Thanks, another good page on the hypocrits.
Is it the Sierra Club or Club Sierra? “Extravagance is not a trait normally linked with environmental groups. The movement's tradition leans toward simplicity, economy and living light on the land. But today, as record sums of money flow to environmental causes, prosperity is pushing tradition aside, and the millions of Americans who support environmental groups are footing the bill.”
- Read about Chad Hanson’s letdown upon election to the board of the Sierra Club: “Here I had just been elected to the largest grassroots environmental group in the world and I am having martinis in the penthouse of the Westin St. Francis….What's wrong with this picture? It was surreal."
- Five major groups–including household names such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club–spend so much on fundraising, membership and overhead they don't meet standards set by philanthropic watchdog groups. Click here to see CEO salaries for these “philanthropic” groups.
PART 2 – Mission adrift in a frenzy of fund-raising
Green Machine (April 23, 2001)
“Using the popular North American gray wolf as the hub of an ambitious campaign, Defenders has assembled a financial track record that would impress Wall Street. In calculating its fundraising expenses, Defenders of Wildlife borrows a trick from the business world. It dances with digits, finds opportunity in obfuscation. Using an accounting loophole, it classifies millions of dollars spent on direct mail and telemarketing not as fundraising but as public education and environmental activism.”
- Save the Planet? “Even a single fundraising drive generates massive waste. In 1999, The Wilderness Society mailed 6.2 million membership solicitations–an average of 16,986 pieces of mail a day. At just under 0.9 ounce each, the weight for the year came to about 348,000 pounds. Often, just one or two people in 100 respond.”
- Is it a Charity or a Business? “The Sierra Club, which scrambles to replace about 150,000 nonrenewing members a year out of 600,000, produces new fundraising packages more frequently than General Motors produces new car models.” Check out the American Institute of Philanthropy’s ratings of environmental groups here.
- Fact vs. Fiction “Much of what environmental groups say in fundraising letters is exaggerated. And sometimes it is wrong.” View the FACTS about popular fundraising campaigns by Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
PART 3 – A flood of costly lawsuits raises questions about motive
Litigation Central (April 25, 2001)
“Suing the government has long been a favorite tactic of the environmental movement–used to score key victories for clean air, water and endangered species. But today, many court cases are yielding an uncertain bounty for the land and sowing doubt even among the faithful.”