Busy Market Summer Results in Big Boost to Corporate Giving; Pledge 1% Unlocks Another $1 Billion in New Philanthropy

Pledge 1%, a global movement to inspire, educate, and empower all companies to leverage their assets for good, today announces $2 billion in new philanthropy has been unlocked for good since the launch of its CEO Equity Playbook in the summer of 2020. Working closely with Boardroom Allies to help top companies set aside equity for social impact prior to liquidity events, Pledge 1% has doubled the $1 billion equity impact announced just four months ago, ensuring proceeds from a record-setting summer of IPO and market activity are earmarked for philanthropy. Pledge 1% ensures nonprofits benefit along with private markets, and is well on its way toward a goal of unlocking $5 billion in new philanthropy by 2025.

“Remitly is grateful to be in a position to help model how companies think of their role in the broader ecosystem, and we’re humbled to be part of this important milestone,” said Matt Oppenheimer, Co-founder and CEO of Remitly. “Pledge 1% has helped provide tools we need to transform our philanthropic objectives into impact. Now, the funds we’ve dedicated to invest in the financial, economic, and social inclusion of immigrants and their families can grow in lockstep with our company’s success. We look forward to a future where committing equity for good is part of every IPO.”

After Atlassian, DocuSign, PagerDuty, Salesforce, Twilio, and other top companies found success weaving equity commitments into their overall philanthropic pledges, a coalition of CEOs and board members from these companies sat down with Pledge 1% leadership to develop the step-by-step CEO Equity Playbook that incorporates all the lessons they learned along the way. Formalizing how executives and their teams can easily join the movement has dramatically accelerated impact. In the first year after its publication (June 2020 through June 2021), Pledge 1% had already unlocked $1 billion in new philanthropy — a contribution that has now doubled in the four months since.

“It's so encouraging to see these large, public companies commit to social change in a real and sustainable way,” said David Yuan, general partner at Tidemark, and Boardroom Ally as a director of Toast. “We are seeing this trend accelerate through Pledge 1%, and it's thrilling to see the impact on the organizations and causes these companies support.”

“As a longtime supporter of Pledge 1%, it has been amazing to watch the movement ignite,” said Rich Wong, partner at Accel and Boardroom Ally. “Each time we go through the CEO Equity Playbook, it inspires another board member or executive at the table to take the pledge. The social impact is among the most inspiring parts of my job, and I imagine taking part will be essential for top VCs in years to come.”

Pledge 1%’s latest $1 billion milestone is the cumulative value of several types of corporate commitments, including:

• Increased market value (both private valuation and in public market performance) from companies who previously committed equity, such as Canva, Coinbase, and Unity.
• Over $800 million in new equity commitments from pre-IPO companies like BetterUp and Checkr and funds allocated via standout successful exits such as Remitly, Sprinklr, and Toast.

This momentum builds on more than $1 billion in philanthropy previously ignited by the Pledge 1% industry leaders whose equity pledges prior to the release of the playbook in 2020.

“There was no way we were going to build Toast, an organization whose purpose is to enrich the food experience for all, without a commitment to Toast.org, our philanthropic arm which focuses on solving critical food issues that impact communities across the nation,” said Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast. “I first learned about Pledge 1% from our co-founder and co-president Aman Narang long before talks started about our public debut. While social impact was already in our DNA, having the support of Pledge 1% and Boardroom Allies along on our path to IPO made it easy to set aside meaningful assets to fund these efforts for the long term. We are thrilled that our early performance as a public company can contribute to this huge step in the Pledge 1% movement.”

Pledge 1% hopes that the value of the equity Toast set aside for social impact will continue to grow with the success of the company. The estimated value of Coinbase’s equity commitment, for instance, has grown by roughly $65 million since Pledge 1%’s June announcement, in line with the increased value in its stock.

“The meaningful impact our Pledge 1% members and Boardroom Allies have made in such a short period of time underscores the power of the equity model,” said Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%. “Not only are more business leaders able to bring their values to life by setting aside pre-IPO stock for social impact, but also the dollar value of these commitments has the potential to grow exponentially as these companies succeed and their share price rises. We see today’s milestone as a major step toward a future where leveraging company assets for good is the industry standard.”

This milestone was achieved with the help of the following Boardroom Allies:

*Directly advised/supported and/or currently supporting portfolio company to set aside equity

To download Pledge 1%’s CEO Equity Playbook and Companion Guide for CFOs and GCs, visit pledge1percent.org/equityplaybook. To learn more about how to set aside social impact at your company or join this alliance of top VCs as a Boardroom Ally, email [email protected] or visit pledge1percent.org.

About Pledge 1%: Pledge 1% is a global movement that inspires, educates, and empowers every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 15,000 members in 100 countries around the world have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours in new philanthropy. To learn more about Pledge 1%, and how your company can get involved, visit pledge1percent.org.

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