The Pledge 1% Framework

[Alicia_Schmidt]

The Pledge 1% Framework

What You Need to Know

📍 Where you are

You’ve decided to join Pledge 1%. This module gives you the foundation — what the pledge actually means, why it matters for your business, and which of the four pledge types is the right starting point for a company at your stage.

Pledge 1% is a global movement where companies commit to giving back 1% of time, money, product, or equity to social causes of their choosing. Since its founding in 2015, more than 20,000 companies in 100+ countries have taken the Pledge. The pledge model is simple and flexible: start with one pledge type, start small, and your impact grows as your company grows. The movement has grown exponentially through the passion and commitment of some of the most successful Founders and CEOs across the world.

The 4 Pledge Types

Type	What It Means	Example
Time	The Time Pledge is a good starting place for many companies. It can include paid hours for employees to volunteer — where 1% of employee time equates roughly to 3–5 days a year per employee. Programs can be flexible (employee directed), structured (company organised), or a hybrid of both.	DiamondBack Covers gives each employee three paid volunteer days per year during regular work hours. Employees who volunteer outside of work hours can earn up to a full day of PTO based on hours volunteered.
Profit	1% of revenue or profit donated to nonprofits chosen by the company or by employees (through employee matching or voting). For larger donations, companies often put funds into a corporate Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) for distribution.	Cotopaxi pledges 1% of all sales to environmental organisations and distributes grants to select environmental groups each year.
Product	Free or discounted access to your company’s products or services. Pro bono hours count. Pledging products can also involve leveraging your product in innovative ways to further support social impact goals.	Docusign runs a global discount programme providing eligible charities up to a 30% discount on select annual eSignature and IAM plans.
Equity	An equity pledge sets company or founder shares aside prior to a liquidity event. You may donate shares to a philanthropic partner such as a DAF, create your own foundation, or reserve shares for future issuance.	When Atlassian was small, co-founders set aside personal equity equal to 1% of the company to start the Atlassian Foundation. Since inception, it has given away $85M+ to social causes.

Why It Matters

Stat	What It Means	Source
70%	More than 70% of employees say community impact influences employment decisions	America’s Charities, What Employees Think about Workplace Giving, 2025
52%	Lower turnover at companies with strong purpose programs	2022 Benevity Talent Retention Survey
9 in 10	Nearly 9 in 10 companies report that engagement programs help attract and retain top talent	America’s Charities, What Employees Think about Workplace Giving, 2025

“We see business as an opportunity to create value through our product, and to also create value (in terms of capital) to do good things in the world.”

— Cameron Adams · Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Canva

Common Social Impact Terms

Term	Definition
CSR	Corporate Social Responsibility — your voluntary giving and community programs.
ESG	Environmental, Social, Governance — a reporting framework for investors. You’ll care more about this as you grow.
VTO	Volunteer Time Off — paid work hours employees use to volunteer. This is how you operationalise a time pledge.
DAF	Donor-Advised Fund — deposit charitable money now, distribute later. Great for uneven revenue.
SDGs	Sustainable Development Goals — set by the United Nations in 2015, a collection of 17 global goals aimed at improving the planet and quality of human life by 2030.

5 Steps to Impact

• Get the leadership team onboard. Nothing moves without leadership. Do this first.
• Write your impact mission. One sentence: what you care about and why.
• Pick a cause and 1–2 nonprofit partners. An employee vote is a great way to decide.
• Set measurable goals and tie them to company OKRs.
• Announce the pledge — internally first, then publicly.

🚀 THE STARTUP RULE

Pick one pledge type. Start smaller than 1% if you need to. Do something visible in the first 60 days — a volunteer day, a donation, anything. The program grows with the company. Atlassian pledged equity before they had revenue, and their foundation has since donated more than $85 million.

🤖 AI DRAFT PROMPT

Explain Pledge 1% to my leadership team

Use this prompt to generate a plain-language summary of Pledge 1% tailored to your company’s priorities, ready to share in a meeting or email.

Copy this prompt into your preferred AI Assistant (like Claude or Gemini), then fill in the [brackets]:

Write a clear, concise explanation of the Pledge 1% movement for a leadership team at a startup. Our company is [describe your company: industry, size, stage]. Our leadership team cares most about [e.g. recruiting top talent / retaining employees / investor credibility / building culture].

Explain: what Pledge 1% is, the four pledge types, and why companies like ours are joining. Include 2-3 relevant statistics that speak to our priorities. Keep it to one page, conversational tone, no jargon. End with a recommended first step for a company at our stage.

You understand the framework. Now you need your leadership team behind you.

Next: Giving Back Starts With Your Leadership Team →