Employee Engagement Enters the Next Generation

By joining forces, United Way and Salesforce.org brought together global impact and innovation at scale to create the perfect storm. Enter: Salesforce.org Philanthropy Cloud, an entirely new network built on the most innovative Salesforce technology, where employees can find personal opportunities to make a difference, connect to the nonprofits they admire and have a complete history of their donations and resulting impact.

Launching in record time, I am proud to announce that today, Philanthropy Cloud is available to corporations across the United States and Canada via United Way, our exclusive reseller.

From digital transformation to a changing corporate culture, the workplace is drastically changing. Though the saying goes “you’re as good as the company you keep,” for today’s companies, we are as good as the employees we inspire. Employees that are engaged don’t just participate in change; they drive it and lead through their purpose. An overwhelming majority of people agree that it’s important to work for a company that shares their values. Purpose drives better outcomes for employees and employers, it’s that simple. As corporate leaders, we need to acknowledge and foster purpose in the workplace, not because of trends or forecast, but because our employees are demanding it through their actions.

At Salesforce.org, we use technology for good to change the world, and part of that is the way we empower every Salesforce employee to positively impact their community. Giving back has been part of the Salesforce DNA since day one and it’s what helped our employees reach 1 million volunteer hours in 16 years of business. We are proud of the good we did in those years, but we also knew we were capable of even more. Driven by the same innovative spirit that has driven us to create the best technology and solutions for our customers, we set out to transform our volunteer network. The result was an internal solution that helped Salesforce employees volunteer and connect to their communities faster and more authentically than ever before. We predicted that this would lead to an increase in efficiency but we never expected how extensively our impact would be amplified.

While it took us 16 years to reach our first million volunteer hours, with the help of this new technology we reached our next million volunteer hours in just 16 months! The network effect was undeniable. The secret to empowering our employees to create monumental and measurable impact was a better platform. Seeing this transformation and reflecting on our values, we wanted to provide our customers with the same opportunity to empower their employees to connect to a better way to give back. But we couldn’t do it alone, a partnership was integral to create the path to collective impact.

For over 100 years, United Way has led the way in workplace giving to help mobilize communities for the greater good. Now, their corporate partners are asking for technology to help them better engage their employees. So in 2016 when Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, Rob Acker, CEO of Salesforce.org, and Brian Gallagher, CEO of United Way Worldwide, had a conversation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, it led to a major “ah-ha” moment. They realized that the technology and values of Salesforce.org combined with the expertise and mission of United Way could revolutionize how every employee and every company approached philanthropy. And the unstoppable momentum from this moment helped to fuel what is now, Salesforce.org Philanthropy Cloud.

Salesforce.org, United Way, and You

At launch, Philanthropy Cloud supports employee giving and quickly expands to include volunteering, matching, and corporate grants. From day one, there is an integrated database of all certified nonprofits in the US and Canada for employees to connect with. In the US, this is made possible through our partner network GuideStar, while Canadian nonprofits are sourced through the Canadian Revenue Agency. Add to that the robust and intuitive power of Salesforce Einstein, which has been built right into Philanthropy Cloud, sorting through millions of opportunities to provide the most personalized recommendation to employees.

Philanthropy Cloud is being piloted by several customers in North America, with very strong end-user reviews. Companies like yours are seeing that real change that Philanthropy Cloud can inspire. To put this transformative technology in action, check out our other products..