A little over a decade ago, I was personally involved with the team that started Giving Tuesday, which began as a simple idea: an annual day that encourages people to do good. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing it grow into a global movement that aims to inspire hundreds of millions of people to help unleash the power of radical generosity to transform communities and make the world a better place.
Today, as the world celebrates Giving Tuesday, I’m proud to share how we’re leveraging the very best of Adobe — our people, innovative products and creative heritage — to empower nonprofits globally with the tools, resources and support they need to accelerate their missions and maximize their impact.
As the company powering creativity and digital experiences worldwide, Adobe has a long and proud history of providing nonprofits with the tools and resources they need to creatively tell their stories, inspire action and advocate for change.
Giving begins at home
Adobe’s story of giving starts in the communities where we live and work. Since establishing our headquarters in downtown San José, CA nearly 30 years ago, we’ve worked tirelessly to uplift the place we call home by partnering with local organizations, officials and universities to foster creativity, improve infrastructure and nurture a vibrant cultural landscape.
Through our Hometown Commitment, the Adobe Foundation combines resources, expertise and collaborative action to support 10 local nonprofits tackling critical challenges in our backyard. Our current San Jose-based cohort includes The San José Downtown Association, HomeFirst, The Kelsey, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, The Tech Interactive, Cinequest, Local Color SJ, San José Museum of Art, Children’s Discovery Museum and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy. This Giving Tuesday, the Adobe Foundation is thrilled to grant an additional $2 million to enable these nonprofits to achieve lasting impact and continue building stronger, more resilient communities.
We understand that in today’s world, nonprofits need more than just financial donations — that’s why our Hometown Commitment goes beyond Adobe Foundation grants. Adobe offers comprehensive support through employee volunteerism, advocacy and product donations. A hometown organization, The Tech Interactive, a family-friendly science center, exemplifies this end-to-end support model backed by the Adobe Foundation and championed by Adobe’s Chief People Officer, Gloria Chen, who serves on its board. Through our partnership, The Tech Interactive is able to deliver even more transformative field trips and after-school programs that provide immersive experiences in science and technology.
In October, we expanded the impact of our community engagement through the Adobe UK Community Fund, an initiative supported by the Adobe Foundation that seeks to foster positive change in London and Berkshire where many of Adobe’s 1,400 UK employees live and work. Supporting 19 non-profit organizations, the fund helps provide access to opportunities and resources that empower the UK community to connect, create and thrive in the digital age. Together, we’re creating a future that thrives on innovation, engagement, and shared purpose.
Our Employees: The Heart of Adobe’s Giving
Our support of nonprofits globally would not be possible without the passion and philanthropic spirit of Adobe’s greatest assets — our employees. From designing transformative technology that drives digital evolution to pro bono work and serving on nonprofit boards to philanthropic donations, our employees are the driving force behind Adobe’s efforts to create change.
We’re proud to offer Adobe employees unique opportunities to make a meaningful impact. Currently, our company is uniting through Season of Change, our internal giving campaign that matches employee donations to support the organizations they value most. This year alone, our employees have already helped us donate $14 million USD through donation matching and volunteered over 145,000 hours. As we close out the year, our collective goal is to raise an additional $5 million USD in employee donations and matching gifts — including a 2:1 donation match in celebration of Giving Tuesday — to further uplift the causes our employees are passionate about.
Adobe for Nonprofits
The work of nonprofits has never been more critical, but they often face barriers to achieving maximum impact due to limited resources and struggles adopting the advanced technologies needed to streamline workflows, enhance content creation and engage stakeholders in today’s digital world. Adobe for Nonprofits, our initiative to equip organizations with the tools they need to drive change, harnesses Adobe's industry-leading creative and document management solutions, along with expert support and training resources to help organizations modernize their content creation and business operations. Adobe for Nonprofits includes free and discounted access to our products including Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud apps.
Take R.O.C.K. (Real Options for City Kids) for example: an organization that supports at-risk youth in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley by offering programs that promote healthy development, including academic support, sports and outdoor activities. As a leading provider in the area, R.O.C.K. aims to meet the holistic needs of children who might otherwise lack access to these opportunities.
R.O.C.K. leverages Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Express to create high-quality content and enhance efficiency across tasks like document signing and merging PDFs for grant applications. With Adobe Express-powered brand kits, the team ensures consistent, on-brand content creation, including multilingual flyers for programs like summer camps and logos for signature initiatives and partner organizations. Then, by exporting designs from Adobe Express as PDFs in Acrobat, the team seamlessly produces digital documents for printing, emailing, and viewing on both browser and desktop. Adobe Express also plays a pivotal role in R.O.C.K.'s social media and fundraising efforts, enabling the creation of engaging Instagram reels, stories, and essential materials for events and campaigns, such as save-the-date cards, invitations, social media templates, and QR codes.
Created using Adobe Express.
In Malawi, World Education — a global organization dedicated to preventing new HIV infections and reducing vulnerability among children — has been leveraging Adobe Acrobat Reader to empower its community case workers with digital tools that enhance their outreach. These tools support efforts in HIV management, violence prevention, household finances and education. By transitioning from paper to PDFs and Acrobat Reader, case workers have reduced the time spent on each visit from 45 to 30 minutes, allowing them to reach 5–6 households per day compared to just 3 previously. This shift not only increases efficiency but also enhances confidentiality for the families they serve.
Created using Adobe Express.
Together with our nonprofit partners, employees and innovative tools, we’re redefining what’s possible through the power of giving. From our support of local organizations in our hometown of San José, CA to putting Adobe’s creative and document solutions into the hands of global organizations, we’re building a future where nonprofits are empowered to drive meaningful change.