How can I get a .desktop launcher to use an environment variable?

This is for the program git-cola , although I think the question is more general. It is also using LM Cinnamon 18. The environment variable I want to set is SCALE_GIT_COLA=2 so that the program looks good with a HiDPI display. If I add export SCALE_GIT_COLA=2 to my .profile, then open a terminal and run git-cola, I get the desired effect. However, if I use a launcher (I am using Albert , but again I think this is more general) to run git-cola, then it looks as if SCALE_GIT_COLA=2 has not been set. How can I get launchers run through the Cinnamon desktop to respect environment variables set through .profile? Or, where else can I add these environment variables so that I get this behavior?