Why Progress Software Switched to Percent Pledge

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We’ve logged more volunteer hours in the first six months with Percent Pledge than the last three years combined.

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Challenges With Their Legacy CSR Platform

CSR Software That Created More Problems Than Impact

Before switching to Percent Pledge, Progress Software used a well-known legacy CSR platform to help manage its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, Progress for Tomorrow. But the platform’s complexity and support gaps led to low adoption—for employees, administrators, and nonprofit partners. Donations often didn’t make it to nonprofits as expected, and customer service was also a frequent pain point.

Progress Software began evaluating five different CSR platforms to find something better—something more intuitive, responsive, and supportive for employees and nonprofits alike.

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Why Progress Software Chose Percent Pledge

"User Experience and Customer Service”

While Percent Pledge is a more cost-effective option, price wasn’t the deciding factor.

“I would say the platform cost itself is a nice bonus, but not necessarily what we were after,” said Kat Skjoldager, CSR Program Specialist at Progress. “It really came down to the user experience and the customer service.”

Percent Pledge delivered on both—with a simpler interface, stronger support, and faster time to value.

Zero Donation Fees – Which Means More Money Goes to Causes

A major change for Progress Software was eliminating donation service fees. Percent Pledge is the only corporate giving platform with 0% donation fees. We believe your donations should go to the charities you want to support, not us.

“Before, we would promise a nonprofit a donation—say $1,000—but the platform would take a fee out of that,” said Skjoldager. “So the nonprofit received less than what we told them, which forced us to do manual math and give more to make up the difference.”

Their previous platform took a 3-5% “Cause Support” fee on every donation, which meant a lot less reached the nonprofits.

“Now, with Percent Pledge, we just put the amount we want to donate, and that’s exactly what the nonprofit receives,” she added. “It makes budgeting easier and saves us time.”

All donations now go where they’re meant to go—straight to the global causes Progress Software and its employees care about most.

Switching CSR Software to Percent Pledge “Went Really Smoothly”

Transitioning to new software is rarely painless. But with Percent Pledge, the experience was smooth and surprisingly fast.

“Things went really smoothly,” said Lindsey Smith, VP of CSR at Progress. “We first thought the implementation timeline was too good to be true, but the Percent Pledge team was really responsive and reliable—we were able to execute things quickly.”

The team’s biggest worry? Employee adoption.

“My biggest point of anxiety was definitely adoption,” said Skjoldager. “Change management is always a little bit difficult.”

Percent Pledge helped ease that anxiety with flexible onboarding resources.

“We were able to say to employees: ‘You can read it with these step-by-step guides, you can watch it with these recordings, or you can learn by doing,’” said Skjoldager.

Once the platform launched, feedback was silent—in the best way possible.

“No news is good news,” said Skjoldager. “The fact that we’re not getting feedback on Percent Pledge actually means it’s working, and one employee did even reach out to say it’s much easier to log volunteer time with Percent Pledge.”

Results: Higher Engagement, Better Service, More Impact

More Volunteer Hours in First 6 Months Than Last 3 Years

For years, Progress Software offered a paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) benefit—but employees weren’t using it.

“It was a perk people knew about—it just wasn’t being used,” said Skjoldager.

That changed quickly when Progress Software launched with Percent Pledge.

“Now that we can actually track and celebrate the volunteer work employees are doing, they’re more engaged—and we’re more informed.”

Volunteering surged even more after activating Grow Your Impact—an innovative tool that plants a real tree for every employee volunteer hour logged on the platform and tracks the carbon offset metrics in real time.

“We’ve logged more volunteer hours in the first six months with Percent Pledge than the last three years combined.”

Go here to learn more about our modern Volunteer Management Software.

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Progress Software Maxed Out Its First Matching Campaign 100%

Progress Software launched their first matching campaign on Percent Pledge with a $10,000 budget—and maxed it out early.

“For the first time ever, I had people reach out to me in advance and ask for precise details—like ‘What exact time will the match start so I can set my alarm?’” Skjoldager said.

This enthusiasm extended to new employees who had just joined through an acquisition.

“It was very good for them to see a large initiative happen by their acquirer so soon after they joined,” she added. “It gave them a sense of our culture—and that we’re really into giving back.”

With this campaign, everything came together for Progress Software to make it a success:

“The ease of the platform, the multiple directions of comms, the training video we did—all of that helped build momentum. And we ended up maxing out the campaign early.”

Small Details and Features That Make a Big Difference

The platform’s usability details made a major difference for the CSR team.

“The small, detailed functions are really, really helpful,” said Skjoldager. “Like being able to set both a total matching budget and a per-employee cap. Or being able to schedule campaigns in advance so we can pace things out.”

One standout: Cause Portfolios. Unique to Percent Pledge, Cause Portfolios enable donors to support multiple vetted charities in a single donation. They make giving back easier, more efficient, and more impactful. Each Cause Portfolio consists of vetted charities that support a specific cause or community in a unique and innovative way—and donations are split evenly across the charities.

Most employees know the causes they care about, but not which specific charities they should support. So, they love Cause Portfolios because they can give with trust and automatically split their donation across several top-rated charities impacting the cause(s) that matter to them most.

“Whether or not people donate through the Cause Portfolios, they help get your mind working around the type of charities you want to support,” said Skjoldager. “And being able to feature regionally specific charities that are already pre-vetted and match-eligible is so helpful.”

Real-time Reporting That’s Actually Actionable

“The reporting is nice,” Skjoldager shared. “We can see what causes people donated to—especially smaller, local organizations we wouldn’t find in big databases.”

It’s easy and fast for Admins to get what they need for program management or stakeholder engagement.

“The dashboards are really good for getting quick insights to our C-Suite—like total donations and volunteer hours. Being able to just pull that up at the company level is really helpful.”

Progress Software is also using the reporting to tailor future programming to employee actions.

“If everyone’s donating to the same food bank, maybe we organize a group volunteer event there. It helps us identify those local partners we should be working with.”

Why Progress Software Recommends Percent Pledge to Others

User Experience

“Overall, Percent Pledge makes things hands-off in a way that users want. Employees want to give and volunteer—but they don’t want it to feel like work. They want it to be fun to make a positive impact, and Percent Pledge facilitates that,” said Skjoldager.

Integrated Solution

“I also love how the features are interconnected. Employees can log their hours, and Grow Your Impact plants a tree automatically. The data links to specific charities, and we can even collect testimonials through optional surveys,” said Skjoldager.

Customer Service

“Percent Pledge has been very open to suggestions and product enhancements, which we really appreciate,” said Smith.

Continuous Innovation

“Seeing that Percent Pledge is continuing to invest in the platform and tools gives us confidence,” said Smith.

Switching Is Worth It

“Switching platforms is never 100% smooth. But with the right partner, it doesn’t have to be painful. Percent Pledge was that partner for us. Their product reflects who we are as a company. It’s important for CSR practitioners to keep evaluating the space and make sure they have the best tools and the right partner,” said Smith.

Next Up: Using Our Passion Assessment in Their CSR Strategy

Progress Software is now focused on increasing global engagement and continuing to tailor its CSR program, Progress for Tomorrow, to employee interests across different regions.

One tool they’re excited to use: Percent Pledge’s Passion Assessment.

The Passion Assessment is an integrated employee survey that helps companies uncover what causes matter most to their people—by location, department, generation, or any custom segment. It gives CSR leaders real-time data to shape giving and volunteering programs that employees actually care about.

“I’m excited to use the Passion Assessment to help shape our regional CSR strategy,” said Skjoldager.