Environmental causes are overlooked by donors, says NPC

Finance | Gareth Jones | 1 Dec 2007

Less than 2 per cent of charitable grants and just 5 per cent of donations from private individuals go to environment charities. Gareth Jones reports on figures from New Philanthropy Capital’s latest report, Green Philanthropy.

The report’s writers have described the figures as “woefully inadequate” given the recent unprecedented growth in concern for environmental issues.

The reason environmental causes are overlooked, according to NPC, is a lack of information about what, who and how to fund. Better information would allow donors and funders to make intelligent decisions about their giving and to invest money properly.

Danyal Sattar, programme manager for the environment at the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, said the low rate in grant-giving was probably due to historic reasons. “When foundations and trusts were set up, say 40 years ago, the big issues were poverty and health. Environmental issues have only been high on the agenda in the last couple of decades and most prominently in the past two to three years. However, new philanthropists will without a doubt look to the environment when starting trusts and foundations.”

A spokesman from Global Witness, one of the charities whose work was outlined in the report, added: “I think for some grantmakers, the issues surrounding the environment are so huge that they appear insurmountable and it seems they would prefer to give to smaller projects where they can see a demonstrable outcome. NGOs and charities need to work together to find out how best to demonstrate how their intervention is making a difference.”

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