“There’s no prize for the richest person in the graveyard” is one of my favorite expressions. I believe an allocation of funds should go to helping others and our planet.
As such, Blackthorn is pledging 1%, following in the footsteps of Salesforce.com and Marc Benioff’s “1-1-1” pledge, in pledging 1% of:
- Employee time
- Product (our apps as donations and/or discounted for qualifying nonprofits)
- Company equity
- Owner equity
- Profit
Time: Employees can volunteer for nonprofit causes, fully paid, with 1% of their annual time, which equates to approximately three days a year.
Product: As a company, we believe in helping qualified nonprofits (in the US, this is determined by 501(c)(3) status) with their causes, and we offer a discount on our products and services.
Money: If the company is ever acquired or IPOs, 1% of my equity and the company’s equity will be donated to nonprofit causes, as well as each year, 1% of the company’s profit.
We’re new to this, so if you’re reading this and have experience with it, please reach out and give us any advice you have! It will help us in making our 1% program as beneficial as possible.
