Patagonia community raises $20m for planet in 17 days with matched giving
Melanie May | 19 December 2019 | News
Patagonia’s community has raised $10 million in donations to 1,043 grassroots environmental organisations in 17 days, which is being matched by the company.
On Black Friday, Patagonia committed to match individual donations made between 29 November and 31 December 2019, to a $10 million limit, and that figure has now been met, meaning that environmental NGOs will benefit from a $20 million cash windfall.
Mihela Hladin Wolfe, Director of Environmental Initiatives, Europe, Patagonia, said:
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“The enthusiasm of our community to donate in their thousands, in support of environmental protectors, is something we never anticipated. In Europe, this means we can more than double the money that we will be giving to grassroots NGOs in 2020. To face the crisis ahead we will need vigorous collective action – something that this campaign has demonstrated in spades.”
Donations were made through Patagonia Action Works, a platform that connects individuals with local grassroots organisations to take action on pressing issues globally.
Patagonia Action Works
Patagonia Action Works launched in Europe in September 2019 with over 100 environmental NGOs currently on the platform, working in the areas of biodiversity, climate, communities, land and water. Almost all of these NGOs received at least one donation, with the most successful group receiving more than €70,000 from community giving, to be matched by Patagonia.
UK-based NGO The Carbon Literacy Project was one of those to benefit from the campaign. Dave Coleman, Managing Director, said:
“At the end of a whirlwind year on the climate agenda, Patagonia’s donation-match has been a huge boost to The Carbon Literacy Project, and all the NGOs Patagonia supports. Thanks to this additional funding, we’ll now be able to reach hundreds more businesses and thousands more individuals. With the extra capacity it has given us, we can now help them gain access to relevant climate change knowledge and skills even sooner, to directly initiate their action against the climate crisis, at work and home, even faster.”
Kate Ruddock, Deputy Director, Friends of the Earth Ireland, added:
“This has given Friends of the Earth Ireland a major boost as we end the year. We are working to change policy and legislation in Ireland that will allow Ireland’s energy system – which is currently 90% dependent on climate polluting fossil fuels – to transition to clean, renewable power, owned and embraced by citizens and communities. With this match funding we will be supporting schools across Ireland to lead the change and go solar in 2020, and we will be working to make the laws easier for everyone to follow suit.”
Globally, tens of thousands of individual donors contributed to the $20 million donation, which will go to over one thousand organisations in the US and Europe.
In addition to its $10 million donation match, Patagonia will, as it has for more than 30 years, donate one percent of its 2019 sales to nearly 1,200 grantees, through 1% for the Planet. To date, the company has donated more than $110 million to nonprofits working on environmental problems facing communities and the planet.
- Patagonia founder gives away all company profits to fight climate crisis (15 September 2022)
- Pop-up cafe opens in London to support environmental activism (26 September 2019)
- Laureus Sport for Good Index highlights 29 brands leading the way (8 November 2022)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.