CharityWatch is unable to provide a complete rating of Greenpeace Fund for its fiscal year ended 12/31/2018 due to how the organization is structured. According to the Greenpeace Fund audit of December 31, 2018 (Note 8, Related-Party Transactions, Stichting Greenpeace Council): "Greenpeace is a global environmental organization, consisting of Greenpeace International (Stichting Greenpeace Council [or] the 'Council') in Amsterdam and 27 independent national and regional offices across the world covering operations in more than 55 countries. These national/regional offices are independent in carrying out global campaign strategies within the local context they operate within, and in seeking the necessary financial support from donors to fund this work. Greenpeace International's main legal entity is 'Stichting Greenpeace Council' (SGC). It is a Dutch Stichting -a foundation-type nonprofit entity- based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Although the Organization [Greenpeace Fund] is a nonvoting member of the Council, all Greenpeace entities are influenced by decisions of the Council. However, the Organization has ultimate responsibility for and control over its own activities and decisions." The U.S.-based Greenpeace Fund (tax ID #95-3313195) is one of the 27 independent offices referenced above that contributes financially to Greenpeace International (Stichting Greenpeace Council). According to the Greenpeace Fund audit of December 31, 2018 (Note 8, Related-Party Transactions), Greenpeace Fund granted $8,848,152 to Stichting Greenpeace Council and $6,892,536 to Greenpeace, Inc. (Greenpeace, Inc. is a related U.S.-based 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare organization.) The grants from Greenpeace Fund to Stichting Greenpeace Council and Greenpeace, Inc. totaled $15,740,688, or 100% of Greenpeace Fund's program spending in 2018.
As described above, Greenpeace Fund essentially functions as a fundraising arm for its affiliated organizations, reporting no financially significant programs of its own. CharityWatch's methodology is not designed to measure how efficiently one entity of a charity grants funds to its related organizations. For this reason, CharityWatch does not believe it is fair to publish a Program % for Greenpeace Fund alongside those of other charities that conduct their own programs and/or primarily make grants to unaffiliated charities. Therefore, CharityWatch is unable to provide a Program % for Greenpeace Fund, but we are able to provide its Cost to Raise $100 fundraising ratio: In fiscal year 2018, Greenpeace Fund spent a reasonable $14 to raise each $100 in public support. CharityWatch's inability to provide a complete rating of Greenpeace Fund is strictly due to how the organization is structured, and not due to an unwillingness on the part of the organization to provide information to CharityWatch or answer our questions. Greenpeace Fund posts its audited financial statements and annual tax filing for public view on its website (www.greenpeacefund.org).
In order for CharityWatch to be able to provide a complete rating for Greenpeace Fund in the future, we would require consolidated / combined financial statements, expressed in U.S. dollars and based on U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) reporting standards, that include all of Greenpeace International's related entities. Such statements would eliminate transactions among related entities, as well as provide a comprehensive view of how the organization both raises and spends public dollars on the whole. This information may not currently be practicable for Greenpeace International to provide given that it is headquartered in Europe, and because its national and regional offices may not be subject to comparable financial reporting requirements in their home countries. [NOTE: CharityWatch does provide a separate letter grade rating for Greenpeace Fund's related 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare organization, Greenpeace, Inc. (tax ID #52-1541501). For information about things to consider when donating to organizations that have related public charity and social welfare entities, read CharityWatch's article, "Sorting Out Nonprofit Pairs," in the "Articles & Alerts" section, below.]
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