Charity Spotlight

Welcome to Givewell's Charity Spotlight.

The ‘Truth in Labelling – Palm Oil’ Bill has just been passed in the Upper House of Parliament. It still has to pass through the Lower House to become law, but it’s still a big step forward. Palm oil, rich in saturated fat, is often included in processed foods in Australia without needing to be labelled (often listed as ‘vegetable oil’ in the ingredients), making it hard for consumers to avoid. Apart from being detrimental to health, palm oil plantations are devastating to the environment, causing rainforests to be cleared at the rate of 300 football fields per hour in Borneo. This month we have chosen to focus on organisations which do the opposite by helping to preserve vegetation and threatened species.

Spotlight 1

Organisation: Rainforest Rescue

Rainforest Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation based in Mullumbimby on the Far North Coast of NSW but conducts projects to conserve rainforests both locally and internationally. The organisation was started in 1998 by Kelvin Davies (currently Executive Officer) and Dr Tony Parkes and since that time has made a significant contribution to rainforest conservation, currently conducting projects in Australia such as Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever, Plant a Rainforest, Big Scrub Restoration. Internationally projects are being run in Ecuador to “Save a Hectare” and in Indonesia “Orangutan Habitat for Survival”. The organisation is supported almost entirely though donations, sponsorships and other fundraising activities (99% of Gross Revenue). The organisation has maintained an operating surplus the last two years (2009 – 2010) and grown financially increasing Gross Revenue by 2% from 2009 to 2010. Preliminary figures show a huge spike in revenue from fundraising in the 2011 financial year (audited figures released later this year), mostly due to the hard work of the fundraising and marketing team as well as the public’s dedication to protecting rainforests and habitats.

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Spotlight 2

Organisation: Trees For Life

Trees For Life (TFL) was formed in 1981 by concerned members of the community who saw a need to conserve South Australia’s diminishing remnant vegetation. TFL have a unique approach to land conservation by supporting private landholders to re-vegetate land which has been degraded by land clearance. Each year one million local native plant seedlings for re-vegetation by private landholders and special projects are produced. Apart from broad scale re-vegetation, the training of volunteers and the provision of carbon offsets, TFL are currently running a project called Schools Big Backyard in which students are assisted to propagate and care for seedlings. TFL were also able to increase their gross revenue from 2009 to 2010 (7%) and decrease their fundraising costs (-17%). The largest source of revenue for TFL is from contract fees for professional conservation and re-vegetation, followed by fundraising (23%) and government sources (18%).

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