Annual Giving Back Update: Doubling Down on Education, Climate Philanthropy, and Equitable AI
This year, Salesforce celebrated its 25th anniversary — which also marks the 25th anniversary of the 1-1-1 philanthropic model.
This model — which has dedicated 1% of the company’s equity, 1% of its product, and 1% of employees’ time back to the community since our founding — has allowed our impact to grow alongside our business. Through our 1-1-1 model, we have given:
- $700 million in grants
- 8.7 million employee volunteer hours
- Our technology to more than 56,000 nonprofit and education customers
Our philanthropic giving has been dedicated to education since the beginning, and we’ve also expanded our focus in recent years to include climate justice.
Now, we’re entering into a new era of philanthropy as the rise of AI has profound implications for the workforce, our communities, and the planet. As we navigate this shift, we’re committed to ensuring no one is left behind and using our influence and resources to build a more equitable and sustainable world.
As we navigate this shift, we’re committed to ensuring no one is left behind and using our influence and resources to build a more equitable and sustainable world.
Education philanthropy
Our education philanthropy focuses on advancing equity in education and creating more career opportunities for underserved youth. As transformative technologies like generative AI transform classrooms and future jobs, our grants provide students with opportunities to access advanced courses, gain in-demand skills, and explore potential new careers.
In fiscal year 2024, we provided $36 million in education grants, supporting 46 organizations globally. These grants included funding to school districts and global education nonprofits to provide access to STEM courses and career-aligned learning experiences. We supported integrative secondary school approaches, alternative postsecondary experiences, and programs focused on networking and upskilling to create more equitable pathways into tech and green jobs.
We also supported education organizations through our Catalyst Fund, which provides unrestricted capital to smaller and younger nonprofits. In total, our education giving in fiscal year 2024 will impact more than 100,000 educators and nearly 7 million students and young people.
Climate justice philanthropy
Salesforce is bringing the full power of our business to accelerate climate action. Through our philanthropic investments, we aim to help disproportionately climate-impacted communities mitigate future climate impacts and adapt to current climate realities.
In fiscal year 2024, we provided $10 million in climate justice grants, supporting 18 organizations globally. These grants funded innovative, nature-based solutions, supported nonprofits advancing an equitable transition to a clean energy economy, and backed organizations accelerating the ecopreneur revolution. In total, our climate giving in fiscal year 2024 will conserve and restore more than 11,000 hectares of land. Our climate justice grantees expect our investments to catalyze more than $225 million in follow-on funding.
In fiscal year 2024, we provided $10 million in climate justice grants, supporting 18 organizations globally.
We also supported humanitarian nonprofits to help proactively jumpstart their relief efforts. To respond to the immediate impacts of climate change, Salesforce and its employees raised more than $2 million to support humanitarian nonprofits in the wake of climate-exacerbated disasters like the Turkey-Syria earthquakes and Maui wildfires.
AI for Impact Accelerator: Our 1-1-1 model in action
In fiscal year 2024, we launched the Salesforce Accelerator – AI for Impact, a philanthropic initiative to help purpose-driven organizations gain equitable access to trusted generative AI technologies. This accelerator aims to close the AI access gap — inequality between those who have the resources, skills, and opportunity to benefit from AI and those who do not — by providing flexible funding, pro-bono expertise, and technology to purpose-driven organizations.
The first cohort of six nonprofits in the accelerator developed innovative AI solutions to improve equity in education and advance economic opportunity. The next cohort is working on solutions to use AI for climate action.
Driving collective action with 1t.org and Pledge 1%
At Salesforce, we believe our impact goes further with collective action. We’re proud to be founding members of 1t.org, an ambitious initiative to protect and restore the world’s forests. In 2020, Salesforce made a substantial commitment toward that goal to fund the conservation, restoration, and growth of 100 million trees by 2030.
At Salesforce, we believe our impact goes further with collective action.
As part of our 1t.org commitment, Salesforce is supporting the Mangrove Breakthrough, a new initiative to secure the future of the world’s mangroves. In partnership with Plant-for-the-Planet, we invested in eight mangrove restoration and conservation projects, helping to fund the restoration and conservation of over 8 million trees in fiscal year 2024, bringing our total to 52 million trees.
Salesforce is also a founding member and champion of Pledge 1%, a global movement to ensure giving back is baked into the DNA of companies of all sizes. We’re proud to work with Pledge 1% to provide tools and resources to help other companies adopt our 1-1-1 model. Today, more than 18,000 companies in over 130 countries have joined the Pledge 1% movement.
Philanthropy at Salesforce is funded by a combination of corporate giving and donations from the Salesforce Foundation.
Learn more:
- Check out our FY24 Stakeholder Impact Report
- Learn more about Salesforce Philanthropy
- Join the Pledge 1% movement
- Take action with 1t.org
