September 6, 2018

Some of Boston's largest tech firms are catching onto the donor-advised fund trend as an alternative to creating their own foundations to handle their philanthropic efforts.

Three local public tech companies — Carbonite Inc., Mimecast Ltd. and LogMeIn Inc. — have established donor-advised funds in the past year and a half. All three companies have eschewed Fidelity, Vanguard and the other big investment firms, choosing instead to rely on the Boston Foundation.

Under the arrangement, the companies make a single donation to the Boston Foundation, which then periodically disburses the funds to various nonprofit organizations that align with each companies’ priorities for charitable giving…Read more

July 31, 2018

“I’m not an MIT genius who can catch lightning in a bottle,” claims entrepreneur Barry Hinckley, “but I am good at discovering opportunity and finding the unexplored territory within that, then hanging around long enough to find a product/market fit.” 

He did that with his last company, Bullhorn, a software and operations solution for the staffing industry that now employs more than 700 people globally. He’s at it again with his startup Yotme, an experience marketing and social relationship management (SRM) platform that he describes as being “at the crossroads of customer relationship management and social networking.” 

And this time he’s got philanthropy built into the very business model of his enterprise…Read more 

July 6, 2018

Another one of our favorite communities of practice is the Pledge 1% initiative, pioneered by Salesforce.com. Pledge 1% is a global movement that encourages and challenges both individuals and companies to Pledge 1% of equity, profit, product, and time for their communities. I had the exciting opportunity to speak with Tim Smith, Head of Pledge 1% Boston and Senior Director at The Boston Foundation (pictured) to learn about the newest trends in philanthropy and the unique role he plays in driving change in his local community.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far? What has been the most challenging?

These pieces are related so I’ll start with the most challenging. I am originally from Boston, but spent a decade in San Francisco where I ran a venture philanthropy foundation and established a strong network in the area… Read more 

April 24, 2018

Boston's success is well-deserved, but it's not guaranteed. Here are three of our biggest threats - and how to avoid them.

Forty years ago, if you were to describe the reality of Boston in 2018 to those following the cityscape of 1978, you’d have been called a delusional optimist — or worse.

Today, while not perfect, Boston is the envy of the nation for our business growth, our regional economy, our clean harbor, and our unmatched combination of education, health, and high-tech institutions that have driven year after year of growth and prosperity.

Unless we let it slip away… Read more

March 21, 2018

Diana Akelman usually goes at things at 110 percent. But recently she’s found something appealing about 1 percent. Pledge 1% Boston, that is. Akelman was part of a wave of new members to the movement during Pledge 1% Boston’s ambitious “60 x 60” campaign at the end of 2017: to double its membership from 30 to 60 in 60 days.

Pledge 1% Boston is the regional arm of the global Pledge 1% movement, which rallies founders and companies—especially, but not exclusively, new or young ones—to pledge early in their organization’s life to give 1% of equity and other resources for social change.

For Akelman, founder and CEO of software startup PetPocketbook, Pledge 1% is a concrete way to make a tangible commitment toward the company’s social mission: reducing the number of pets surrendered because pet parents lack access to the help they need in caring for them…Read more

February 1, 2018

This month, the Boston Foundation and TUGG (Technology Underwriting Greater Good) are wrapping up our drive to get 60 companies signed on to Pledge 1% Boston.

THE BIG NEWS? WE MADE IT!

More than 60 founders, business leaders, and companies have signed a pledge to donate 1 percent of their time, equity and/or profits to support community organizations. But we have no intention of stopping now. We're building a community of members that recognize the power of giving back to the communities that help make their success possible - a community of people like Adam Martel and Rich Palmer of Gravyty, who are reflecting on a year of growth and commitment to Pledge 1%. We caught up with Adam and Rich to talk about the past year and the impact Pledge 1% has had on their business and their personal approach to philanthropy...Read more

January 22, 2018

Ben Hill is the founder of Shareity, and a member of Pledge 1% Boston. Shareity is a platform that monetizes selfie challenges for good causes. Individual selfie-takers, sponsors and charities are united through Shareity to spread awareness and raise money for causes of all kinds—hunger, disaster relief, medical research and more. Ben says, “Everyone is here for a purpose and one of the most important accomplishments is the positive impact one has had in this world before you leave.” Shareity provides a way for individuals to contribute to that positive impact even if they don’t have much money to give away, by joining a community supporting a cause and donating their social influence. Sponsors eager to reach this demographic pay for that with donations to their causes. ... Read more

Jul. 12. 2017

Holland & Knight jumped at the chance to get involved with the Pledge 1% initiative, which is so important for a law firm dedicated to helping others. Holland & Knight's Public and Charitable Service Department was created in 2009 to integrate the firm's global pro bono, community service and charitable giving initiatives to make deeper investments in communities in need.

“Holland & Knight is proud to partner with the Boston Foundation, TUGG and others to scale the Pledge 1% Boston program. Boston is a hub of innovation, but also has the largest wealth gap of all U.S cities. We encourage entrepreneurs and founders to learn about issues in our communities and grow their businesses in socially responsible ways,” Jeff Seul, Partner at Holland & Knight. ... Read more

Apr. 13, 2017

Brendan Ciecko is the founder of Cuseum, and a proud early member of Pledge 1% Boston. Growing up in Massachusetts, he got his entrepreneurial start as a teenager and has always been dedicated to making our region more vibrant and engaging. Brendan built and scaled a successful company in the fast-paced music industry and was named one of America’s top entrepreneurs by Inc. Magazine – all before he could legally buy a drink.

In his 20s, his attention turned to museums. “Museums should be easy to access and enriching for all,” says Brendan, who is driven to help museums improve their digital engagement. As more visitors turn to their smartphones, Cuseum enables museums to offer a “digital docent” to meet this demand and improve visitor experiences ... Read more

Nov. 29, 2016

Paul English, CEO and Co-Founder of Lola Travel and former CTO and Co-Founder of Kayak, has announced his commitment of at least 10% of his stake in Lola being set aside for giving back to communities locally and globally. Lola is a new kind of travel service that provides real human travel expertise on-demand through a smartphone app. Accel Partners and General Catalyst Partners recently led Lola’s $19.7M Series A round. Kayak was acquired by Priceline.com for $1.8B in 2012; a sale that served as a catalyst for English’s notable local and global philanthropic efforts.

“Joining Pledge 1% Boston was an easy choice for me personally. I have seen the impact giving back can have on communities around the world, and I hope to encourage other entrepreneurs and leaders in technology and related industries to make this pledge. Marc Benioff has done a stellar job sharing the Salesforce.com model with other companies and executives, and I am proud to be a voice for Pledge 1% here in the Greater Boston region and beyond,” English shares ... Read more

Nov. 29, 2016

Pledge 1% Boston, spearheaded by the Boston Foundation and a network of community leaders, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Life Science Cares. Since launching two months ago, Pledge 1% Boston has recruited almost 20 companies to pledge 1% for their communities. We are excited to parlay this initial success into an alliance with the life sciences community, one of Greater Boston’s most influential sectors. This kind of industry-specific partnership is a new approach for Pledge 1%, and we are excited to be blazing the trail in this region.

The life sciences sector in here is far-reaching and substantial. According to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, all of the world’s top 10 biopharmaceutical firms maintain facilities in the state. More than 500 other biopharma companies and 400 medical device makers also call Massachusetts home. With this burgeoning and growing economy in our region, we have an opportunity and obligation to connect leaders with the practice of giving back from an early stage ... Read more

Oct. 4, 2016

Last Wednesday was a special day in Boston tech and philanthropy. We celebrated the launch of Pledge 1% Boston, a joint initiative powered by the Boston Foundation and TUGG (Technology Underwriting Greater Good).

Pledge 1% Boston is the regional initiative of the global Pledge 1% movement, which catalyzes startups and other innovation economy players to make supporting their communities integral to what they do. By pledging a small portion of their future success today, companies can have an enormous impact.

Pledge 1% Boston encourages and challenges founders and CEOs to pledge 1% of equity ( either personal or company equity), product, and employee time for their communities, and help put that intent into action. ... Read more

Sept. 28, 2016

We at Accomplice pledge to give 1% of our carry to TUGG nonprofits InnerCity Weightlifting and Resilient Coders. They’re two Boston-based organizations fighting to bring social and economic equality to under-resourced youth, and they’ve done amazing work.

The Pledge 1% campaign asks startup employees to commit to giving 1% of their equity, time, or product to nonprofits in their community. It’s a pledge to pay it forward if you become successful.

VC firms don’t have equity the same way that startups do, so we give our employees carried interest (or “carry”) in our funds. Carry is complicated, but think of it as our share of the profits we generate from our company-building and investing efforts.

We’re splitting our 1% pledge between InnerCity Weightlifting (ICW) and Resilient Coders, two nonprofits that started with TUGG and have grown to become part of the Boston tech community and our culture at Accomplice. ... Read more

Sept. 28, 2016

Jeff Fagnan, founder of Accomplice, a venture capital firm with more than $400 million raised to date, announced Wednesday evening that his company would begin committing one percent of its equity to Resilient Coders and Inner City Weightlifting, Boston Foundation grantees that teach computer coding, other life skills and weight lifting, respectively, to underserved youth of color.

The announcement came at the launch event for Pledge 1% Boston, a new regional chapter of Pledge 1%, a national corporate philanthropy movement dedicated to making new stakeholders in support of local communities. Pledge 1% encourages and challenges individuals and companies to pledge 1% of equity, product, and employee time for their communities.

The Boston Foundation, along with partners TUGG Boston, Accomplice, and the Greenlight Fund, serves as the facilitator of Pledge 1% Boston.  The Boston Foundation, the national Pledge 1% organization, and Cambridge Community Foundation co-hosted Wednesday’s event at The Davenport building in Cambridge, which houses Accomplice and HubSpot, among other companies.

Dec. 1, 2015

Pledge 1% empowers companies to dedicate 1 percent of employee time, equity, product or profit to improve communities around the world

Companies such as DocuSign, Glassdoor, Lookout, Twilio, Xactly and Zuora commit to making the community a key stakeholder in their businesses

Pledge 1% founding partners Atlassian, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, Rally for Impact and Salesforce.org set goal of securing 1,000 new pledges in the next year.

Pledge 1%, a corporate philanthropy movement founded by Atlassian, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, Rally for Impact and Salesforce.org, announced today that more than 500 companies have joined the Pledge 1% movement in its first year—including high-growth companies such as DocuSign, Glassdoor, Lookout, Twilio, Xactly and Zuora. By pledging 1 percent of employee time, equity, product or profit, these 500+ companies have committed to making the community a key stakeholder in their businesses. Pledge 1% plans to secure 1,000 new pledges in the next year, reaching 1,500 pledges by #GivingTuesday 2016, as a way to activate social impact in communities globally. ... Read more