Fundraising Principles
At Greenpeace we are honoured that our work is funded almost entirely by donations given to us by passionate individuals from all over the world who care about the planet and want to help us create change, and by grants from private foundations who share our values.
Our independence is vital for us to be effective in our campaigning work, which is why we have it as a core principle that guides all of our fundraising. We do not accept funding from governments, corporations, political parties or intergovernmental organisations.We also screen all large private donations to identify if there is anything about them which could compromise our independence, our integrity or deflect from our campaign priorities. If we find something then we will refuse or return the donation.
Giving us donations allows people to stand together with our campaigners and our activists and help bring about much needed change. Because of this, it is really important that we treat supporters’ gifts to Greenpeace respectfully and responsibly, using them to create the biggest impact possible both in our campaigns and also when we invest in more fundraising.
We will always therefore seek to balance costs with results in order to achieve the greatest value we can for supporters and are proud to detail all of our fundraising costs clearly within the annual accounts of each and every Greenpeace office. It is also why all of the methods we use to fundraise comply with not just our internal principles but also with the professional codes of conduct and accepted good practice in each country that we operate within.
Should a supporter be particularly passionate about a specific area of our work and ask us to use their donation to achieve that specific objective, we will try to honour their request.
Sometimes we will ask supporters and the general public to donate to a specific project or campaign. When we believe there will be an expectation from donors that their money will be allocated in this way we will use a recognised accounting method to track donations, and we will report on how much was raised and how it was spent.
Transparency and Accountability
Greenpeace works actively to ensure transparency and public accountability in its campaigning, fundraising and financial management practices.
Greenpeace is a Member of Accountable Now, a platform of international civil society organisations. Together, we strive to be transparent, responsive to stakeholders and focused on delivering impact. We have signed ten globally-agreed-upon Accountability Commitments and seek to respect human rights, be independent and work ethically and professionally.
Annually Greenpeace reports publicly on our economic, environmental and social performance according to the Accountable Now Reporting Framework to an Independent Review Panel. Learn more about our work and responsibility towards our stakeholders in our Accountability Reports.