A Rebrand, A Funding Round And An Intentional Cap Table For Philanthropy Startup Pledge

Five years ago, James Citron saw the power of technology to amplify a nonprofit’s reach firsthand when his former startup, Outspoken, helped Crisis Text Line set up a text messaging platform. The serial entrepreneur decided that his next startup needed to find a way to utilize technology for good. So Citron founded a company called Pledge to enable users to donate where they spend time—online. 

Pledge’s tech integrates across platforms like Zoom or Shopify to give users a way to donate or fundraise without leaving the page they’re shopping on or the livestream they’re watching. Pledge, formerly called Pledgeling, has helped users raise millions of dollars for charities in more than 100 countries so far. “You have to remove all the friction,” says Citron, founder of a number of text message startup companies. “ What we have built is literally two clicks to donate. It takes literally five seconds to donate to 2 million nonprofits.”

With usage up during Covid-19—including processing 10 million donations through Shopify, and helping raise $150,000 over Clubhouse in February for disaster relief following Texas’ winter storms—Citron sought to add a diverse group of voices when raising his next financing.

Venture firm Maven led the company’s $3 million seed extension round, bringing the total funding raised to $12 million, and was joined by Designer Fund, Mantis, and angel investors Bill Tai and Randi Zuckerberg, the Facebook chief executive’s sister. News of Pledge’s funding round was first reported in the Midas Touch newsletter on Sunday.

The company ended up with a capitalization table, or equity breakdown, that was 50% diverse and 50% women, Citron says. “Given our focus, it was super-important to align our investors and our cap table to hold us accountable,” he says. “We don’t just want to pivot to something else. We want to find investors related to our mission and investor groups that are diverse.”

Sara Deshpande, a partner at Maven, says she was drawn to Pledge’s mission after seeing them pitch at a startup contest last year. After doing some digging, she says she concluded that the company was tapping into the trend of pandemic-induced changes in consumer habits that were likely to stick around after life returns to normal. “The thing that is most exciting is that they really are just getting started,” she says. “Most nonprofits, most people who host Zoom calls, they don’t know what Pledge is yet. All of the amazing impact that they have had, it really is just the beginning.”

The company is also rolling out a new feature, PledgeCam. This new offering allows users to turn any livestream or Zoom call into a telethon to add another option for organizations to easily host fundraising events. “Every single Zoom, every purchase, every livestream, every video call will have a fundraising social impact portion of it,” he says. Citron declined to provide revenue totals for Pledge or the total amount raised in the Shopify donations.

Even after the pandemic subsides, Citron says, he doubts many groups will host exclusively in-person fundraising events. The organizers behind LaughAid, the largest virtual event for comedians, told Citron they made 3 times as much money through Pledge as they did through donations through YouTube. 

“We know we are the leaders in this new era of philanthropy where it is accessible and possible for anyone at any time to donate,” he says. “We are doing this today for millions of donors. We want to be the go to fundraising tool for every brand.”