INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Scott Bade
Contributor
Share on Twitter
Scott Bade is a former speechwriter for Mike
Bloomberg and co-author of More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First.
More posts by this contributor
Omidyar Network
CEO opens up about VC-influenced philanthropy
How the Valley can get philanthropy right with former Hewlett Foundation president Paul
Brest
Since its founding two decades ago, Salesforce has pioneered the Pledge 1% model of giving back one percent of equity,
product, profit, and employee time to charity.
As EVP, Marketing and Chief Philanthropy Officer for Salesforce, Ebony Beckwith is in charge
ofidentifying those service opportunities for more than 40,000 employees while also managingtheSalesforce Foundation, whichadministers
millions of dollars in community grants and programs supporting efforts that include workforce education, disaster relief and K-12
education.
Extra Crunch recently interviewed Beckwith about Salesforce ongoing efforts to create a culture that gives back and how
Salesforce use of both a foundation and a fully-integrated business unit dedicated to nonprofits sets it apart from other corporate
philanthropy efforts.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo: courtesy Salesforce
Creating a culture of giving
back
Extra Crunch: I want to start with what Salesforce is perhaps best known for: the 1% model
So can you talk about what it means and how it evolved over the years?
Ebony Beckwith: So literally the 1% model stands for ‘one, one,
one:& 1% of time, 1% of equity, and 1% of our products
Mark came up with this model based on the work he was doing at his previous company and how he really wanted to marry kind of philanthropy
and doing good.
He&ll say, &doing well and doing good go hand in hand
You can do both.& [That why] when Mark and the founders started this company twenty years ago, they built giving back into our DNA as a core
value.
They were betting on the success of our company before we had anything
You know one percent of employee time when you only have seven employees and not that much
But now we have over 40,000 employees, so one percent of their time is a lot.
How has that model changed over the years?
Obviously, it
My team and I are responsible for engaging our 40,000 employees to give back in the community in ways that are meaningful for them where
It part of the corporate culture
People know that [when] they come here, it part of the job expectation; [they&re] given seven paid days off to volunteer.
But our team is so
small and we can&t get to every single employee
So we have a lot of programs and incentives for them to just really feel good about giving back
We match our employees dollar for dollar up to $5,000 to give back to the causes that they care about
[With] one program, Circle the Schools, our executives adopt a school in their local area, meet with the principal of the school and really
work with them as community members to find out what needed
We have over 120 now.
Can you talk a little bit about about your identity? Do you see yourself as a philanthropy? As a nonprofit? As a
company that services nonprofits?
The model has evolved over time
As of July 1st, Salesforce.org is a full vertical business unit within Salesforce
That is a dedicated social impact team working to serve nonprofits and higher ed and education institutions with our technology.
At the same
time, I am CEO of the Salesforce Foundation, which is the 501(c)(3) where we do all of our strategic grant making
We have a separate board that oversees [it and] a separate strategy
We&ll give away $30 million in grants this year.
[That also] where the employee giving programs like volunteer time off and employee
matching are.
How do you decide on philanthropic areas?
