the City of New York, the State of California, Kaiser Permanente and a leading consulting firm.
To help amplify the efforts of Gap Inc, Salesforce purchased 100,000 Gap masks for company employees. And as children and teachers began returning to school, Salesforce donated 16,000 of these masks to public schools in Oakland and San Francisco.
“We’re thrilled to extend our masks to a fellow SF-based organization like Salesforce, and that they are supporting the community by donating to schools in Oakland and San Francisco,” said Strain.
American Family Insurance: Supporting fearless dreamers
In the same Salesforce survey, 60% of respondents said they trust businesses to build a better future for younger generations, a figure that has risen since last fall. But 66% felt that progress has stalled on widening access to education. Others were concerned about work opportunities, with 80% reporting that access to jobs is not improving.
With a mission to inspire and help communities discover, pursue and protect their dreams #DreamFearlessly, American Family Insurance stepped up to support and celebrate education — especially in underserved Black communities.
AmFam co-sponsored the YouTube Originals HBCU Homecoming 2020: Meet Me On The Yard. This global live stream featured celebrity guests and influencers, to celebrate the traditional fall homecoming weekend at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across the country. Proceeds were donated to the Funds of the United Negro College and the Thurgood Marshall College.
According to Sherina Smith, Marketing Vice President at AmFam: “American Family welcomes the opportunity to support an event that will bring joy to the lives of many, while underscoring the important role that HBCUs have played in producing fearless dreamers, leaders and achievers who have changed our world.”
The sponsorship also reflects AmFam’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace: “We want to create a thriving workplace and be an employer of choice for diverse talent who can grow their careers and contribute to our inclusive culture,” Smith explained.
Additionally this year, AmFam’s Community of Dreamers program provided $2,500 grants to 200 non-profits in communities across the United States. “In 2020, due to the devastating and continuing effects of the pandemic, contributions were focused on charitable organizations that have stepped up to provide COVID-19 relief,” said Maggie Pascaly, American Family Community Investment Manager.
A Platform for Change
These three Salesforce customers proved that companies can become more values-driven and find creative ways to give back to their communities. We couldn’t be prouder of our partners for taking a stance and making an impact on a large scale. And we’re doing our part too.
At Salesforce, we believe the corporate sector can and should be a platform for change. Indeed, we have an unprecedented opportunity to make powerful changes that elevate our brands and build a better world.
Learn how your company can empower employees to give back and make a difference with Philanthropy Cloud.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Originally published on crunchbase.com
At Crunchbase, we recognize that not all innovators have equal access to opportunities, and their ideas–no matter how great–may not have the same chances to break through.
That’s why we joined Pledge 1% in 2018 and have since donated at least 1 percent of our product, equity and employee time to help support nonprofits working to close the opportunity gap. To further our impact and provide additional resources to support the communities where our employees live and work, we’ve also created the Crunchbase Pro Bono Licensing Initiative.
Do More Good With The Help Of Crunchbase Pro
With the Crunchbase Pro Bono Licensing Initiative, eligible community organizations (501(c)(3) or equivalent non-profit status) can get all the benefits of Crunchbase Pro, for free.
You and your organization will be able to discover and engage with more potential corporate sponsors than ever before.
Growing your reach and accomplishing more meaningful change is made easier with expansive features including:
- Advanced search: With unlimited search features, find companies that align with your mission and values.
- Diversity Spotlight: Use company diversity data as a filter, particularly for nonprofits with racial and ethnicity clients or students.
- Data visualization: Analyze trends with charts on Crunchbase company profiles to see if a company is in an appropriate position for potential sponsorship.
- Personalized alerts: Get customized alerts on the companies and news you care about for more meaningful engagement with companies.
Crunchbase is here to help and support you in your world-changing initiatives, whether you use Crunchbase Pro within your organization to assist in your own due diligence and outreach process, or share it with those going through your program to help them complete a project or find their next opportunity.
Pledge 1% is a recipient of the Crunchbase Pro Bono Licensing Initiative and uses Crunchbase daily to help with a variety of different initiatives. According to their team, this is a powerful tool to help them better learn about and serve their members.
If you, or the organization you work with, are interested in applying for the Crunchbase Pro Bono Licensing Initiative, all eligible community organizations are invited to complete and return this application form.
Have questions about the program? Reach out to Halee Morgan, Corporate Social Responsibility Associate at Crunchbase: haleem@crunchbase.com.
2020 has been a year like no other, but we are pleased to share that Pledge 1% companies continue to do more to address them. In 2020, for example, DocuSign has made bigger commitments of its resources – its people, products and financial philanthropy – to address the world’s challenges. Here are some of the ways that they are doing that:
People: On November 18, DocuSign held its annual Global IMPACT Day with thousands of employees in dozens of cities around the world engaging in team-based and individual service activities – from promoting healthy urban forests to helping children in need to supporting isolated seniors. This year, they were volunteering from home and in many cases, with their families. For the first time, given the virtual setting, the company offered a number of kid-friendly events so that Global IMPACT Day was both a moment to make a difference and also an opportunity to help children broaden their understanding of the world’s challenges.
Products: As many nonprofits have pivoted their own operations to the virtual environment, their need for scalable technology to aid them in this digital shift has increased. In 2020, DocuSign increased the budget for in-kind product donations to small nonprofits over four-fold to ensure that every nonprofit that applied for a product donation through its partnership with Techsoup would be served.
Philanthropy: On #GivingTuesday, DocuSign is pleased to share that it is reallocating funds originally earmarked for in person holiday parties to support organizations helping those in need in our communities who are suffering. Employees in dozens of DocuSign’s locations around the world are helping to allocate this new $500k fund to organizations providing critical services in their communities.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
By Ally Kozel, Social Impact Specialist, Okta for Good
As this year’s intersecting crises continue to unfold, it’s more clear than ever that nonprofits provide a critical safety net for our local communities. These extraordinary times are laying bare the true risks — and opportunities — of nonprofit technology. As so many organizations must pivot to remote work, virtual service delivery and effective online fundraising, funding nonprofit technology is essential.
We are committed to leveraging our philanthropy, people, and products to help more nonprofits around the world accelerate their missions with technology. Earlier this year, Okta for Good launched a $10M/3 year philanthropy commitment and Nonprofit Technology Initiative, which is laser-focused on supporting the foundational technology needs of nonprofits. Our goal is to contribute to a paradigm shift in how nonprofits are funded and empowered to make the digital transition.
Benetech is one of ten grantees within the Nonprofit Technology Initiative whose mission it is to provide communities with software for social good. With its Service Net product, Benetech is investing in the critical but invisible work of streamlining and expanding access to information on social services. Never has this mission been more important than this year, as COVID-19 has put enormous strain on the social safety net and forced organizations to rely even more on technology to address urgent community needs.
With our Nonprofit Technology Initiative, Okta is also deepening our commitment to support community needs by enabling nonprofits with technology through our products and services. With the onset of COVID-19, many organizations had to quickly transition to remote work including Achievement First, a public charter school system that believes all children, regardless of race or economic status, can succeed if given access to a great education. By using Okta’s workforce identity products, Achievement First was able to deploy critical technology such as Zoom for 2,700 staff members in only four days. This seamless support allows Achievement First to focus on providing education and supporting its families.
It’s critical for companies to support our nonprofit partners now to ensure they are prepared for the next crisis. Here’s how you can help:
- Fund for infrastructure, capacity and technology including unrestricted and multiyear grants
- Don’t just give away your products, but rather solve for enablement with pro bono support and education
- Support cross-sector efforts, like TAG’s Digital Infrastructure Task Force for funders and NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit
At Okta, we continue to be guided by our belief that nonprofits should be as powerful as their missions, and we’re inspired by the leaders who are driving change. We hope our initiative is just the starting point to address this critical need. Find out more about our work and how to partner with us on this journey here or watch the video below:
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
While we were disappointed we couldn’t gather in-person for our annual Tech Gives Back volunteer event, we were excited to invite our portfolio companies and members of the community to participate in a Tech Gives Thanks virtual food drive hosted by Techstars, SVB, Foundry Group, and Pledge 1% Colorado in partnership with the Community Food Share.
The food drive went live on 11/20 and folks can learn more and donate here. Every $1 donated will end up providing three meals due to the wholesale buying power of the Community Food Share. We hope to inspire each other to get into the holiday giving spirit by seeing the giving momentum across our community and cheering each other on in co-opetition.
The food drive will stay open until December 11, after which, we will report back with the positive impacts our community makes.
Learn more about Community Food Share here.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Empower your employees to give back at the individual level by downloading our new Virtual Volunteering Playbook, which includes ideas and best practices on how to excite and inspire individual giving.
As for so many communities and individuals, the murder of George Floyd and ensuing protests challenged how we operate as a company and how we think about our role to enable new systems that advance equity and actively combat systemic discrimination. Recognizing that business either perpetuates current systems or creates new ones, we’re taking steps to ensure our actions—through both core business operations and social impact—generate greater racial equity.
We made rapid response grants to get dollars flowing to the front lines of this work and instituted a company day of reflection on Juneteenth, Day For Change, during which all Dutonians (that’s PagerDuty employees) were asked to take meaningful action and advocate for equity and critical reform for the Black community. From education to volunteerism and giving, we offered opportunities for Dutonians—alongside their colleagues, friends and family—to engage and work toward true change.
Giving
In June, we announced contributions to NAACP and Black Lives Matter and pledged $500,000 towards creating Just & Equitable Communities with a specific goal to combat systemic discrimination. We launched a special match campaign to benefit the NAACP. With matching funds provided by our CEO Jenn Tejada, a set of pooled donations from our leadership team, and the PagerDuty.org Fund, the 3:1 match inspired more than 200 employees to contribute and raised over $150,000. Dutonians held grassroots fundraisers as well, including Tobi from our Toronto office who inspired his peers to Race for Action with a 100-meter race challenge supporting an organization advancing racial equity in Canada’s Black community.
Employee Time
PagerDuty expanded its volunteer time off (VTO) policy to include participation in peaceful civil and human rights demonstrations, as well as voting and nonpartisan voter engagement with a focus on voter turnout in underrepresented communities. Juneteenth will be an annually recognized paid day off at PagerDuty. During our inaugural Juneteenth day of action, employees were asked to share their action plans for Day for Change, with more than 100 employees committing to activities ranging from self-education through reading books and watching film to engaging in advocacy efforts with organizations that supported the Black community. While many took the time to reflect individually or with their families, the day also brought colleagues together for collective action. One group of Dutonians came together to build “The Peoples’ Police Registry,” a web-based resource for the everyday citizen to learn more about the officers policing their communities. In Atlanta, another group volunteered to distribute water and food to demonstrators participating in a local protest.
Amplification
Jenn Tejada publicly announced on CNBC a call for tech companies, industry leaders and individuals to join PagerDuty in standing in solidarity with the Black community, and use their collective power and influence to drive demonstrable change, equality, and justice. We open-sourced our Day for Change toolkit with our peers in the Pledge 1% community and the broader tech industry to make it easy for others to join us in education and action.
While strategic philanthropy and employee activation are critical levers for impact, we recognize the power of core business operations to drive change. PagerDuty signed an open letter, alongside 15 other tech companies, requiring vendors and investors to invest in inclusion, diversity and equity in order to do business with PagerDuty, and is implementing new guidelines to inform acceptable use of our platform. In September, we became a founding pledge member of the Board Challenge and committed to appointing a Black director to our board in the next 12 months.
We recognize that change will not happen overnight, and that it requires honest assessment of our progress and continued diligence, accountability and collaboration.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Empower your employees to give back at the individual level by downloading our new Virtual Volunteering Playbook, which includes ideas and best practices on how to excite and inspire individual giving.
Did you know that Cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 cause of death globally? 17.9 million people die each year from heart disease, an estimated 31% of all deaths worldwide. Source: World Health Organization
These statistics are staggering but fortunately most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors.
September 2020 was “Global Heart Health and Wellness month” at Atlassian.
Throughout the month of September, Atlassian partnered with leading cardiovascular research non-profits around the world to learn about research breakthroughs and healthy ways of living, continue ongoing skilled volunteering and raise funds.
On September 25, the month culminated in a virtual walk for Atlassians across the globe.
Educational sessions included “Busting the Myths of Heart Disease”, “Love Your Heart Webinar”, “Infant CPR and Safety Session” and “Blockbuster breakthroughs – how spider venom and Vegemite could save lives”.
Skilled volunteering projects being undertaken by Atlassians include assistance with the data management and analysis of human genome data, the building of a heart health check app and video animation support for heart health explainer videos.
Organizations supported were American Heart Association, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Nederlandse Hartstichting, Narayana Health and the Junior Chamber Philippines – Got Heart? Initiative
More than 1,500 Atlassians participated in Heart Health and Wellness Month and donations totalled more than USD100,000.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Procore.org 2020 Year in Review
Procore is a leading provider of construction management software with a mission to improve the lives of everyone in construction. Built in collaboration with construction professionals, we felt compelled to deepen our commitment to that vision and started Procore.org in 2017 The goal: to help advance the construction industry through advocacy, education, and technology. Today, Procore.org donates free access and training to 500+ nonprofit builders, construction educators, and union training centers.
2020 has been a difficult year for many, yet through it all, Procore.org continued to vigorously support investing in our communities to strengthen our collective power to enact positive change.
Activating employee volunteerism
At our annual Revenue Summit event in February, Procore employees continued the tradition of giving back to the community by assembling more than 825 water filters with the nonprofit organization Wine To Water.
The filters will produce approximately 1,505,625 gallons of clean water every year for communities in underserved areas, including refugee camps and disaster zones.
Supporting construction activity through COVID-19
Procore.org isn’t just about everyone in construction, but also everyone affected by construction—the families and communities the industry serves. While continuing to monitor the progress of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Procore provided support to employees, customers, and partners, through initiatives including product donation for COVID-19 emergency relief project builds.
Several of Procore.org’s 200 nonprofit partners, who use their free access to the Procore platform to build for communities in need and rebuild for those impacted by disaster, expanded service capabilities in the face of COVID-19.
“Procore has made the difference when it comes to keeping construction projects going and on time,” said John Fowler, President & CEO of Peoples’ Self-Help Housing. “This not only keeps the investors happy, but we are providing new houses during COVID-19 to the people that need them.”
Educating the next generation of construction professionals
The Procore.org University program provides Procore’s platform, implementation, and support services free of charge to universities representing over 30,000 students in 10 countries. Nelson Mandela University is a leading construction management university in South Africa that is going beyond the classroom to teach their students practical applications of software like Procore in the field.
Helping everyone in the workforce advance their careers
Procore’s Continuing Education program has tracked the completion of over 54,000 free, on-demand continuing education courses and was voted Corporate Vision’s Best Construction Professional Development Provider in 2020.
Stewart Smits, Vice President and Project Manager for Inland Builders, has completed an astounding 206 Procore Continuing Education courses. “That changed my life. It really did,” Smits said. “It changed my management style. It changed my ability to quickly train others and have the resources right there, right at my fingertips.”
Driving conversations around promoting a diverse workforce
In 2020, we launched a community group for supporters of the advancement of Women in Construction, a pillar of our Advocacy Program. Our network of industry thought leaders continue to play key roles in driving change through our inclusion and diversity initiatives, by participating in webinar series at Procore and beyond.
Procore.org is a natural and holistic extension of Procore’s vision, mission, and strategy with a reach far beyond just the construction industry. Elevating the construction industry through education and access to technology will advance construction and have a positive impact on the people and communities the industry serves. We are proud to partner with hundreds of organizations that share our vision to improve the lives of everyone in construction and formalized our dedication to social impact by joining the Pledge 1% movement in 2019. We’re honored to have been recognized with the Forbes Cloud 100 Pledge 1% Award later that year.
This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
2020 will be remembered as a year of transition and awakening – from the social movements that have emerged at the forefront of today’s purpose-driven culture, to the virtual world that we all have been forced to adapt to during COVID-19. At Pledgeling, our mission to make charitable giving easier for anyone, anywhere has empowered us to evolve during this unprecedented time to design & embrace new ways of giving. Our most recent partnership launch with Zoom as their official charitable giving partner exemplifies how the world is reimagining opportunities to give back and demonstrating that the future of philanthropy is now.
In October 2020 at Zoom’s virtual Zoomtopia conference, Zoom founder & CEO Eric Yuan introduced the ability to donate through Zoom for the first time, powered by Pledgeling. Our partnership ushers in a new era of philanthropy by making it easy for Zoom users to fundraise seamlessly within their Zoom events and choose from over two million organizations to support, including every 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the US and hundreds of thousands of verified international charities.
There are two ways that Zoom users can turn their virtual events into fundraisers for causes they care about.
First, our free app Donations by Pledgeling in the Zoom App Marketplace transforms any Zoom meeting or webinar into a real-time fundraiser, featuring dynamic overlays that include live calls to action, a donation tracker, and donations as they are made.
Second, Pledgeling teamed up with Zoom to launch charitable donations on OnZoom, Zoom’s one-of-a-kind, new, online event platform. Currently in beta and offered only in the US, hosts of OnZoom events can give back through charitable donations seamlessly embedded into their online events.
For both integrations, Pledgeling makes donations easy for everyone by handling everything on the backend, from processing and disbursing donations to the beneficiary organizations, to issuing immediate donation receipts for tax purposes.
“The opportunity to engage our global community by making a real difference is squarely aligned with our mission here at Zoom to deliver happiness. Through this collaboration with Pledgeling, Zoom delivers happiness in one of the most personal ways – supporting the causes and organizations worldwide that people truly care about, both locally and globally,” said Zoom Chief Marketing Officer Janine Pelosi. “As charities search for new avenues for fundraising, Pledgeling opens up new pathways toward world-changing impact, delivering a virtual solution that is both free and scalable.”
Today on Giving Tuesday, you’re invited to see our partnership in action by joining us for a special OnZoom superhero #Zoomsgiving party hosted by Pledgeling & Worthy of Love from 3:00-4:00pm PST. It’s free to register and donations will benefit Worthy of Love’s mission to bring hope to homeless children by throwing incredible birthday celebrations for them every month since January 2013.
Today’s event will be no exception, with special guests Wonder Woman and Captain America making an appearance! As more families are experiencing homelessness than ever before, Worthy of Love is expanding its mission and reach to every major city in the US to impact as many families as possible in 2021. Today’s inaugural virtual family FUNdraiser will build the foundation for their biggest party year ever. Come learn the superhero power of giving back!