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] Inspired by effective altruism, the mission of Founders Pledge is to "empower entrepreneurs to do immense good".[6]
By May 2023, 1,776 entrepreneurs across 30 countries[3] have signed up to Founders Pledge. Collectively, they have pledged to donate $9.3 billion in share value (of which $891 million 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 ideas of effective altruism, and the work of 80,000 Hours in particular, 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]
Founders Pledge runs three main types of activities, all of which are free of charge for its members.[3][7]
First, they aim to build a community of impact-driven entrepreneurs by organizing events to educate members on evidence-backed impact strategies.[18]
Second, they provide administrative support with donations and offer a donor-advised fund.[19]
Third, Founders Pledge conducts research on high-leverage giving opportunities and advises its members on where to give based on their personal values.[3][20]
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:
