Our History

The Salesforce Foundation was officially launched in July 2000 by former Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell. The launch of the Foundation came less than a year after the launch of the company with the goal of building philanthropic programs at the very beginning of the company's existence rather than waiting until the company had reached a certain level of 'comfortable success'. Our belief is if emphasis is placed on philanthropy from a company's inception, the value of service will be a core cultural value that is built into the fabric of the company.

The Salesforce Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization. It is aligned with salesforce.com. Our community encompasses its employees, their family and friends, as well as the company's customers, partners, vendors, advisors and all stakeholders. As we continue to grow, we continue to find new ways to inspire and excite our community of volunteers. We continue to pass on the latest technology innovations to nonprofit organizations, making it relevant to their goals and easy to implement. And we continue to put programs in place that not only respond to a community’s far-reaching needs, but programs that help them deal with unforeseen crises.

But most of all, we continue—as we did at our inception—to spread the word about compassionate capitalism. Harnessing the Power of Us, working together, we can make a real difference.