Where do they work?
Who works there?
What do they do?
What have they accomplished?
Financial data
How do they raise money?
Media and public discussion of the organization
Assessment by greendonor contributors

Friends of the Earth (FoE), "the U.S. voice" of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), has its headquarters in Washington, DC, and operates primarily in the United States. The organization touches on international issues and co-ordinates some of its efforts with FoEI.

In March 2005, FoE merged with another NGO, the Bluewater Network, which is based in San Francisco.

FoE's website and annual report list its Board of Directors, 27 staff members, and 5 consultants, as well as publications staff (2+) and interns (17). Staff are listed according to function [so give breakdown...] and only the president's biography is given [so, say something about him]. After several requests we are still awaiting further information on their workforce composition.

The Bluewater Network provides a complete listing of staff including biographies. Of their 6 staff, five either sit on the FoE Board or are members of FoE staff. Only one staff member has a degree in science (Environmental Biology).

Friends of the Earth addresses a broad range of environmental issues in a manner best described as "grass roots activism." Like the much larger Sierra Club, FoE's main focus is to galvanize citizens and turn them toward environmental sustainability and health and away from "reckless" individual, governmental and corporate policies and practices. Their efforts are often conjoined with other like- minded and complementary organizations (Greenpeace, Earthjustice, WWF, etc.) that help provide critical mass to their endeavors.

FoE categorizes its programs as follows:

• Community, Health and Environment
• Economics for the Earth
• International Program
• Legislative Program
• Regional Program

The first two categories make up the bulk FoE's time and efforts.

FoE is primarily concerned with exposing environmentally harmful activities of corporations, financial institutions, governments, international bodies and industry groups. It places assertive, broad-stroke advertising in national magazines such as Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, and in local and regional print media (where it often addresses local issues). It issues press releases that may include detailed, referenced position papers, case studies and research documents. It publishes periodicals and quarterly reports providing exposition and analysis. It also stages elaborate protests at meetings of bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). FoE does not list any scientists in its staff, but it has employed scientists as consultants for producing research reports.

FoE is also involved in lobbying. It has enlisted a bipartisan congressional group called "Green Scissors" that has succeeded in eliminating suspect and/or harmful federal spending; it also monitors and lobbies the funding bodies for international financial institutions, using the fact that these institutions spend public monies (for international development projects) to argue against pro-corporate spending decisions. FoE also spearheads initiatives such as the attempt to eliminate suspected carcinogens in cosmetics, and then lobbies the industry as a whole to sign declarations of compliance.

A good example of the way that Friends of the Earth works can be found in their campaign to block biopharmaceutical rice farms in Missouri. In efforts conducted primarily by one of FoE's consultants and documented in his case study, the FoEI critiqued a biotech firm's creation of experimental drug-producing rice plants, and fought against to the firm's attempt to grow the product in Missouri's rice belt, leading to the firm's eventual expulsion from the state. To achieve this, the consultant and FoE staffers allied themselves with a network of local farmers, the university community, local and national media, Missouri legislators, and Anheuser-Busch — the region's largest rice purchaser.

During the past three years:

FoE, along with its partner The Safe Cosmetics Campaign, asked for and received pledges from almost 200 cosmetics firms to forgo the use of chemicals that can or are suspected of causing cancer, birth defects and mutations.

The Bluewater Network crafted and helped pass three bills that will ban dumping and pollution from cruise ships within three miles of the California coast. Bluewater Network also won a legal victory for clean air when the Federal Court of Appeals agreed that the Environmental Protection Agency failed to set snowmobile emission standards that reduce pollution.

As a result of FoE lobbying efforts with JP Morgan Chase, the bank created an Office of Environmental Affairs and developed its first set of environmental lending policies.

FoE was the prime mover on a successful attempt to achieve a state-wide ban on biopharmaceutical rice in California. A noted above, it successfully fought to oust a biotech company from planting the same crop in Missouri.

FoE filed suit and won a case stating that Chevron Chemical Company had committed 65 violations of its water permit by polluting a nearby lake in Texas.

By law, Fortune 500 companies are required to disclose the climate change impacts of their operations. FoE revealed that a number of them do not and identified non-compliers [?].

The Green Scissor campaign exposed over $20 billion in government subsidies to corporate polluters in the Bush administration's [year? - 2004?] Energy Bill.

FoE pressured Kraft Foods, Inc. through 170 local environmental groups to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its food products.

FOE's advertising expenses totalled $212,612 in FY 2004 (about 5% of expenses), $757,641 in FY 2003, and $282,916 in FY 2002. In each of these years almost all (99%) advertising expenses were allocated to program spending, and none or almost none to fundraising. Presumably, the organization considers that advertising is carried out for educational purposes and hence is program spending. However, it seems unlikely that such advertising does not also raise funds for FOE, in which case some should be apportioned to fundraising.

Table 1: Basic financial data for Friends of the Earth for the most recent years.

FISCAL YEAR	FINANCIAL DATA rounded to million (m) or thousand (K)		EXPENDITURES percent of total expenses
2004 (ending June 30, 2004)	Total revenue: Total expenses: Total assets (yr-end): Total liabilities (yr-end):	$3.81m $4.13m $1.43m $253K	Programs: Administration: Fundraising: ------------------ wages/benefits: professional & consulting fees:	77% 11% 13% ------------------ 43% 10%
2003 (ending June 30, 2003)	Total revenue: Total expenses: Total assets (yr-end): Total liabilities (yr-end):	$4.56m $4.64m $1.85m $352K	Programs: Administration: Fundraising: ------------------ wages/benefits: professional & consulting fees:	81% 10% 10% ------------------ 41% 8%
2002 (ending June 30, 2002)	Total revenue: Total expenses: Total assets (yr-end): Total liabilities (yr-end):	$3.80m $4.27m $1.97m $387K	Programs: Administration: Fundraising: ------------------ wages/benefits: professional & consulting fees:	81% 8% 10% ------------------ 43% 17%
NOTES:
Source: IRS Form 990 (courtesy of www.guidestar.org).
Assets: in the most recent year (2003-2004), the main components were: savings and temporary cash investments (44%) pledges receivable (35%) charitable gift annuity (6%) prepaid expenses and deferred charges (5%) polled income fund (3%) land, buildings, & equipment (3%)
Liabilities: in the most recent year (2003-2004), the main components were: accounts payable & accrued expenses (48%) accrued leave (31%) charitable gift annuity liability (18%) deferred revenue (2%)
The figure for wages/benefits is the amount across all 3 categories (program, administrative and fundraising) as a percent of total expenses. Likewise for professional/consulting/contract fees.

Table 2: Breakdown of revenue for the 2003-2004 financial year.

Revenue Category	As percent of total revenues
Private individuals, companies, foundations1	96%
Other2	3%
Net investment income & interest	1%
Program service revenue (including government contracts)	0%

1 FOE's 2004 Annual Report gives a revenue breakdown of 49% "memberships/gifts", 47% foundations, and 4% "other".
2 "Other" revenue: net revenue from: rent, asset sales other than securities, inventory sales, and special events, plus "other income".

Table 3: Breakdown of program expenditures by program.

Program	As percent of total program spending
Economics for the Earth	28%
Outreach	27%
International	24%
Community Health and Environment	14%
other	7%

Lobbying expenditures amounted to $110K in 2003-2004, of which 81% was for grassroots lobbying. Lobbying made up 3% of program spending.

Table 4: Compensation for senior full-time staff for the 2003-2004 financial year.

Compensation	Number of individuals	Job title(s)
$102,435	1	Chief Development Officer
$86,887	1	CFO
$70,000	1	Director, International Team
$66,553	1	Director, Membership and Marketing
$62,665	1	Director, Foundation Relations

There was no reported spending on outside professional services.

Sources of revenue in 2004 were:

[further info pending]

Sir John Krebs, a recently retired director of the Food Standards Association (FSA) — the British government agency that monitors food safety — has issued critiques of the environmental movement, mentioning FoE specifically. Sir Krebs, who is a scientist, contended while FSA director that no scientific evidence exists to prove that organic food is a healthier dietary choice; he therefore wouldn't allow the FSA to take a position on the matter. He also wouldn't allow the FSA to take a position on the health benefits (or lack thereof) of GM crops, again because of a lack of hard evidence.

He was quoted in the Times of London in April 2005: "Just as food companies press policies to benefit shareholders, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth design campaigns to appeal to the views of paying members. Both types of business quote selectively from scientific evidence and neither

[This section awaits the accumulation of input from visitors to the greendonor site.]