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English charitable non-profit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founders Pledge is a London-based charitable initiative, where entrepreneurs commit to donate a portion of their personal proceeds to charity when they sell their business.[3][4][5] The mission of Founders Pledge is to "empower entrepreneurs to do immense good".[6]
| |
| Founded | 2015[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Dafna Bonas, David Goldberg |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Location |
|
Area served | Global |
Membership | 1,776 (May 2023)[2] |
| Website | founderspledge |
By October 2024, 1,970 entrepreneurs across 30 countries[3] have signed up to Founders Pledge. Collectively, they have pledged to donate $10.3 billion in share value (of which $1.4 billion in donations have been completed to date).[7]
Founders Pledge was initially launched in 2015 by the Founders Forum for Good, which focuses on helping social entrepreneurs build and scale businesses.[8] David Goldberg, co-founder and CEO of Founders Pledge, has stated that the work of 80,000 Hours have influenced the trajectory of the organization.[9]
Founders Pledge was named one of the New Radicals 2016, which are "innovative projects chosen by The Observer and Nesta as making a real difference to society".[10]
Starting in London, Founders Pledge has since expanded and opened multiple new offices in cities such as Berlin,[11] New York and San Francisco.[3] In addition, Founders Pledge has launched partnerships with organisations including Y Combinator,[12] MassChallenge, and Forward Partners.[13] In September 2016, Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, wrote on the Y Combinator blog: "Many of our founders ask us about how they can donate part of their equity or post exit proceeds, and now we have an answer: Founders Pledge."[14]
In 2023, Founders Pledge moved $168 million to the charitable sector on a budget of $8.2 million, implying an ROI of over 20:1.[15][16]
Founders Pledge runs three main types of activities, all of which are free of charge for its members.[3][7]
Founders Pledge partners with GiveWell for its research on cost-effective global health and development charities. In addition, Founders Pledge has written research reports on various topics, including:
Entrepreneurs signing up to Founders Pledge enter a legally binding commitment to donate a portion of their personal proceeds on liquidity to charity. The minimum commitment is 2%, though on average entrepreneurs commit around 7%.[26] Comparing several donation pledging initiatives, Vox writes that Founders Pledge forces The Giving Pledge "to compete for the mindshare of today’s tech community".[27]
A complete list of members is available on the Founders Pledge website.[28] Notable members of Founders Pledge include the following:
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