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.
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By Heather Jin, Global Head of Social Impact at Medallia
#GivingTuesday is a special day, mobilizing the world for acts of generosity, and this year’s means that much more. COVID-19, racial equity movements, and natural disasters have caused tremendous disruptions to the educational, health, and economic systems that we all rely on. As a result, nonprofits and social enterprises are more vital, yet more vulnerable than ever, and Medallia.org’s commitment to supporting them has deepened.
Back in June 2019, we became one of the first experience management companies to join Pledge 1%. We began by committing our two superpowers — employee time and product — for social good. As a natural evolution of Medallia.org, we’re excited to extend our pledge to monetary resources and start our fund.
We have done philanthropic giving previously, but this new fund allows our grant-making to be more mindful, sustainable, and swift. That is why we have partnered with Tides, the leader in corporate philanthropic strategy and management, to help us identify the greatest need in the community, provide the most streamlined experience for grantees, and grow our fund as our company expands.
We will be using this fund for three grant types and purposes:
- Strategic grant-making — to support causes dedicated to creating equitable citizen, learning, and patient experiences. As a leader in experience management, we promote diversity + inclusion and embrace the power of technology in scaling the voices of the most vulnerable. For example, we are one of the inaugural members of Full Circle Fund’s “Social Justice in a Post-COVID World” Accelerator to enable tech-forward nonprofits working on solutions to systemic issues behind the disproportionately detrimental health impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color.
- Emergency relief — to deploy immediate funds during emergencies, such as natural disasters and global human rights violations. For example, we donated direct relief to the Australian Red Cross during the 2019 wildfires, and have donated $200,000 to Black Girls Code, Black Girl Ventures, Code2040, and Equal Justice Initiative following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
- Gift matching — to support our employees in the organizations they are passionate about. For example, we currently match fundraising by our Employee Resource Groups to nonprofits that support identities typically underrepresented in a business context (read about our 2019 partners).
If you would like to support today, please consider donating to the nine nonprofits selected by our Employee Resource Groups (ERG) for our 2020 ERG Gift Matching Program.
Stay tuned as more information about our fund, grant rounds, and partners will come soon, and I wish everyone a wonderful #GivingTuesday.
