Media reporting on Greenpeace drop in annual profit

Correction statement: Media reporting on Greenpeace drop in annual profits


It has been reported that Greenpeace New Zealand's profits were down 69% in 2011. It appears some misunderstanding have occurred in understanding the financial position of the organisation. We would like to clarify the following points.
• Greenpeace is a not for profit organisation and so has $0 profits.
• Income in 2011 was down by approximately 5% versus 2010.
• Income in 2010 was particularly high because we were kindly left 2 large bequests from the wills of former supporters. Bequest income is irregular so in 2010 our bequest income was over $1M whereas in 2011 we received $124,000. So a simple comparison of 2010 income from supporters to 2011 income needs to take this into account if you are making any superficial conclusions as the article has done, about decline in the percentage of support.
• Supporter numbers fell slightly in 2011 because the fundraising climate became more challenging for all not for profits. A crowded fundraising market, made it harder to recruit new supporters.
• However, in 2011 existing supporters increased their donation amounts and cancellation rates as a percentage of total donors dropped.
• It was reported that Greenpeace had sales of $8.3M. Greenpeace is an organisation funded solely by the donations of individuals. The only sales we have are for calendars which account for a very tiny amount of our income.
• Our financial accounts are independently audited annually and we publish an annual report for supporters which is also available on our website.
The article also made some inaccurate statements about the Greenpeace Charitable Trust.The Trust did not lose a High Court appeal nor did it apply for charitable status and therefore was not denied it. The Greenpeace Charitable Trust was an old Trust and voluntarily shut down as it was out of date.

The Greenpeace Educational Trust is a separate legal entity from Greenpeace NZ Inc. and has charitable status and environmental education as its purpose.

GPNZ Impact Report is available online
http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/reports/Annual-Impact-Report-2011/

© Scoop Media