Frequently asked questions

No — and the distinction matters. B Corp certification (issued by B Lab) is a broad standard for how a company operates: governance, worker treatment, environmental performance, community impact. It says nothing about whether profits go to charity. There are roughly 9,000 certified B Corps globally, and most do not donate their profits.

This directory specifically tracks giving commitments — what percentage of profits, revenue, or equity is directed to social or charitable causes. That is a separate, often stronger standard. A company can donate 100% of profits without being a B Corp, and a B Corp can have no charitable giving at all.

Some organizations appear in both: Rituals Cosmetics became a B Corp in 2022 and later introduced a 10% profit pledge. Who Gives a Crap and Patagonia are likely both. But B Corp status is neither required nor sufficient for inclusion here.

B Corp directory is on our planned sources roadmap — we may add it in future as a separate tier.

We require at least one specific, verifiable commitment linking the organization's commercial activity to social benefit. Qualifying examples:

• A stated percentage of profits, revenue, or equity donated to named charitable causes
• An ownership structure that structurally directs profits to charity (e.g. nonprofit-owned)
• Membership in a certification scheme that requires documented giving (GWWC Company Pledge, 1% for the Planet, Pledge 1%)
• A public founder pledge to donate personal proceeds (Founders Pledge)

We do not include companies solely for ESG policies, sustainability reports, carbon offset purchases, vague "giving back" language, or general mission alignment without a specific, sourced commitment.

Substantial

A structural or hard-to-reverse commitment: 100% of profits to charity, nonprofit ownership model, or a formal pledge of 10%+ of net profits (e.g. the GWWC Company Pledge). This is the highest tier — the commitment is baked into the business model or legally binding.

Moderate

A meaningful but softer commitment. Includes Founders Pledge members (personal pledge by the founder to give a share of personal wealth), Pledge 1% members (1% of equity, product, or time), and EA-aligned service providers. Real but not structurally enforced.

Minimal

A token or certified commitment, typically 1% of gross sales or revenue. Currently this tier includes 1% for the Planet certified businesses. These are hidden by default — change the Commitment filter to "All levels" to see them. The commitment is real but small relative to other entries.

The search defaults to "Moderate or better" to avoid drowning out high-commitment organizations. The bulk of the directory (~1,000 entries) are 1% for the Planet certified businesses, whose commitment — while genuine — is 1% of gross annual sales. At typical retail margins, this is often less than 3–5% of profits.

To see all entries including these, set the Commitment level filter to "All levels (incl. 1%FP)". To see only the strongest commitments, set it to "Substantial only."

These are two completely separate programs with different origins and standards:

Pledge 1% (moderate tier)

Founded by Salesforce in 2014. Companies commit to give 1% of equity, product, and/or employee time to social impact — the original "1/1/1 model." The equity pledge in particular can be very substantial for growing startups. ~19,000 companies have signed; this directory includes ~1,841 showcase members.

1% for the Planet (minimal tier)

Founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia) and Craig Mathews. Members commit to donate at least 1% of annual gross sales to approved environmental nonprofits. Revenue-based, not profit-based — so a company with thin margins might be donating 10–20% of actual profits. ~10,000+ members globally.

Not exactly — and we try to be transparent about this. Founders Pledge is a personal pledge by an individual founder or executive to donate a significant portion of their personal wealth when they exit their company. The company itself has not pledged anything.

We include these companies because they are run by people with a strong, public, accountability-backed commitment to giving — and choosing to work with or buy from these companies is a form of supporting that commitment. But the claim text is always clear that it is a founder's personal pledge, and these entries are rated "moderate" tier, not "substantial."

Each source has its own refresh schedule (see the Coverage page). Live sources like GWWC and Good Store are crawled monthly or weekly; others quarterly. The "last crawled" date is shown per source.

Every claim has a confidence score and risk level. Risk level "medium" or "high" means the commitment may change — for example, a personal founder pledge (medium risk) is less structurally stable than a nonprofit ownership model (low risk).

If you spot something outdated, please highlight the text on the relevant page and annotate via Hypothes.is, or use the feedback form. Include a source URL if you have one.

No. This directory only tracks giving and profit-sharing commitments. It says nothing about:

• Product quality or value for money
• Labor practices and worker treatment
• Environmental footprint beyond giving
• Data privacy or business practices
• Whether the chosen charities are effective

A company can donate 100% of profits and still have other serious problems. This directory is one input among many — not an endorsement. Do your own due diligence before purchasing.

Generally not included unless they also have a specific giving commitment. "Sustainable," "ethical," "responsible," "carbon neutral," "ESG-aligned," and similar terms describe how a company operates — not whether it donates profits.

We specifically exclude entries based solely on: sustainability certifications, carbon offset programs, fair-trade sourcing, ethical supply chains, B Corp status, recycled materials, or vague impact statements. These may be admirable, but they're a different thing from what this directory tracks.

A few possible reasons:

• Not yet in our sources: We have indexed a specific set of sources — B Corp, Social Enterprise UK, and others are on the roadmap.
• No verifiable giving commitment: The company may be mission-aligned but without a specific, sourced percentage or structural commitment.
• Hidden by default: 1% for the Planet businesses are hidden at the default filter level — check "All levels" in the Commitment filter.
• We simply missed it: Submit it via the feedback form with a source URL and we'll review it.