15 Top National Climate Change Nonprofits Identified by 139 ExpertsNovember 7th, 2010 by Erinn Andrews Leave a reply »
Climate change should be seen as the greatest challenge to face man. -Prince Charles
The eight warmest years since 1880 have all occurred since 2001 and it is estimated that temperatures will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. Human activity has caused most of this observed temperature increase, and if global temperatures are not addressed, these changes can cause tremendous climate disruptions globally.
While many Americans care about climate change, the portion of donations given to the cause are relatively small when compared to the total annual giving in the US. In 2009, $6.15 billion (out of about $300 billion) was given to environment and animal-related nonprofits (these two causes are grouped together in the Giving USA 2010 report). This represents just 2% of total charitable giving.
In 2009, in order to find out which nonprofits were making the biggest difference, or impact, on climate change at the national level, we ran our research surveying 139 national climate change experts (with an average of 12 years of work experience in the field).
Philanthropedia’s experts (funders, researchers, nonprofit senior staff, government officials, etc.) identified 15 top climate change nonprofits (out of 149 total reviewed nonprofits) working in at the national level. These organizations include grassroots organizers, policy advocates, conservation groups, lobbyists, and more.
The following is the list of the top-recommended high-impact nonprofits working on climate change at the national level. “Agree” is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in climate change. “Disagree” is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in climate change.
15 Top High-Impact Nonprofits (# of Experts who Agree) (# of Experts who Disagree) Year Founded Location
Natural Resources Defense Council -----79..............................2 1970 New York, NY
Union of Concerned Scientists ---------64..............................0 1969 Cambridge, MA
World Resources Institute -------------62..............................3 1982 Washington, DC
Pew Center on Global Climate Change----59..............................4 1998 Arlington, VA
Environmental Defense Fund-------------57..............................6 1967 New York, NY
Sierra Club----------------------------47..............................4 1892 San Francisco, CA
National Wildlife Federation-----------36..............................8 1936 Reston, VA
World Wildlife Fund--------------------36..............................9 1961 Washington, DC
Nature Conservancy---------------------33..............................8 1951 Arlington, VA
League of Conservation Voters----------31..............................6 1970 Washington, DC
Alliance for Climate Protection--------29..............................5 2006 Washington, DC
ICLEI Local Governments
for Sustainability USA-----------------29..............................6 1990 Oakland, CA
Energy Action Coalition----------------23..............................4 2004 Washington, DC
Greenpeace-----------------------------27.............................11 1971 Washington, DC
1Sky-----------------------------------21..............................6 2007 Takoma Park, MD
This week we will highlight the top 5 national climate change nonprofits. We invite you to visit the profiles of each of these top organizations on our website to read the expert reviews here:
http://www.myphilanthropedia.org/top-nonprofits/national/climate-change. Experts commented on the impact each nonprofit has had, what the nonprofit’s other organizational strengths are, and how each organization could further improve...