Corporate giving, background acting, and a movement built in Australia

I’ll be honest.

If I’m at an event and I see that there’s a photographer, I am working hard to get in the frame.

Supportive body language.
Strategic belly laughs.
Subtle nodding during keynotes to avoid any blurring on shots with a longer exposure.

If we’ve met at an event, I am sorry to say that you didn’t just meet me.
You met my character; ‘Background Conference Participant 1.’

It’s a role I feel born to play.

So you can imagine my shock when, after attending several events over the past fortnight, and giving the photographers more than enough ammo to play with, I didn’t make it into the background of a single shot from any of them!

Not even a stray shoulder, or part of an earlobe.

One positive side effect of being the Daniel Day Lewis of background corporate event photography, however, is that you do end up in interesting rooms, learning from very interesting people.

And that certainly happened last week in the Canva Space at one of the first events for the newly appointed Australian team behind Pledge 1%.

You’ve probably heard of Pledge 1% - the movement where businesses pledge 1% of one, more or all of their time, profit, product and equity to social impact. It’s one of those global success stories that began here in Australia - and just last month announced that Antonia Ruffell (of StartGiving and formerly of Australian Philanthropic Services fame) would be leading the charge as their first Managing Director in the region.

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Antonia for a conversation about what she expects from near future at Pledge 1% and we thought we’d share our chat below.

What I loved most about Antonia’s reflections, and the mission ahead, is her intent not just for generosity to be something that happens ‘after’ everything else is sorted; but one of the many ingredients in building a good company culture from the earliest days.

Background Conference Participant 1: You've just been announced as the new Managing Director for Pledge 1% in Australia, the first national office outside of the US. Why now, and why Australia for the Pledge 1% movement?

Antonia: I’m excited about the opportunity to further grow the Pledge 1% movement here, especially as Australia has been central to the Pledge 1% story from the beginning. Scott Farquhar, co-founder of Atlassian and now Chair of Pledge 1%’s board, helped launch the movement ten years ago. The Atlassian Foundation has also championed Pledge 1% and driven activities here - kudos to all the Atlassians who’ve led that effort.  Over the last decade, companies like Canva, Airwallex, Culture Amp and Employment Hero and thousands more have pledged equity, profit, product, or employee time for social impact. 

In fact, over 1,800 Australian companies are part of the global community of over 19,000 Pledge 1% members in 130 countries. Together, they’re unlocking billions of dollars and tens of thousands of employee hours for good. Establishing a team here will help grow the movement even further, providing deeper support for members and a more localised experience. 

Tim: Australia has historically lagged behind the US in corporate philanthropy. And we've seen some companies winding back, or slowing down their impact work. What do you see as the biggest barriers to corporate impact in Australia - and is this a go big or go bust moment?

Antonia: The top 50 corporate givers contributed around AU$1.5 billion in FY2024. This was a record high and a 14% increase on the previous year - so it’s certainly not all doom and gloom. 

But that headline number doesn’t tell the whole story. Companies are facing a more complex landscape: expectations from employees, customers and investors are rising, and there’s more scrutiny around impact and measurement. That’s leading some organisations to rethink how they invest their time and resources, such as narrowing their focus or shifting activity into compliance-driven ESG work rather than bold social initiatives.

For younger companies, profitability can also be a barrier. They’re not in a position to give away large sums of money early on, which is why it’s so important to broaden our view of what corporate impact looks like. It’s not just about donating money. It’s about building ethical businesses and leveraging all your assets to create social impact. That mindset shift is key: impact shouldn’t come after success - it should be part of how you build your company from the start.

Tim: Are there some unique opportunities you see in Australia that could make this market a global leader in corporate impact? What excites you most about the opportunity ahead?

Antonia: Corporate giving is already well established in Australia, particularly in traditional sectors like banking, mining and professional services, and they can set an example. But the opportunity that really excites me is how to encourage new and emerging companies to think about how they can be a force for good.

The tech sector is growing fast. Tech is now one of the biggest drivers of Australia’s economy - and there’s a real opportunity to influence how things are done early in a company’s life. My observation is that founder-led companies are often open to experimentation, are purpose-driven, and are willing to embed social impact from day one. 

Tim: You've been central to building up StartGiving, the movement of tech-founders committing to giving early, alongside Daniel Petre. How do you see that work connecting to your mission at Pledge 1%?

Antonia: I’m passionate about encouraging more philanthropy in Australia - and Pledge 1% and StartGiving are the perfect complement to each other and to furthering this goal. Each plays a distinct role in strengthening Australia’s culture of giving. Pledge 1% by helping companies embed social impact into how they operate, and StartGiving by inspiring successful tech founders to embrace personal philanthropy.

While Pledge 1% isn’t only for tech companies, they’re a dominant and fast-growing part of the economy, and we want to support them to think boldly about how they can have an impact and build social purpose into their business models from the very beginning. As these companies grow and succeed, they also create new wealth for the individuals involved. And with that comes an extraordinary opportunity for founders, executives and employees to step beyond the company and use their personal resources for good.

Ultimately, both Pledge 1% and StartGiving are working towards the same goal: normalising generosity. I want to see a world where giving back, whether through a company or as an individual, is simply part of what it means to be successful in Australia.

Tim: Let's look forward 5 years, what does it look like for Pledge 1% to have succeeded here in Australia?

Five years from now, I’d love to see Pledge 1% deeply woven into the fabric of Australia’s business culture - something founders and leaders automatically think about. Success would mean thousands more companies across every stage and sector pledging equity, profit, product or time, as part of how they define success. And in doing so, they’d unlock enormous resources for social and environmental impact.

Tim: If I were working in a corporate context and keen to bolster our impact work, but we're not yet at the stage of making a pledge, how can Pledge 1% help and what should I do?

The best place to start is simply by signing up. Making a pledge is about setting your intention. It doesn’t commit you to anything overnight and you don’t need everything figured out before you join. Many start with something small, like volunteering time or donating product, and grow their impact over time.

From there, Pledge 1% provides a flexible framework, practical tools and a supportive community to help you think through what impact could look like for your company and how to get there. And with a new team now in place in Australia, we’ll be building more localised content, tools and advice to help companies take practical steps towards impact and connect more with each other in the real world and online. 

You can take the pledge here: www.pledge1percent.org

Conversations like this remind me of how far we’ve come in normalising the role that corporate Australia can play supporting the social and community fabric of the nation - and, of course, how much opportunity is still at play.

As the busy end-of-year period kicks into gear, I hope to see you out and about at events, summits and conferences before we say goodbye to 2025.

And if we do, let’s do our best to get into a few official photographs together too.

Cheers,

Tim

PS: Got a colleague or a friend you want to make sure sees those emails? Forward them this one and tell them to sign up.

PPS: Got a suggestion or a question, hit reply and let me know.