Challenge

When Whimsical co-founders Kaspars Dancis and Steve Schoeffel started building their company, they wanted it to be about more than money. While the company’s products help workers communicate more effectively and work faster, the founders wanted to take a strong stance on how the company operates and why.

“We value ethics over growth and profit,” Dancis, CEO, wrote in a blog post. “Every decision we make is considered through a long-term lens. The question to ask is how likely we will regret the given decision in 10 years.”

That long-term view pushed Whimsical to focus on the health of the planet, since the co-founders believe it is everyone’s responsibility to help fight climate change. The company initially donated $5,000 to Eden Reforestation Projects, but wanted to connect its business growth to its climate impact. Without the time or resources to thoroughly research, engage with, and validate different climate investment options, however, Whimsical needed an easier way to review potential recipients and make recurring donations.

Solution

Instead of trying to evaluate and select worthy climate-change initiatives, Whimsical chose Stripe Climate as a faster, more effective solution. Stripe Climate lets platforms easily contribute a fraction of revenue to help scale emerging carbon removal technologies. Platforms can then share climate commitments with customers and be assured 100% of all contributions are directed to scientifically evaluated projects.

In a Whimsical blog post outlining its sustainability efforts, Jānis Peisenieks, head of engineering at Whimsical, wrote: “The idea of giving back is very exciting to us. Therefore, we've made the decision to become part of Stripe Climate and contribute 1% of our revenue to help tackle climate change.”

The company went on to detail why it decided to partner with Stripe Climate:
- Stripe makes it easy for Whimsical to contribute with automatic deductions from its Stripe account and zero additional effort.
- Stripe has earned Whimsical’s trust since the company relies on Stripe Payments and has helped test Stripe beta products. Its team saw Stripe’s focus on customer success, while the transparency of Stripe Climate further ensured all donations go to worthy recipients.
- Stripe is aligned with Whimsical’s philosophy of investing in long-term approaches, and Stripe is helping carbon-removal technologies improve results and reduce costs.

Results

Whimsical now contributes 1% of its overall revenue to Stripe Climate, accounting for more than $50,000 in total donations to date. Built on its values of ethics, sustainability, and long-term good, Whimsical has seamlessly connected its business success with its commitment to the planet’s health.

Over $50,000 in total donations

For many companies, choosing where to donate requires more effort than they have to spare, even on important initiatives. Whimsical relies on Stripe Climate to vet projects and manage the donation flow, so Whimsical can focus on growing its business to increase its impact.

“We don't have to do anything other than building a great product to contribute (to Stripe Climate),” wrote Peisenieks.

1% of annual revenue donated through Stripe Climate

Whimsical believes fighting climate change is everyone’s responsibility, from governments to individuals to businesses. Stripe Climate lets Whimsical maximise the impact of every dollar it contributes, instead of siphoning a portion to pay for internal overhead.

“Every little bit matters,” wrote Peisenieks. “Stripe has chosen to invest in next-generation carbon-removal technologies and pay the ‘early adopter tax’ to help those technologies develop and become less expensive.”