Growing Number of Charities Bring the Environment Into Their Appeals

As climate change continues to dominate headlines, even charities without a traditional environmental focus are coming up with new ways to confront the issue and raise money in the process.

In some cases, their efforts have been spurred by donors’ interests or, in other instances, an organization’s own concern about the impact of global warming on those it serves.

Universities, hospitals, community foundations, and many other groups on the Philanthropy 400 have recently taken on some of the same activities as traditional environmental groups. They are seeking to create green spaces, make buildings energy-efficient, help people affected by global warming, and educate the public about climate change and environmental degradation.

“The environment is one of the biggest things for our community,” says C. Barton Landess, senior vice president for development at the Foundation for the Carolinas (No. 112), where giving grew to $150.7-million last year. Based on a survey of residents in the region, the foundation plans to raise money to support a 500-mile-long area of greenways, parks, and open space, he says.

At Yale University (No. 28), even people who are not alumni are giving to its interdisciplinary environmental studies program, which allows students to link environmental courses with more than a dozen other concentrations, including political science and geology.

Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media (No. 311) recently expanded environmental coverage in several of its programs after a donor approached the radio network about making a six-figure gift to add environment stories to Marketplace, a popular program on money and business, says Jon Gossett, senior vice president of development. Instead, the network made a counterproposal to the donor: Make a larger, seven-figure gift and help add such stories to four of the network’s programs.

It was a much higher amount than the donor initially wanted to give, says Mr. Gossett. “But she was so impressed that she funded the whole thing for $2.1-million. This was one of our biggest grants ever. The donor is extremely happy with it.”

At the same time, donors are providing increased support to environmental groups such as the Trust for Public Land, where an effort to save Katahdin Lake in Maine brought in $14-million in just six months, according to Robert Woods, vice president for development. Those gifts helped increase giving by 36 percent last year, to $163.7-million.

As the holidays approach, Americans are likely to see increased focus on the environment among all types of charities.

A Green Holiday

In an unusual partnership, the relief organization Heifer International (No. 195) and Share Our Strength, a national antihunger group, have joined Conservation International (No. 214), an environmental charity, to offer an online catalog that allows donors to make a holiday gift to help the needy or protect the environment in someone else’s honor. They plan to post a video to advertise the project on YouTube, the video-sharing Web site.

The partnership makes sense to Heifer International and Share Our Strength because they see a connection between environmental preservation and projects that benefit the poor, says Karen Ziffer, senior vice president of resources for Conservation International.

But the fact that the environment is such a popular issue doesn’t hurt, Ms. Ziffer says. “They recognize how critical the environment has become in people’s minds, and would like to show how cognizant they are of that.”

Other international-aid groups are telling their donors that a warming climate will prove especially devastating to people who live in poor countries overseas. The Academy for Educational Development (No. 355), which teaches environmentally sound agricultural practices to farmers in the developing world, now wants to help them learn to cope with the flooding and drought associated with climate change. The charity is planning to seek corporate and foundation support for the new effort.

And at World Vision (No. 14), the international aid organization, president Richard E. Stearns last year joined more than 100 evangelical orgnanizations in signing a petition calling on the U.S government to pass legislation setting limits on carbon emissions.

Also seeking environmental dollars is the National Wildlife Federation (No. 372), which once focused primarily on animals but has now added global warming to its mission statement. The federation says climate change threatens the survival of wildlife species as varied as polar bears, trout, monarch butterflies, and migratory songbirds.

It has pushed foundations and wealthy individuals to support its fight against global warming, which last year brought in $7-million worth of gifts of $100,000 or more, nearly double the previous year’s total. That helped the federation achieve a 10.8-percent increase last year in total donations, to $46.5-million. This year, the charity is approaching wealthy donors with a new $35-million plan to battle global warming called “Changing the Forecast for Wildlife.”

“The more people understand, the more they want to invest,” says Karen B. Kress, the federation’s vice president for development.

Interior Spaces

Other charities are focusing on interior spaces in an effort to engage environmentally conscious donors who want to use less energy and lessen the impact of climate change.

For example, as part of its capital campaign to raise $1.25-billion by 2010, the Cleveland Clinic (No. 148) this year opened a new “health environment office” that is exploring a range of green projects that donors could support with their gifts.

“It’s taking a look at everything from green architecture to all sorts of waste-reduction programs across the entire campus,” says. Carol L. Moss, the chief fund raiser. “Several donors are interested in working with us on this.”

The zeal for environmentally friendly buildings has also helped the National Trust for Historic Preservation (No. 261), which has long held that the greenest buildings are ones already built, especially those built long ago. But the trust has added a push for energy-efficiency onto its traditional work to save historically significant structures, says David Cooper, the charity’s vice president of resources development.

“The problem is, people are going to tear down old buildings to build energy-efficient buildings,” he says. So the National Trust is trying to set a new standard, aided by a $1-million grant and donated materials from United Technologies, a company that makes environmentally friendly building supplies.

The National Trust is restoring a historic building to serve as the visitor’s center adjoining a family cottage used by President Abraham Lincoln during his years in Washington, equipping the 19th-century structure so it requires less energy to maintain.

Going forward, the National Trust wants to keep doing such restorations, Mr. Cooper says: “It’s a cutting-edge funding area for us.”

Sue Hoye contributed to this article.