Inspiring early-stage corporate philanthropy, Pledge 1% Colorado is a network of entrepreneurs who share a common commitment to give back. A movement with roots at the Community Foundation, Pledge 1% connects young companies’ future success to philanthropy by allowing them to easily pledge 1 percent of equity, 1 percent of employee time to volunteerism, 1 percent of product and 1 percent of profit to local communities.
Since its first member exit in 2008, Pledge 1% Colorado has contributed more than $6 million to Front Range nonprofits and hundreds of hours of volunteer service. Based on its local success, the Community Foundation partnered with Salesforce, Atlassian, and Rally for Impact to launch a global version of the program – Pledge 1% – named Most Innovative Not- For-Profit by Fast Company (2017).
“I’ve seen first-hand the Community Foundation’s crucial role in providing the foresight, expertise and resources needed to test the premise and scalability of the Pledge 1% model,” said Seth Levine, an advisor to Pledge 1% Colorado.
Pledge 1% Colorado was on track to reach 200 member companies by the end of 2017, with even greater growth anticipated in 2018. The program’s disruption of traditional philanthropy models continues to inspire entrepreneurs to push the status quo.
