Greenpeace, Inc.
Greenpeace, Inc.
EIN: 52-1541501
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Climate Campaign
, Greenpeace supported the stimulus package which included roughly $80 billion in funding for efficiency, renewable energy, and public transportation. We mobilized Greenpeace members, reached out to the press, and met with influential allies, helping to get "yes" votes that were key to the victory.
, Greenpeace supported the Capitol Climate Action in March which brought over 2,500 people to Washington, DC through a large coalition effort. This organization-wide effort helped orchestrate the largest civil disobedience demonstration on the global warming issue in history. We trained thousands in non-violent direct action and recruited celebrities to endorse the action. We created excitement for the event by working with coalition groups on web strategy and outreach, promoting Susan Sarandon’s call to action and generating 48,679 peer-to-peer invitations on line. We recruited over 500 people to participate in "Clean Power to the People" house parties to build excitement for the event. Five days after Earth Day, representatives from the world’s 17 biggest global warming polluters met at the State Department in Washington. The meetings were part of President Obama’s Major Economies Forum (MEF), a revamped version of former President Bush’s Major Emitters Meetings, which were designed as a means of undermining international action to address global warming outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. Seven Greenpeace activists climbed a crane across the street to hang a banner with a picture of Earth and the message “Too Big to Fail.” In October, millions of people around the world reminded their leaders of the urgency to address climate change at the Copenhagen Summit through a Day of Action organized by 350.org. Greenpeace partnered with 350.org. Highlights of Greenpeace-led events included:
· 400 people marched in Chicago, bringing together a coalition of nearly 30 activist groups including groups representing communities of color directly impacted by local coal plants.
· In St. Louis, 300 people gathered under the Arch for a rally.
· A volunteer organized a rally with 300 people in Palm Beach, FL that was featured in a front page story in the Palm Beach Post.
· 1,000 people gathered in Manhattan Beach, CA to make a human tide line almost half a mile long. The LA County Board of Supervisors and Congresswoman Jane Harman endorsed the event. Over thirty groups partnered with Greenpeace to pull this off.
· A few hours north of Manhattan Beach, 1,000 people gathered at the Ferry Building in San Francisco for a rally and aerial art display.
, Greenpeace exposed oil industry plans to organize rallies against climate legislation. The plan, stated in a leaked internal memo from the American Petroleum Institute (API), showed that they were reverting back to their old tricks — spreading misinformation about global warming and pressing politicians toward inaction. While some companies, like Shell Oil, have said that they wouldn’t participate in this plan, they still gave money to the API, which continues to lobby the government using deceptive tactics. After releasing the leaked API memo to the media, we organized a protest API headquarters in DC, branding their effort as climate fraud.
Forest
, we established an agreement with one of the largest paper consumers, Kimberly-Clark, to stop purchasing wood fiber from endangered and intact forests; increase the recycled content of its products; and to only buy virgin fiber that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. Kimberly-Clark (maker of products such as Kleenex) has set a goal of obtaining 100% of wood fiber used in its products—including Kleenex—from environmentally responsible sources. Kimberly-Clark also set goals to ensure that 40% of its North American fiber is recycled or certified by the FSC by 2011. Within this same timeframe, Kimberly-Clark agreed to eliminate any fiber from the North American boreal forest that is not FSC-certified. This new policy will protect forests, preserve habitats of threatened wildlife, and help reduce the world's annual fossil fuel emissions by storing an estimated 186 billion tons of carbon. As a result, Greenpeace agreed to suspend the campaign and will meet with Kimberly-Clark regularly to help reach the agreed goals.
, we won a significant legal victory in 2009. Greenpeace and five other groups chalked up a win in federal court in December against the U.S. Forest Service's Orion North timber sale, in a roadless area on the Tongass National Forest near Ketchikan, Alaska. In the decision, Tongass Conservation Society v. Cole, a permanent injunction barred the sale of Orion North timber and associated road construction in order "to protect public resources." The court concluded that the failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (as had been requested earlier by plaintiffs) "subverts NEPA’s [National Environmental Policy Act] purpose" and "skews the balance of the environmental and economic costs and benefits of the project."
, we gained new commitments from U.S. based-corporations to stop Amazon deforestation and supported our colleagues in Brazil to push for a moratorium on forest destruction. In a Greenpeace report, cattle products, such as leather to make shoes, from ranches involved in illegal Amazon deforestation were traced to top brands such as Adidas, Reebok, Timberland, Geox, Clarks, Nike, Carrefour, Gucci, IKEA, Kraft and Wal-Mart. Greenpeace built pressure in the United States. Nike implemented a new leather policy to require its suppliers to establish a tracking system over the coming year, which will ensure with 100% confidence the origin of their leather from ranches in the Brazilian Amazon. Nike also signed on to Greenpeace’s ‘Commit or Cancel’ principles that call for a moratorium on deforestation and commit the company to stop sourcing from the Amazon. Responding to Nike’s new policy, Timberland implemented a policy that will ensure the leather used in its boots and shoes is not contributing to global warming or new deforestation in the Amazon. The policy will act as a guide to Timberland’s Brazilian leather procurement process. In addition, it sets a deadline for Timberland’s suppliers to publicly commit to a moratorium on cattle expansion into the Amazon.
Ocean
Accomplishments: , we convinced several large seafood retailers to commit to sustainable seafood procurement policies, support marine protected areas and marine conservation policies. When we began this campaign in the summer of 2008, all 20 of the retail chains ranked in our analysis were given failing scores. Since then, we have seen significant forward progress. The second iteration of the ranking, released in December 2008, highlighted four retailers – Whole Foods, Ahold, Wegmans, and Harris Teeter – that had improved their practices enough to be given a “passing” score. The third ranking in 2009 tracked further progress on the part of three out of the four aforementioned retailers, and also identified three additional companies – Target, Safeway, and Wal-Mart – that had raised their scores to passing.
, we convinced delegations from member countries to continue the ban. We supported Greenpeace in Japan and we continued our diplomatic work with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the State Department urging the Administration to pressure Japan to end whaling in the Southern Ocean. We laid the groundwork for an upcoming complaint to the United Nation’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its relevance to the two Greenpeace Japan campaigners facing criminal charges for publicly challenging whaling. We supported activities at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco and the Japanese Embassy in DC in support of whales.
, U.S. staff spent two weeks out of the three-month tour on the Rainbow Warrior, patrolling the waters off Libya, Tunisia, Malta and Italy for illegal fishing. U.S. staff also joined a Greenpeace crew in the South Pacific in the fall of 2009. Dozens of vessels were inspected.
Toxics
, the U.S. House voted to pass a Greenpeace supported bill that would require the highest risk plants to convert to safer and more secure chemicals and processes. To gain support, we involved citizens in the campaign by launching the "Do Not Kill List" on our website, which racked up more than 17,300 signers in support of the bill in a few days. Next we used an interactive web based map of the United States showing how many chemical plants in each state put 1,000 or more people at risk. In response, activists sent personalized emails to Congress. We organized press conferences in 18 states to localize the chemical security issue during the summer, highlighting plants in need of conversion and those that have already done so. We created maps showing the schools and hospitals in the vulnerability zone of plants.
, Greenpeace received word in November that Clorox will be switching production methods at all of its factories to eliminate the use of chlorine gas. This will eliminate the risk of injury or death to 13 million Americans in the case of an accident or attack on one of these plants. This announcement also provided Congress with another important push to pass comprehensive chemical security legislation.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of research or policy analysis products developed, e.g., reports, briefs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, safeguard our planet for future generations, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people over profits.
We lead ambitious, people-powered campaigns to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels by ending new extraction and new infrastructure, phasing out single-use plastics. We are countering the political influence of the fossil fuel industry, by advancing voting and protest rights that are a prerequisite for change-making. We are holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for disproportionate and racial impacts on BIPOC communities from the extraction, refining and use of oil, gas, coal and petrochemicals. In concert with these efforts, we aim to create robust economic transition programs for workers and communities currently dependent on the fossil fuel industry, in order to defend the planetary boundary of 1.5° C temperature rise. To preserve a livable planet, we also campaign to end the extinction crisis by protecting the world’s oceans by creating new marine sanctuaries, ending industrial overfishing, deep sea mining and other unsustainable practices.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We use peaceful protest and creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green, just, and joyful future. Greenpeace USA aims to grow people-power to mobilize the climate concerned and build coalitions in order to fight for our communities and our planet.
Strategies include:
- PEOPLE POWER: Mobilizing millions of people to become active advocates with Greenpeace USA and the broader movement for climate and environmental justice. We believe people power is critical to counter the influence of corporations and polluting industries and push for the transformational change humanity deserves.
- PEACEFUL PROTEST: We believe in the power of creative, peaceful protest to disrupt polluting and exploitative business-as-usual and strengthen the calls for transformational change. We lead trainings to increase the capacity for creative protest within the cross-cutting movements for environmental and social justice. We actively defend against attempts by the fossil fuel and extractive industries to criminalize protest and free speech, and use frivolous lawsuits to silence critics.
- CENTERING JUSTICE: Making internal and external shifts to embody anti-racism as an organization. We do this recognizing that the exploitation and harming of people is inextricably linked to exploitation of our biosphere. We are centering the fight for human rights, racial justice in our work to defend our climate and a livable planet.
- INVESTIGATIONS: Through rigorous research and ground-breaking investigations, we expose injustice and environmental destruction and name responsible parties. We believe information and transparency can power social movements while countering collusion and corruption. We use a variety of tools, from cutting-edge information mapping to our fleet of ocean-bound ships to reframe debates and demand science-based solutions.
- INTERNATIONAL REACH: We leverage our role in the Greenpeace network, active in over 55 countries worldwide, to build powerful global campaigns to address the global crises facing humanity and our planet.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Greenpeace has been instrumental in historic achievements, including banning commercial whaling, stopping above-ground nuclear testing, and protecting the Arctic. More recently, Greenpeace USA helped pass a Global Oceans Treaty — the largest international conservation agreement in history. We successfully campaigned in California to pass Senate Bill 1137 – legislation that enacts a 3,200-foot public health safety buffers to protect communities from the toxic emissions associated with oil and gas extraction. We have pushed multinational corporations in key sectors to pledge not to buy minerals from the nascent deep sea mining industry while elevating pressure on the International Seabed Authority to protect oceans from this emerging threat.
What’s next for Greenpeace USA:
- Protecting the right to protest in the United States with a focus on ending frivolous “SLAPP” (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) lawsuits.
- Mobilizing support for the US to sign and implement the UN Global Oceans Treaty
- Campaigning for a strong Global Plastics Treaty
- Addressing human rights abuses and modern slavery practices in the seafood industry through industry and government action
- Using a multi-strategy approach to stop the emerging deep sea mining industry before it scales up
- Collaborating with workers and the labor movement to accelerate a fair phase out of fossil fuels towards a healthier, more prosperous energy future.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2022 info
0.14
Months of cash in 2022 info
0.5
Fringe rate in 2022 info
20%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
Greenpeace, Inc.
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of Greenpeace, Inc.’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
Profitability info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $757,911 | -$565,459 | $4,670,431 | $3,468,201 | -$8,820,318 |
As % of expenses | 2.1% | -1.5% | 15.3% | 12.3% | -22.5% |
Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $480,747 | -$861,506 | $4,193,391 | $2,913,635 | -$9,363,068 |
As % of expenses | 1.4% | -2.3% | 13.5% | 10.1% | -23.6% |
Revenue composition info | |||||
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Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $36,046,339 | $36,732,324 | $35,084,586 | $31,713,249 | $32,508,926 |
Total revenue, % change over prior year | -9.2% | 1.9% | -4.5% | -9.6% | 2.5% |
Program services revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
All other grants and contributions | 99.7% | 99.8% | 99.6% | 99.9% | 99.7% |
Other revenue | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
Expense composition info | |||||
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Total expenses before depreciation | $35,294,351 | $37,394,064 | $30,488,411 | $28,215,680 | $39,210,075 |
Total expenses, % change over prior year | -1.2% | 5.9% | -18.5% | -7.5% | 39.0% |
Personnel | 59.2% | 55.9% | 58.2% | 47.3% | 39.3% |
Professional fees | 13.6% | 13.0% | 10.8% | 18.4% | 29.6% |
Occupancy | 3.6% | 4.2% | 5.3% | 5.9% | 4.3% |
Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Pass-through | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
All other expenses | 23.3% | 26.7% | 25.5% | 28.2% | 26.7% |
Full cost components (estimated) info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
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Total expenses (after depreciation) | $35,571,515 | $37,690,111 | $30,965,451 | $28,770,246 | $39,752,825 |
One month of savings | $2,941,196 | $3,116,172 | $2,540,701 | $2,351,307 | $3,267,506 |
Debt principal payment | $429,261 | $0 | $366,459 | $1,505,927 | $0 |
Fixed asset additions | $0 | $2,207,376 | $1,302,467 | $0 | $878,982 |
Total full costs (estimated) | $38,941,972 | $43,013,659 | $35,175,078 | $32,627,480 | $43,899,313 |
Capital structure indicators
Liquidity info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Months of cash | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.5 |
Months of cash and investments | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.6 |
Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 2.9 | -0.2 |
Balance sheet composition info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
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Cash | $2,823,709 | $3,009,508 | $3,691,686 | $5,753,623 | $1,708,596 |
Investments | $55,998 | $75,432 | $99,510 | $114,760 | $163,288 |
Receivables | $5,600 | $2,223,317 | $3,002,100 | $2,822,120 | $2,051,085 |
Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $3,449,064 | $5,464,840 | $6,600,857 | $5,945,557 | $6,851,082 |
Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 74.9% | 49.2% | 45.4% | 49.4% | 51.1% |
Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 51.1% | 70.1% | 45.4% | 31.4% | 83.0% |
Unrestricted net assets | $3,692,504 | $2,830,998 | $7,024,389 | $9,938,024 | $574,956 |
Temporarily restricted net assets | $129,203 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Total restricted net assets | $129,203 | $50,741 | $0 | $67,299 | $2,184,295 |
Total net assets | $3,821,707 | $2,881,739 | $7,024,389 | $10,005,323 | $2,759,251 |
Key data checks
Key data checks info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Principal Officer
Ebony Martin
Ebony Twilley Martin transformed into an environmental activist when her son developed asthma. Her pediatrician explained that it was caused, in part, by air pollution and the environmental inequities among communities of color. As a black mother, Ebony took it upon herself to learn everything she could about the fight for clean air, which led to a “dream job” at Greenpeace. The first Black woman to ever serve as Executive Director of a legacy environmental organization, Ebony brings together her passion for Environmental Justice, knack for recruiting and developing talent, and acumen to implement management practices that embed Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion goals into every aspect of the organization. Under Ebony’s leadership, Greenpeace has seen an increase of over 300% in BIPOC staff. She blazed this trail because of her deep belief in the power of a diverse, multiracial environmental movement to win a stable climate, fresh air, and clean water for all people.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Greenpeace, Inc.
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Greenpeace, Inc.
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Greenpeace, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 10/24/2023
Board of directors data
Jakada Imani
The Management Center
Lydia Avila
Climate + Clean Energy Equity Fund
Niria Alicia Garcia
PeoplesHub
Ahmina Maxey
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Robby Rodriguez
Robby Rodriguez, LLC
Jonah Sachs
jonahsachs.com
Nikki Silvestri
Soil and Shadow
Saket Soni
Resilience Force
Carlos Carrazana
The Trevor Project
Ahmina Maxey
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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? Yes -
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? Yes
Organizational demographics
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
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/01/2020GuideStar 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
- 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 analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- 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 disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- 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.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- 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.
Contractors
Fiscal year endingProfessional fundraisers
Fiscal year endingSOURCE: IRS Form 990 Schedule G