By Tom Held. Originally published on The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Organizers of the “1-1-1” model for corporate giving hope to use Giving Tuesday to dramatically expand the effort.
The goal of the 1% Program, launched on Tuesday, is to recruit 500 companies to pledge 1 percent of their equity, 1 percent of their employees’ time, and 1 percent of their product to charity by Giving Tuesday 2015. The effort is patterned after the 1-1-1 model that Salesforce founder Marc Benioff created 15 years ago.
“It would be our dream for all companies to do this,” says Ebony Frelix, vice president of programs for the Salesforce Foundation. “We believe all companies could do more.”
Keeping the Momentum
The new effort also marks an attempt to keep the momentum of a one-day event, Giving Tuesday, going through the next year.
The key element in the Pledge 1% program is a new website, that makes it easier for entrepreneurs to register and incorporate philanthropy into their business model. It will show business leaders how other companies have implemented the 1-1-1 model.
“It’s not just this automated website but the people who are behind that, too,” says Ryan Martens, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.
Future Big Players
The recruiting drive for corporate philanthropists is focused on the kinds of start-up companies that have become major players in charity—the next Facebook or Microsoft, for example.
“We want them to weave this into the culture of the business at its beginning point,” says Mr. Martens, the chief technical officer of Rally Software. “That will be our customer focus in the short-term.”
Giving Tuesday provided the perfect vehicle for the launch of Pledge 1%, according to Ms. Frelix.
“You have big days, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday,” Ms. Frelix says. “People are paying attention. And we want to shine a light on corporate giving.”
