PLATINUM2022

The Alliance for Climate Protection d/b/a The Climate Reality Project

Building powerful networks for just climate action

aka The Climate Reality Project   |   Washington, DC   |  climaterealityproject.org

Mission

The mission of The Climate Reality Project is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society.

Ruling year info

2006

President/CEO

Ms. Phyllis Cuttino

Main address

555 Eleventh Street NW Suite 601

Washington, DC 20004 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

87-0745629

NTEE code info

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (C01)

Energy Resources Conservation and Development (C35)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Register now

Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Every day, the climate crisis is destroying lives and livelihoods, and threatens the well-being and safety of future generations. Public support for climate action is at an all-time high, and innovative energy solutions abound. Yet, political action to fight this crisis and support in-hand solutions is slow at best, particularly in the United States. With our global network of advocates, our successful chapter program promoting local activism in the United States, and our ability to connect with high-ranking influencers, all supported by our dynamic digital communications, Climate Reality is uniquely positioned to build the political and social momentum to solve this crisis.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

The Climate Reality Leadership Corps

The Climate Reality Leadership Corps is a network of global citizens from all walks of life, brought together by their common passion for climate advocacy. We recruit, train, and mobilize climate advocates globally through our inclusive outreach, signature trainings, and engagement programs. Our purpose is to convene, seed, and support networks of climate activists fighting for a just solution to the climate crisis. Our Leadership Corps trainings galvanize climate action through sessions on climate science and solutions, the development of key advocacy skills, and a message of hope and empowerment. The palpable energy from the hundreds of motivated trainees in the room - or online during the pandemic - also sparks long-term collaboration, with many attendees forming local Climate Reality chapters (or joining existing ones) to work together on campaigns for just climate solutions. Since the program’s founding, we’ve held 45 trainings for 31,374 Climate Reality Leaders. And over the next year, we plan to double the size of the Corps.

With dedicated support from our Engagement team, this global network is fighting for local and federal victories at a time when it is needed most. With an influx of Climate Reality Leaders and increased climate salience around the world, we expect our network of chapters and branch offices to grow and strengthen. In turn, our dedicated support team will expand our extensive resources, support, and ongoing virtual training opportunities, so that our network of activists and online followers feel coordinated and equipped to mobilize around key national and international campaigns.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Economically disadvantaged people
Adolescents

Climate Reality chapters bring together Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life to push for practical clean energy solutions in their communities and fight the fossil fuel agenda on the national stage. Chapters give members the opportunity to draw on Climate Reality’s support and expertise, while creating and executing their own plans for climate action at the local level.

Already, Climate Reality chapters have become a vital force for progress, helping expand clean energy alternatives, tackling the legacy of fossil fuels in low-income communities, and pushing for carbon-pricing policies, to name just a few of the many campaigns already underway.

The only pre-requisite to joining a chapter is the desire to make a difference. And with 139 chapters and growing in cities, towns, and campuses across the US, there are many ways to get involved with other activists in your community.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Economically disadvantaged people

Year after year, the cost of wind, solar, and other renewable energy technologies continues to fall. In more and more regions across the US and around the world, energy from renewables is as cheap or cheaper than dirty fossil fuel energy. The result: shifting to 100-percent renewable electricity is easier and more affordable than ever, allowing people from all walks of life to not only cut emissions but ultimately save money in a big way. With 100% Committed, we help communities, businesses, colleges, and more organize to speak up for clean energy solutions and chart a path to sustainability.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Climate Reality is building power between the climate and environmental justice movements. We reach communities who have not traditionally been at the center of the climate movement—communities of color, as well as low-income, rural, and environmental justice communities—with a collaborative approach to building capacity and bringing new voices to the table. We partner with regional environmental justice organizations like Dogwood Alliance, The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and Justice First to support conversation, cooperation, and activism between the environmental justice and climate movements. Our work in this area includes coalition efforts in North Carolina and Virginia to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline as well as biogas development in North Carolina, visibility events in conjunction with the Poor People’s Campaign across the US Southeast, and much more.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people

In 2021, Climate Reality is building on the powerful local-, regional-, and state-level advocacy networks that we forged during the past four years in order to mobilize activists for federal climate legislation. Through our federal advocacy campaign, Our Climate Moment, we will activate our constituents through petitions, phone calls, letter-writing, and other advocacy tactics to build unrelenting pressure on Congress and the Biden Administration to support green infrastructure legislation, with a particular emphasis on securing funding for vulnerable communities, and boosting the economy. We are working in concert with other environmental, social justice, and labor groups on this effort to ensure message unity and maximum efficacy

Population(s) Served
Adults

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of carbon emissions prevented (estimated by CO2 equivalent)

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups

Related Program

100% Committed

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We helped secure a commitment from the most populous county in the US: Los Angeles County. This will prevent over 47 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year once the transition is complete.

Number of individuals applying skills learned through the organization's training

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups

Related Program

The Climate Reality Leadership Corps

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our key goals on the path to achieving our mission are to mobilize a critical mass of activists, accelerate a just transition in the US, and support international cooperation for increased ambitions. Our primary activities consist of the following:

- Train thousands of new climate activist each year through virtual trainings to effectively advocate for the climate and build a global and diverse network pushing for change.
- Mobilize our trained activists in three core advocacy campaigns, including supporting federal climate advocacy, advocating for climate justice, and opposing petrochemicals.
- Work with governments, businesses, and universities to support renewable energy, including just transitions to 100-percent renewable energy.
- Support a growing number of local chapters and our international branch offices.

Climate Reality believes that the key to action is convincing a critical mass of people that climate change is urgent and mobilizing them at the grassroots level to advocate the necessary changes in policy. The challenge is: first, how to turn enough people in the US into activists ready and willing to demand action on climate from their leaders, and second, how to build the support necessary to succeed in other key nations in which we work.

With the original trusted messenger on climate, former US Vice President Al Gore, at our helm, Climate Reality’s greatest asset is our convening power. Al Gore has an unparalleled knowledge of both the climate and the environmental justice movements, a constant hunger for new information and new ways of reaching people, and an ability to connect with people from all walks of life – to date over 34,000 people have attended one of our trainings specifically to learn from him.

Our greatest strength, and the reason behind our track record of success in fostering effective climate advocacy at all levels of society, is our ability to seed and support conversations, relationships, networks, and broad-scale collaboration among those we convene. Our approach has empowered student activists to revolutionize their universities’ energy consumption, emboldened community members to take on powerful fossil fuel interests in the heart of coal country, supported coalitions in the Southeast in rendering pipeline construction bureaucratically unviable, and so much more.

-We have trained over 30,000 Climate Reality Leaders worldwide over the past 15 years. A recent highlight from our trainings in 2019 comes from Atlanta, where nearly 2,000 trainees came together for a powerful convening moment between the climate and environmental justice movements. The climate and environmental justice program has catalyzed important cross-movement conversations, collaboration, and activism in a region where communities of color are enduring a disproportionate health and economic burden from climate impacts.
-Our 133 chapters are powered by more than 15,000 members. Some recent accomplishments include: The government of Larimer County, Colorado enlisted our Northern Colorado chapter to help craft the county’s climate action plan. 13 chapters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia are fighting petrochemical buildout across the Ohio River Valley. In New Orleans, our chapter pressured the city council pass a resolution in March 2020 calling for the city’s public utility, Entergy, to develop a renewable portfolio standard of net-zero by 2040.
-In 2019, our 7 New York chapters formed a coalition. Along with other groups, the Coalition enlisted activists from across the state to use letter writing campaigns, local events, and social media to encourage state legislators in Albany to pass the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires the state to reach 100-percent clean energy by 2040 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
-Our 100% Committed campaign has secured 168 commitments to transition to 100-percent renewable electricity from cities, universities, and businesses worldwide. Inspired by this campaign, in 2019 our Los Angeles area chapter mobilized its members and joined over 18 coalition partners to push the Los Angeles Unified School District – the largest energy consumer in Los Angeles County – to transition to 100-percent clean, renewable electricity by 2030 and energy by 2040.
-The Charlotte Chapter works tirelessly to put climate justice and general justice issues at the forefront of their work. Recently, the chapter spearheaded a food and toy donation program for vulnerable communities in coordination with the local chapter of the NAACP and United Neighborhoods of Charlotte.
-Our 11 international branches are helping countries implement and stay accountable to the emissions reductions commitments from the Paris Agreement. In 2019, our Africa Branch, which is based in South Africa, celebrated the country’s passage of a carbon tax. The branch’s advocacy efforts were focused heavily on getting the carbon tax passed.
-Our Call it a Crisis campaign called on television networks to elevate the urgency of their climate coverage and call the climate crisis exactly what it is. We developed this initiative with other stakeholders and together generated nearly 100k petition signatures.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Climate Reality serves several key constituencies. Members of the "green choir", longtime environmentalists, and fans of Al Gore have traditionally been our base, especially when the climate crisis was not a major political issue. In recent years, as our work and our movement has gathered steam, we've centered young people and people from underserved communities in our programs and our work.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Community meetings/Town halls, Suggestion box/email,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    Each of our Climate Reality Leadership Corps trainings is informed and improved upon based on what we learned at the last one from participant surveys and other feedback mechanisms. We are committed to optimizing inclusivity. Based on feedback from our 2020 Global Trainings, we adjusted aspects of our programming, our program schedule, and our registration process to better serve people from differing racial and social backgrounds. 

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    Our staff, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    In 2020 we instituted a small grants program, Climate Justice For All, to support community-based organizations working on climate justice in the US. In that first year we approached the program as a means of helping smaller organizations with funds and skills training at our Leadership Corps Training events. In short it was a one-way relationship. Based on feedback from our 19 grantee organizations in the program's inaugural year, we learned that relationship would be much more fruitful for our grantees and for Climate Reality if our grantees offered skills trainings and shared their wealth of knowledge about climate justice and community organizing.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,

Financials

The Alliance for Climate Protection d/b/a The Climate Reality Project
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more about GuideStar Pro.

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

The Alliance for Climate Protection d/b/a The Climate Reality Project

Board of directors
as of 10/13/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Al Gore

Vice President of the United States, 1993-2001; Nobel Peace Prize, 2007

Larry J. Schweiger

Former President, National Wildlife Federation

Orin S. Kramer

Managing Partner, Boston Provident, L.P.

Al Gore

Vice President of the United States, 1993-2001; Nobel Peace Prize, 2007

Theodore Roosevelt IV

Managing Director, Barclays Capital

Cindy Horn

Co-founder, Environmental Media Association

Don Henry

Melbourne Enterprise Professor of Environmentalism, Melbourne University

Rosina Bierbaum

Professor and Dean Emerita, University of Michigan

Manuela Herzer

The Herzer Foundation

Rosamund Zander

JP Fletcher Foundation

Dr. Robert D. Bullard

Father of Environmental Justice

Catherine Coleman Flowers

Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

Chief Oren Lyons

Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation and a Chief of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee, People of the Longhouse

Stephanie Shepherd

@FutureEarth

Donnel Baird

Founder, BlocPower

Frederick Davie

Senior Strategic Advisor to the President at Union and Senior Advisor for Racial Equity Programs at IFYC

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 10/11/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/13/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.