By inWhatLanguage. Originally published on the inWhatLanguage blog.

 

inWhatLanguage prides itself on being a mission-driven translation and localization company. As a company, we recently made the pledge to donate 1% of our revenue to our social impact initiatives. Our donation is made primarily in the form of translation services and goes towards our four social impact pillars.

inWhatLanguage’s first impact pillar is working to assist English Language Learners (ELLs). inWhatLanguage does this through donating translations to schools and organizations across the United States assisting ELLs. We recently provided 13 grants (in the form of translation services) to schools across the US for this cause.

Our second social impact pillar is providing translations to organizations like the World Health Organization, which respond to crises and disasters around the world. In these situations, translation is critical to aid the coordination and communication between different responders on how to provide the most effective relief strategy.

Our third social impact pillar is supporting and empowering our linguist network to do good in their own communities. We recently opened up a micro-grant program for our linguists to carry out community improvement projects.

Our fourth social impact pillar is fostering international trade and diplomacy. We do this through providing translations to World Trade Centers and other organizations fostering international trade and diplomacy.

With all of this in mind, we realized one of the best ways to solidify our social impact mission was by becoming a Pledge 1% member.

 

“I knew when I founded inWhatLanguage I wanted to use the business as a vehicle for good. Pledge 1% helped us to solidify our commitment of donating 1% of our revenue and translation services to critical causes, and also allowed us to join a like-minded community of businesses committed to doing good in the world,” said Cody Broderick, CEO and Founder of inWhatLanguage.

Pledge 1% is the leading organization facilitating a corporate philanthropy pledge model in the world. Pledge 1% is a global movement to create a new normal in which giving back is integrated into the DNA of companies of all sizes. Pledge 1% encourages and challenges individual companies to Pledge 1% of equity, profit, product, and/or employee time for their communities.

 

“The Pledge 1% movement along with our members are setting a new standard for successful companies of the future,” said Pledge 1% Chief Executive Amy Lesnick. “Increasingly giving back isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do, especially when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent.  Pledge 1% empowers founders to integrate giving back and doing the right thing into the core culture and values of their companies and to leverage all of their assets (equity, product, technology, talent, voice, partner ecosystem) to be a force for good.”

Pledge 1% launched in December 2014 and is spearheaded by Salesforce, Atlassian, Rally and Tides. Already, over 5,000 companies in 100+ countries have taken the pledge. Pledge companies and individuals are in total control of their pledge being able to decide to support whatever causes and nonprofits they feel align with their interests. Pledge 1% is flexible and simply encourages companies to pledge any combination of product, equity, profit or time.

As companies grow and scale their programs they can add additional pledge types. There is, however, no requirement that companies commit to all of the categories and or commit a full 1%. The purpose of the movement is to acknowledge an organization’s commitment to giving back to the community, encourage organizations to increase their effort, and inspire others.

Companies, however, don’t have to go it alone. One of the main purposes of Pledge 1% is to empower and support companies in their journey. Pledge 1% provides free consultation with a Pledge 1% success manager to discuss your philanthropic goals and next steps. Additionally, members gain access to turnkey resources, opportunities for visibility, fun perks, and an esteemed community of like-minded leaders.

 

As Lesnick explains, “One of the most exciting aspects of Pledge 1% is its vibrant and dynamic member community. Members are co-creating and sharing new best practices, tools, and resources every day. They are “making it their own” while at the same time sharing peer to peer learnings and paving the way for other founders to progress from pledge to action.  We are constantly inspired by the generosity and creativity of our members.  It’s this type of leadership and innovation that is propelling Pledge 1%’s growth and helping us to collectively take the movement to a whole new level.”

As a mission-driven company, we knew we needed to commit to that mission. By taking the pledge we were able to not only pledge 1% of our revenue and product, but we were able to join a community of like-minded businesses working to make the world a better place. In addition, we now have access to resources we otherwise wouldn’t have to continue to strengthen and grow our social impact initiatives.

 

“I encourage other companies who want to make a positive impact in their communities and the world but don’t know where to start, to take the 1% pledge. Pledge 1% provides valuable resources and expertise to get you on the path to doing good. I can personally attest to the important role Pledge 1% has played in the development of our impact program,” said Broderick.