The Pledge 1% framework

[Alicia_Schmidt]

Pledge 1% provides a flexible framework for companies to pledge 1% of their equity, profit, product, and/or employee time to any cause of their choosing. Companies can pledge any combination of product, equity, profit, or time. While we recommend starting with "1%," we recognize that every company is on a unique path to success, and we encourage companies to give what they can to sustain their impact program with their business.  Some companies will do more than 1%, others will do less. We encourage you to focus on leveraging what you have to give in the best way possible.

Taking the pledge is setting your intent to give, even if that’s at a later date. For instance, you may Pledge 1% of product and profit, but focus initially on product until there is profit to give.

Selecting pledge types is nonlinear and will very likely change over time as you grow and scale. We’ve provided a summary of the pledge type below. Browse our learning paths for a deeper dive into each pledge type.

Quick Look: The pledge types

Equity	Product
The Equity Pledge can be one of the most effective ways to sustainably fund your social impact and ESG efforts for the long term (especially since many tech companies are not profitable for some time, even post liquidity). This can be done through pledging 1% of pre-IPO: ●  Corporate equity ●  Founder equity (to create a corporate social impact fund) ●  A combination of corporate and founder equity	The Product Pledge gives companies the opportunity to leverage their product for good. This often takes the form of offering your product for free or at a deep discount to nonprofits and/or specific underserved communities. Pledging product can also involve leveraging your product in innovative ways to further support your social impact goals (i.e. reducing food waste or spotlighting BIPOC entrepreneurs).
Profit	Time
The Profit Pledge enables companies to allocate funds for grants to selected nonprofits/social sector organizations as well as for employee matching donations. You can also put these funds into a corporate donor-advised fund for future use rather than spending it all in one year. Some companies opt to donate a percentage of revenue rather than profits or a portion of profits/revenue from a specific product line.	The Time Pledge is often the starting place for companies, as it’s a great way to engage employees while supporting local, national, or global community through volunteering, pro-bono skills, events, and more. The definition of volunteering is expanding everyday. Check out some of the stories in our Member Community to learn more about the different ways you can activate your team.

Photo credit: Toast.org

Currently, there are no fees or special reporting requirements when you take the pledge. Again, taking the pledge signals a commitment to giving back while joining a global movement of 18K+ like-minded leaders over 100 countries who are changing the world through their companies.

Once you submitted the pledge form, we will follow up with additional resources to help you plan to fulfill your pledge.