1% for the Planet
GIVING
CONFIDENCE HIGH · ANALYSIS ONLY, NOT AN AUDIT OR CERTIFICATION
Our read
This is a philanthropy commitment, assessed annually, and it should be read as exactly that. The bar is a real financial one: 1 percent of sales, not of profit, which for a low-margin business can exceed its net income. The network verifies the commitment by reviewing member-submitted revenue proof and donation receipts each year, and members who do not submit lose the right to the mark. Two qualifications matter. Up to half the commitment can be satisfied with in-kind goods, employee volunteer time, or donated advertising rather than cash, and the annual membership dues themselves count toward the 1 percent. So the cash actually reaching environmental partners can be materially below 1 percent of sales. The thing readers most often get wrong is treating the logo as a product or operational claim. It is not one. The standard contains no criterion touching materials, emissions, packaging, waste, water, labour or supply chain. A company can carry this mark with no environmental improvement anywhere in its own business. It tells you where a slice of the revenue goes, and nothing about how that revenue was earned.
What it covers
- Commitment to give at least 1 percent of annual sales to approved environmental partners
- Annual certification against submitted proof of revenue and donation receipts
- Recipients must be from the network's vetted environmental partner directory
- At least half the commitment must be monetary
- Membership can be scoped to the full company, a brand, or a product line above USD 2.5M in sales
- Public listing of certified members
What it leaves out
Not a criticism of the scheme. A standard is a scope, and this is where this one ends.
- Says nothing about the product, its materials, or its footprint
- Says nothing about operations, emissions, waste, water or supply chain
- No labour or human rights criteria
- Up to half the commitment can be met with in-kind donations, employee volunteer time, or advertising donations rather than cash
- Annual membership dues themselves count toward the 1 percent commitment
- Certification is a desk review of member-submitted receipts, with no site audit and no external auditor
- No requirement that giving increase, or that the recipient organisation address the member's own impacts
- No published register of members removed for failing to certify
The scheme
| Issued by | 1% for the Planet |
|---|---|
| Where it applies | Global |
| Audit and renewal | Annual certification; renewal dues due within 120 days of the start of each fiscal year |
| Cost | Annual membership dues by revenue: USD 500 at under USD 500K, USD 1,000 at USD 500K-1M, USD 1,500 at USD 1M-5M, USD 3,000 at USD 5M-10M, USD 7,500 at USD 10M-25M, USD 12,500 at USD 25M-50M, USD 20,000 at USD 50M-100M, and by quote above USD 100M. Dues count toward the 1 percent commitment. |
What we read
1% for the Planet business membership and certification requirements as published at onepercentfortheplanet.org, 2026; no versioned standard document is published
- what_it_covers (1 percent of annual sales, certification steps) — Submit proof of annual revenue and donation receipts to our team each year to complete your certification.
- what_it_omits (in-kind and volunteer time count for up to half) — At least half of your giving must be monetary and up to one half of your giving can be in the form of
- cost_range, what_it_omits (dues count toward the commitment) — membership dues automatically count toward a member's 1% commitment and are non-refundable
- renewal_period — Members are responsible for paying renewal membership dues within 120 days of the start of each fiscal year.
- what_it_covers (membership levels) — Three structures: Full Company, Brand Level, and Product Line (minimum $2.5M annual sales)
What we could not establish
Could not establish from published sources whether 1 percent is calculated on gross or net revenue, how in-kind and volunteer contributions are valued for certification purposes, or what sanction process applies to a member who certifies with inaccurate figures. No published register of removed or lapsed members was located, which is why enforcement is scored 2. There is no versioned, downloadable standard document; the requirements are described only on the organisation's website, so standard_version_read is a website snapshot rather than a document reference.
If you hold this certification, it is already on your record. What a buyer cannot see there yet is the evidence behind the parts this standard does not reach.