Charity wrap up for 2022

Earlier this year we set ourselves a challenge – donate 1% of profit and 1% of employee time to charitable initiatives. We wrote about it here. We’re so happy to say that we did it! 

TL/DR

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 10,000 members in 100 countries have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite half a billion dollars in new philanthropy.

Cofounded by Scott Farquhar from Atlassian along with several other tech and business leaders Pledge 1% helps businesses around the world by providing guidance, support, and most of all taking the pledge.

Why we did it

We wanted to use our time and team to do some good but we also wanted to work on team building while using that time to make a difference. We know that a modern workplace needs a great team. That’s why we’ve put so much effort to make sure our team doesn’t just work well together but enjoys socialising and staying active together. But when we began exploring charity initiatives – that’s when our team really got behind it.

How it worked

We asked our team to nominate charitable organisations they’d like to support and the response was enormous and so diverse. We allocated time each month and asked for volunteers, while ensuring we were also hitting our work goals. In fact, we had so many volunteers that if someone had to shift out due to their work schedule, there was always someone to step up.

Our team was empowered to take ownership of their charity work. It resulted in better team work across the charity work and in the office. 

What were the results?

The interest from our team in taking part was overwhelming, we were so proud that we have a group of individuals that were so enthusiastic about doing this. It really showed throughout the year, we saw better teamwork in the office, better teamwork at lunchtime legends (leading to an epic win in mixed netball), and most importantly our team was empowered to take ownership of their charity work, and see first hand the difference donating some of their time can make.

Charities we supported

• Dress for Success
• Tour de Rocks, Supporting
• Climb for a Cause, supporting Black Dog Institute
• Spin 4 Kids, supporting Variety The Children’s Charity
• 20for1, now known as Good in the Hood
• Pass it on Clothing Co
• Jeans for Genes Day, supporting Children’s Medical Research Institute
• Eat Up Australia
• Mullets for Mental Health, supporting Black Dog Institute
• Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, supporting headspace
• Bloody Long Day, supporting Kid’s Cancer Project
• DV Safe Phone
• Christmas Gift Wrapping, supporting Indigenous Literacy Foundation

We’re so proud of what we have achieved this year and so inspired by our team and everything they have done this year. We’re looking forward to taking it even further in 2023.