Report: In Environment, Biggest Groups Get Biggest Bucks
By Mike Clifford
Public News Service New Hampshire
February 27, 2012
The biggest national environmental groups get the most charitable dollars, while important conservation projects taken on by smaller groups in New Hampshire and across the nation often are overlooked. This finding is one of several in a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).
People at the local level are likely to be those most affected by environment and climate challenges in their area, but the report says only 15 percent of foundation grant money for environmental work goes to grassroots organizations addressing those issues.
... Millie Buchanan with the Noyes Foundation says her group makes a point of supporting communities that are the most affected by problems. She says the efforts in Sugar Hill to block the proposed Northern Pass hydro-electric project are a prime example of the power of grassroots efforts.
"There is a pretty innovative attempt in Sugar Hill to get a local ordinance passed. Instead of corporations controlling natural resources, whether it's hydro-electric or water, then the town can control them."
