By Chris Hazlitt
Chair, Board of Trustees, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County
Office Managing Partner, Bryan Cave LLP
At The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, we’re known as a community catalyst, responsive to community needs and setting in motion inspired ideas.
Among our innovative initiatives is the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO), out of which grew Pledge 1% – a corporate philanthropy movement that has captured the imagination of community-minded startup founders willing to set aside company stock early before initial public offerings to support local nonprofits.
Now that we’ve launched and tested the scalability of the EFCO model, Pledge 1% is ready for prime time. We couldn’t be more proud to spin off a successful program incubated in Boulder County to ensure its growth and momentum beyond our community. While EFCO will continue to work with Colorado entrepreneurs inspiring a culture of giving, Tides (tides.org) – a social change organization based in San Francisco – will run Pledge 1% nationally and internationally.
The transfer of Pledge 1% represents the impact of informed decision-making and calculated risk-taking, both of which The Community Foundation is uniquely positioned to do. Working together with thought leaders and community partners like the Foundry Group, we’re answering the call of Boulder County’s greatest needs by embracing and leveraging the generosity and goodwill of young entrepreneurs who want to make a profit and make a difference.
There was a time when venture capital firms were skeptical of mixing business with charity. We’re thrilled to be among the trailblazers who have tested the waters and identified what it means to be a philanthropic startup: a win for profitability, and a win for local charities. When startups earmark equity to improve their own communities, incredible things happen. For example, Rally Software’s initial public offering resulted in a $1.4 million gift to nonprofits; and when Twitter acquired Boulder-based Gnip in 2014, its early pledge became a gift of more than $587,000, mostly to The Community Foundation’s Community Trust. To date, some $4 million in local grants awarded by The Community Foundation have been generated through EFCO – and we’re excited to build on that!
I like to think that EFCO-inspired charity support is becoming the new normal among philanthropists, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the startup world. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, we can point to EFCO – and the launch and rapid scaling of Pledge 1% – as one of our proudest accomplishments to date, signaling more to come.
