What Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation does

The Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2010 as the philanthropic arm of Cornerstone OnDemand, a talent management software provider. The foundation is headquartered at 1601 Cloverfield Boulevard, Suite 600S, in Santa Monica, California, and operates with a small team of approximately 3-5 members. Its mission is to provide free online professional development to nonprofit and humanitarian professionals worldwide who would otherwise lack budget for workforce training.

The foundation's core products are two self-serve learning platforms: DisasterReady, serving humanitarian aid and development professionals with over 1,500 courses and certifications in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish across topics including technical skills, interpersonal skills, leadership, Project Management, MEAL, and Personal Safety and Security; and NonprofitReady, serving nonprofit employees, board members, and volunteers with English-language content on essential nonprofit skills, fundraising, and grant seeking. Both platforms are built on the parent company's enterprise learning management system technology. Since inception, the foundation has served more than 2.9 million learners across 195 countries, with 8.2 million+ courses taken.

The foundation operates a freemium model in the literal sense: all content is provided at no cost to end users, with operations funded entirely through Cornerstone OnDemand's corporate social responsibility and philanthropic program. There is no external investment, no disclosed grants, no revenue generation, and no sales motion. Distribution is entirely product-led and self-serve through DisasterReady.org and NonprofitReady.org, supplemented by organic social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn), SEO, and email outreach. Named organizational users include Save the Children, OCHA, Welthungerhilfe, Project HOPE, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Girls on the Run, and CFSI.

Name

Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation

Legal name

Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation

Website

https://cornerstoneondemand.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established in 2010 as the philanthropic arm of Cornerstone OnDemand, providing free online professional development learning to over 2.9 million nonprofit and humanitarian professionals across 195 countries via its DisasterReady and NonprofitReady platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Professional Development E-Learning

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Services (611), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee, Crisis & Humanitarian Education Partnerships (EiE) (EDADALAG), Emergency Education / Education in Emergencies (EiE) (BPADADAN)

Keywords

• Nonprofit professional development
• Free online learning
• Humanitarian training programs
• Workforce capacity building
• Online certification courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic/Foundation Funding: The Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation is the nonprofit arm of Cornerstone OnDemand, a leading provider of talent management software. All learning programs are provided completely free to nonprofit professionals, funded through the parent company's CSR/philanthropic initiatives rather than revenue generation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation provides free online learning platforms—DisasterReady and NonprofitReady—offering over 1,500 courses and certifications in technical, interpersonal, and leadership skills for humanitarian aid, international development, and nonprofit professionals worldwide. All content is delivered at no cost via self-serve web portals with multi-language support, funded by the foundation's parent company Cornerstone OnDemand.

Product overview

Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation operates as a nonprofit organization providing free online learning programs for change makers. The portfolio consists of two primary branded learning platforms—DisasterReady and NonprofitReady—offering over 1,500 online courses and certifications. DisasterReady serves humanitarian aid and development professionals with multi-language support (Arabic, English, French, Spanish), while NonprofitReady focuses on nonprofit sector employees with English-language content. Both platforms deliver professional development training at no cost to strengthen nonprofit organizational capacity worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DisasterReady: Free online learning program providing over 1,500 courses for humanitarian aid and development professionals. Offers certifications in Leadership, Project Management, MEAL, Personal Safety and Security. Available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
• NonprofitReady

Products and services

• DisasterReady DisasterReady is a free online learning platform offering over 1,500 courses and certifications for humanitarian aid and development professionals. It delivers training in technical skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills with certifications in Leadership, Project Management, MEAL, Personal Safety and Security, available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
• NonprofitReady NonprofitReady is a free online learning platform empowering nonprofit employees, board members, and volunteers with essential nonprofit skills, topics on starting a nonprofit, leadership training, and certifications in fundraising and grant seeking, available in English.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cornerstone OnDemandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornerstone OnDemand established the Foundation so nonprofits would have access to the same innovative technology and online learning resources used by Fortune 500 companies. The parent company provides technology infrastructure, content, and funding to support the foundation's mission of transforming how people help people.
• Save the ChildrenminorOthersFeatured customer organization that uses Cornerstone Foundation's free learning programs for staff professional development.
• Girls on the RunminorOthersFeatured customer organization that uses Cornerstone Foundation's free learning programs for staff and volunteer training.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericaminorOthersFeatured customer organization using foundation learning resources for professional development.
• WelthungerhilfeminorOthersInternational development organization featured as a customer using foundation's DisasterReady platform.
• Project HOPEminorOthersHealthcare humanitarian organization featured as a customer of the foundation's learning programs.
• OCHAminorOthersUN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs featured as a customer using foundation learning resources.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Humanitarian Leadership Academy: Established by Save the Children, the Humanitarian Leadership Academy delivers free online and blended learning for humanitarian workers globally. It is the closest direct peer — same target audience, same free model, same domain-specialized curriculum, and partially overlapping content (leadership, project management).
• UNICEF Learning Passport: UNICEF's digital learning platform delivers free, multi-language education and training content for children, youth, and educators in crisis and development contexts. Comparable as a global, free, multi-language learning platform serving humanitarian and development workforces with comparable self-serve distribution.
• NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network): NTEN provides training, certification, and capacity-building resources specifically for nonprofit professionals and organizations. It directly overlaps NonprofitReady's audience and curriculum (nonprofit management, fundraising, leadership) and operates with a similar nonprofit-mission positioning.
• The Management Center: The Management Center provides training, coaching, and resources focused on nonprofit management practices. It is a comparable specialist in nonprofit workforce capacity building, serving overlapping personas (nonprofit managers and executives) with curated curriculum.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center): Candid provides training, research, and resources for the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, including free learning courses on fundraising, grantmaking, and nonprofit management. It overlaps NonprofitReady's curriculum (especially fundraising/grant seeking) and target learners.
• TechSoup: TechSoup builds nonprofit capacity through technology access, training, and learning resources for NGOs globally. It overlaps with NonprofitReady in serving nonprofit staff with capacity-building resources, including free or low-cost training.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera (Social Impact / for Government & NGOs): Coursera offers accredited, university-backed online courses including a growing catalog in humanitarian action, public health, and nonprofit management (often with UNHCR, World Bank, and Johns Hopkins). It is a broader incumbent that increasingly overlaps DisasterReady content with stronger credential recognition.
• edX (2U): edX delivers university-level courses including humanitarian, global health, and nonprofit management content with accredited credentials. As a broad incumbent, it competes for the same professional-development learners with higher-status alternatives.
• Skillsoft: Skillsoft provides enterprise learning content and platforms (including Cornerstone OnDemand-adjacent market). Comparable as a professional learning provider for organizations, including nonprofits, and represents the broader commercial market the foundation's parent sells into.

Others

• ReliefWeb: Operated by UN OCHA, ReliefWeb is the leading humanitarian information portal with training resources and job listings for humanitarian workers. It is an adjacent ecosystem player that shares DisasterReady's audience (humanitarian professionals) and could partner or compete for user attention.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/csodfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/csodfoundation
• Xx.com/csodfoundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation