Giving at the Office Now Helps Environmental Causes

When United Way became the 500-pound gorilla for charities, corporations saw the organization as a simple, one-stop vehicle to collect and disburse payroll contributions from employees to a variety of worthy causes.

But, as management consultant Randall White of the Corporate Citizen Group recently observed in a report, "worker resentment toward strong-armed workplace-giving programs" has led many companies to abandon single, federated charity organizations such as United Way, opening the doors to alternative programs.

One of the upstart alternatives that employees across the country have turned to is Earth Share. Since its founding 12 years ago, the organization has raised nearly $80 million for about 50 environmental groups.

As evidence that workers prefer choices for their donations, Earth Share president and chief operating officer Kalman Stein says 95 percent of donors to the group had never donated to environmental causes. Stein also cites a study by the Washington, D.C.-based National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which found that charitable campaigns in the workplace that offer a choice of charities increase contributions to United Way as well as other groups.
Stein, 48, joined Earth Share's predecessor, the Environmental Federation of California, in 1986 to raise funds for a handful of environmental groups. In 1988, he turned the group into a national organization, creating the Environmental Federation of America under the marketing moniker of Earth Share.

Earth Share took off, logging donations of $1 million in its third year and $8.2 million in 1998. The program funnels payroll contributions to about 50 environmental groups.

Earth Share has caught the eye of producers of public-service commercials. Stein says the organization has received about $250 million in donated public service announcements on radio and TV, no small feat for a nonprofit organization.

Charities served by Earth Share run the gamut of environmental concerns and issues: wildlife, water, air, forests, land conservation and legal defense.

Stein says many companies welcome Earth Share into their workplaces alongside United Way. Government and public agencies also participate.

Stein compliments United Way's programs for the poor and disadvantaged but says the organization does not support equally important causes such as the environment, medical research and the criminal justice system.

Marquee companies and institutions whose employees contribute to Earth Share include The New York Times, Turner Broadcasting (CNN), Microsoft, Mobil Oil, Compaq, Mattel Toys, the Phoenix Zoo, Wells Fargo, Stanford University, Pitney Bowes and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (A complete list is posted on Earth Share's web site.)

Sears most giving

The largest corporate participant is Sears, Roebuck and Co. Some 320,000 of its employees pledged $153,977 to Earth Share last year. The smallest is 60-employee Green Mountain Energy in South Burlington, Vermont, whose workers gave Earth Share $4,615 in 1999.

The heftiest donor is financial giant JP Morgan, whose 9,000 employees donated $178,882 to Earth Share in 1999.

"We've just talked with a Fortune 500 company," Stein says, hinting it would be joining the ranks of Earth Share participants.

TreeFolks Inc., a partner with Earth Share of Texas, is an Austin-based organization dedicated to restorating urban forests.

Of each dollar collected, 90 cents is divided among the beneficiaries, Stein says. Before an environmental group can receive Earth Share contributions, the group must pass close inspection of its books and operations.

Other resources abound

In addition to fund-raising, Earth Share maintains extensive resources about the environment on its web site.

One popular feature is "Earth Saving Tips from Earth Share," which provides tips on more than 50 topics to improve the environmental health of the planet.