01
It shares profit
A set part of each year's net profit goes to the people who do the work, alongside owners and investors, under a written formula.
Responsible Profit is an open standard in development: a public grade for how a business treats the people who work there and the community it operates in, proved from its own books. You can read the draft standard and join the founding list for updates.
An open standard, in development
Profit, done responsibly.
Responsible Profit is a public grade for how a business treats the people who work there and the community it operates in. It asks whether a business pays a living wage, shares its profit with its workers, keeps top pay in check and puts something back, and it answers from the business's own books.
Would a public grade change where you spend? Ten quick questions, no sign-up. Or join the founding list to hear when version 1.0 is set.
Two minutes · no sign-up
Would a grade change where you spend?
We couldn't find a poll that has asked Americans this. If a business had a public grade for how it treats its workers and its town, would you shop there, work there, or do business with it more? You'd be among the first to answer, and we'll publish what we hear.
Ten quick questions. Leave your email at the end if you want the results; we add you to the update list only if you say yes.
Run a business, or advise one? Tell us where the numbers should sit instead.
Profit is good. The grade asks where it went.
Most ways of judging a business stop at the bottom line. This grade asks what the profit did: who it reached, what the lowest-paid person earned, how far apart pay sits, and what the business left behind in its community.
Owners and investors share in profit by design. This is not about taking from them. It is a public check on whether the people who do the work, and the place the work happens, share in it too.
67.6%
of the U.S. economy is household spending: $20.9 trillion in 2025. Where we spend is the largest investment most of us will ever make.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED, 2025 annual data.
84%
of Americans say it is important that businesses avoid a major pay gap between CEOs and average employees. 15% think business is doing well on it.
Source: Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Study, May 2026.
52.8%
of what American businesses produce went to the people who work in them in mid-2026, the lowest share since records began in 1947.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and Costs, second quarter 2026.
6%
of private-industry workers can get a cash profit-sharing bonus. At workplaces with fewer than 100 staff it was 3%, against 11% at larger ones.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, March 2026 and March 2020.
3.5×
as much of each retail dollar stays in the local economy at an independent store as at a national chain: 47 cents against 14.
Source: Civic Economics for Dane Buy Local, 2022.
47%
of small employer businesses were operating at a profit at the end of 2024, down from 57% before the pandemic. Sharing profit starts with having some.
Source: Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey via FRED, 2025 survey.
Every figure links to its source. The local-dollar figure comes from a study commissioned by a buy-local group; the rest are federal statistics or national surveys. The full evidence base, with caveats, is in our research document, which we will publish with version 1.0.
The draft standard
Four tests at the core
Each test is answered from records, not promises.
02
It shares widely
Most staff who are not owners take part. The share is not reserved for a chosen few.
03
It pays a living wage
The lowest regular wage meets the living wage for the place where the work happens.
04
It keeps the pay gap in check
Top pay, owner draws included, stays within a set multiple of what the typical worker earns.
Draft v0.9 proposes the thresholds. Read them and comment before version 1.0 is set.
Planned
How ratings will work
Score what we can see. Show how sure we are. Badge only what we verify, and ask the staff.
Step 1
Public facts
A facts panel built from public records. Every fact shows its source and date, and the panel says plainly how much the records can and cannot show. No grade without enough evidence.
Step 2
Claimed
The business claims its listing, corrects the record and adds its own answers. Self-reported answers are labelled as self-reported.
Step 3
Verified
Evidence from the books is checked and dated, and an anonymous check with the business's own staff confirms it. A verified business gets a letter grade, a live badge and a QR code that always show its current status.
Planned
The plan
Dates are plans, not promises. Each step has a gate it must pass before the next begins.
Now to February 2027
Draft, comment, our own house first
Draft v0.9 and public comment on the thresholds, legal review, an independent Standards Council, and Humble Good's own transparency report and grade.
2027
A Twin Cities pilot
Version 1.0 of the standard, public facts panels for Minnesota employers, the first 30 verified businesses, a window decal and a live badge. Humble Good is a Minnesota company, so the standard starts at home.
2028
Minnesota, then the country
Statewide and two more metros, a trained-verifier program, a consumer map, and a national registry from mid-2028.
Still reading? The survey takes two minutes, and we publish what we hear.
What we stand by
Grades are not for sale. A score never depends on what a business buys, from us or anyone else.
Our own house first. Humble Good will publish its full transparency report and be graded before we grade anyone else.
An independent council. A Standards Council sets the thresholds after public comment and hears appeals. Humble Good holds one seat and no veto.
An open method. We publish how a rating is made: the tests, the points, the inputs and the sources.
Evidence over claims. What a business says about itself is labelled as such. Only verified books earn a letter, and the business's own staff confirm it.
Listings are free. Verification carries one flat, published fee, the same on every route, after a free pilot.
A right to reply. Every business can see its record and correct it.
Who it's for
Business owners who share, and want a fair way to show it.
Investors who want to know how a business treats its people before they back it.
Workers and job seekers who want to know which employers share what they help create.
Customers and communities who want to spend with businesses that share.
Accountants and advisors who help clients set up profit sharing and prove it.
Founding list
Help shape the standard
Join the founding list. Draft v0.9 is open for comment now. You will hear first when the survey results are out, when version 1.0 is set, and when businesses can take part.
Occasional updates only. Unsubscribe at any time.
Press and partners
Writing about this, or want to work on it?
Tell us what you need and we will reply within one business day. Interviews, the research behind the draft, and a conversation about the Twin Cities pilot are all on the table.
Logos, colors and the mark are in the brand kit.
Questions
Not yet. Responsible Profit is draft v0.9 of a public standard. The first grades are planned for a Twin Cities pilot in 2027, after public comment on the thresholds and after Humble Good has been graded itself.
Broad programs look at many topics. Responsible Profit looks closely at one thing: how a business treats the people who work there and the community it operates in, proved from its books. It can sit beside other programs. See how it compares to B Corp, JUST Capital, living-wage certifications, employee-ownership marks and workplace surveys.
Humble Good, a Minnesota company that builds software for small businesses, leads the Responsible Profit initiative. We say so openly because a standard about transparency should start with its own. Humble Good will be the first business to publish its full transparency report and be graded against the standard.
Listings are free: the public facts panel and a claimed, self-reported listing cost nothing. Verification will carry one flat, published fee, the same whichever route a business takes, after a free pilot. Our target is to keep it well below what existing certifications charge. The fee pays for checking the books; it never buys a point.
Draft v0.9 proposes them, with the precedent behind each number. An independent Standards Council of workers, business owners, an investor, an accountant and a community-development practitioner sets version 1.0 after public comment, and changes it no more than once every 18 months so that a business can plan.
Use the press and partners form and we will reply within one business day. Logos and colors are in the brand kit.
Answer the two-minute survey, comment on draft v0.9, and join the founding list. In the pilot we will ask business owners, workers and advisors to test the rating with real books.