This historical account, first published in October 2020, records how Salesforce linked event giveaways and a quiz to planting in Tanzania. The 7,000 event kits, 7,700 quiz trees and 20,000-kit pledge below refer to separate activities and stages.
How Salesforce linked participation to planting
Oscon and Gracehopper 2019
The 2019 event campaign involved OSCON, an open source software convention, and Gracehopper, a gathering for women in computing.
At these 2019 events, Salesforce gave out 7,000 ForestNation Tree Kits for people to grow at home, alongside 7,000 matching trees planted in Tanzania. The campaign also funded one additional tree for each recipient who named their tree on ForestNation. In his campaign statement, Marc Benioff described the initiative this way:
The business of business is improving the state of the world. We hope that by having zero-waste swag we will continue to improve the world. With two trees planted for every one seed we purchase, we are excited to see the difference the Salesforce Forest will make in Tanzania.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO
The campaign video shows Yassin discussing Salesforce’s planting in Tanzania:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KtQUiHwCsk&feature=youtu.be&t=50
Futureforce Quiz Challenges
For the Futureforce class of 2020, ForestNation created a virtual quiz challenge. Passing the challenge triggered tree planting in the Salesforce forest. As recorded in our Salesforce case study, this initiative planted 7,700 trees.
More trees for the community to grow
At the time of this article’s original publication in October 2020, Salesforce had pledged a further 20,000 Tree Kits for its team and community, intended for when offices reopened. ForestNation reported that matching planting in Tanzania had begun. The pledge is recorded here as a historical commitment, rather than a confirmed delivery of all 20,000 kits.
100 Million Trees by 2030
In January 2020, Salesforce announced a goal to support and mobilize the conservation, restoration and growth of 100 million trees by the end of 2030. Its September 2020 announcement explains that broader ambition and support for the World Economic Forum’s Trillion Tree initiative. Marc Benioff expressed his ambition at the time in these words:
I know planting a trillion trees sounds daunting but there used to be six trillion trees on earth, now there are three trillion trees so we should be able to get another trillion back.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO
The practical lesson is to make the participation trigger clear: in the quiz campaign, passing the challenge led to planting. Keeping that result separate from a later pledge makes the record easier to understand. Visit the Salesforce forest to learn more about their impact in Tanzania. If you have an activity you’d like to connect to planting, discuss your idea with ForestNation. We can help shape the programme and the message for your audience.
