Mailings & Giveaways
Posted by LAH  |  October 27, 2009 6:04:11 AM

I find many charities seem to send far too many mailings and the waste of resources does concern me. I prefer to only donate once or twice a year, and which all these charities would include a simple form with their renewal to ask for our preferances. Giveaways are NOT going to make me more likley to donate, and as others, I would prefer the dollars to go towards the programs. I know we can write a letter to request that, but many of us do not find time to do that for the many organizations we support. I would ask all charities, not just NatureConservancy to make this easier for us. I find SierraClub and Environmental Defense guilty of the same things.

Paper mailings
Posted by envirolover  |  October 26, 2009 5:50:07 AM

I am a multi-decade supporter of the NC - I really believe-in and have seen some of the work they do. BUT, stop with the cards, calendars, long begging letters etc. SO wasteful! One reminder a year for renewal, and mentioning that you have made no other request might get you more money. Keep us up-to-date on your projects by email with links to your website. The age of glossy magazines is so over, and shocking that you perpetuate it. Just do the GOOD work!

Paper Mailings
Posted by em jay  |  August 5, 2009 10:32:31 AM

In August 2007, I sent a donation to Nature Conservancy, told them it was my donation for the year, not to send me repeated mailings for more money and that a once-a-year mailing was sufficient. (I am doing this will all charities.) They do not send me mailings. When writing letters like this, I always include on that letter the address label from their mailings that shows all the numbers and codes for my address so they can identify me properly. Perhaps that will work for those of you trying to stop unnecessary mailings.

Customer service is sub-standard
Posted by Fox  |  July 19, 2009 6:12:11 PM

A group of friends and I donated $310.00 towards the Nature Conservancy's "Plant a Billion Trees Program" in honor of my wife's 50th birthday. I made this transaction and request a month ahead of my wife's birthday to insure that my wife would receive IN TIME an acknowledgement note that listed everybody in my group that made a donation.

We did receive an acknowledgement card from them, but it contained incorrect information. Four emails and two phone calls later, my wife still had not received her corrected acknowledgment card. This is the Nature Conservancy's response to my frustration over their sub-standard customer service: "We apologize for your frustration over the inconvenience of not receiving what you had requested. This is not our standard. We wanted to let you know that the gift acknowledgement letter has just been sent out via Federal Express..."

My wife’s birthday has passed, and we still have not heard back or received anything from the Nature Conservancy. Providing excellent customer service apparently is not part of their CORE VALUES!

GREED
Posted by Dreamborn  |  April 24, 2009 6:44:19 AM

So sick of this greed. I encourage people to pass this website on to people. This has really opened my eyes

Salary
Posted by Chris Bone  |  March 1, 2009 10:44:04 PM

I was shocked at the salary of the CEO. I know these guys do a great job but why do people work for them? To conserve nature or make lots of money. I run a newly formed charity (OceansWatch). Our policy is for full time people to eventually gain an AVERAGE wage for the country where they work. I can not imagine how anyone can accept such a huge wage.

Dig Deeper
Posted by MarBar  |  February 25, 2009 6:47:05 AM

http://proliberty.com/observer/20080114.htm

People refer to this organization as the "Nature Conspiracy," and with good reason. Check out this article. And then start reading into NWO....

Excessive Mail a Waste
Posted by lserrell  |  February 12, 2009 7:29:25 PM

On 4 occasions I've have requested that the Nature Conservancy cease to send me mail and other solicitations. I have file 2 complaints with the Better Business Bureau about their failure to do so. However, the message does not seem to be sinking in with this organization. I continue to receive mailings from them. They simply refuse to remove me from their mailing list. For an organization that says they promote environmental conservation, they certainly do waste lots of trees, energy and money sending me unwanted mail. I would strongly advise anyone considering a donation to this organization to donate to a different organization that does not waste their money and use practices that are directly opposed to their stated mission.

values
Posted by Good man  |  February 4, 2009 2:34:06 PM

Those who say that CEO needs good money to do his job-my question is you cannot and will not be able to stay in this field of charity with aim to make fat pay check-do it if you love BUT DO NOT PLAY WITH EMOTIONS OF DONORS!!!

Excessive nonstop junk mailings harm environment!
Posted by marsisdead  |  January 5, 2009 7:09:27 AM

NC is clearly huge, however their CEO must be light years out of touch with their basic mission, like the financial and bank execs behind the current global crisis. The Ocean Conservancy seems to be operating in a similar dismal fashion.

I donated to Nature Conservancy and Ocean Conservancy several years back, but decided not to do so again due to excessive, bulky junk mail from both orgs, despite my contacting them to stop.

Now, years later, both charities are STILL sending me multiple huge solicitation mailers several times a year, including personalized labels, notepads, gorgeous glossy calendars, and reams of miscellaneous paper. High quality, thick, White paper, not even recycled paper -- and I haven't even given them money in years. What a waste, and how many forests are being killed in the name of their marketing!

NC and OC have each probably burned more on junk mailings to me alone than I originally donated to them (I am a small, 3-figure donor).

That is obviously NOT where I wanted my donation money to go!

I hope others will take note and help to discourage these mega charities with their out-of-touch 1/2 million dollar CEO's from so blatantly violating the fundamental cause underlying their organizations.

CEO Pay and Excess Mail
Posted by kiya  |  December 18, 2008 7:28:14 AM

My comment regards all the environmental non-profits (which are the one's I support and donate to).

1. CEO pay is excessive for most of these organizations

2. The paper mailings are extremely excessive. All the junk like ornaments, postcards, labels seems so wasteful and it seems hard to see how they really help raise funds.

glossy magazine
Posted by bjwalters  |  December 3, 2008 6:44:04 AM

I thought the picutes in their glossy magazine were beautiful, equal to National Geographic and on better paper. Perhaps they do this to entice donors but I would like to see more conservative spending with a "greener" expression for a nature charity.

CEO Salary
Posted by remraf  |  November 11, 2008 12:15:21 PM

I logged back on to make my annual donation only to read latest CEO defense. Nature Conserve CEO's salary ok by me,but please quit w. the comparison to "for profit" organization and "pay them to keep them". Obviously many of the CEO's and other highly compensated executives in the for profit were over compensated and have left us with the cost of clean up. I also doubt thousands of constituents are being granted access to the CEO ,for profit or not. So I/we have not made the mistake of assuming that a Charitable CEO should be paid a non living wage.It's a very liveable salary. If our current CEO is scouting,let's make sure that there is a training/grooming program in the works to replace him. Let's stay focused on the mission ,it's a good mission!

CEO Salary is Fine
Posted by rmnm  |  November 10, 2008 12:05:57 PM

This is a BIG nonprofit with 3000+ staff and the CEO salary is only .05% of the total costs. Even Charity Navigator in its FAQs points out that "these charities are complex organizations, with multi-million dollar budgets, hundreds of employees, and thousands of constituents. These leaders could inevitably make much more running similarly sized for-profit firms. Furthermore, when making your decision it is important to consider that it takes a certain level of professionalism to effectively run a charity and charities must offer a competitive salary if they want to attract and retain that level of leadership" Paying someone less does not mean that it is a better organization.We make the mistake of assuming that working for a nonprofit often means earning a non-living wage. I want the CEOs of organizations to be intellegent men and women who are fairly compensated. It is much more likely that they will stay and provide consistent leadership for the nonprofit rather than scouting around for a new place to work.

Nature Conserve CEO pay and Org
Posted by remraf  |  October 14, 2008 5:30:45 AM

The Charitable CEO pay and Wash. Post articles are saddening. I also find " have to pay to keep them" a tired old line. Look at Salvation Army,Methodist Children Home ,Sustainable Harvest,and others w. excellent programs w.o high price CEO. Unfortunately,there are lots of 4 million dollar Charities and 150k plus execs. Regarding Nature Conserve lack of organization,I also tried to give service in addition to $. After 2 emails and 2 phone calls,I got a response,I just wish they'd have taken the time to spell my name correctly in the response. I'll keep on giving $ and hope to give service in future. I like their mission statement and accomplishments,and as Nicole (in comments) said People do dumb things.

Washington Post
Posted by sallyjack  |  September 26, 2008 5:43:16 AM

I agree with the comments about reading the Post article. It made a believer out of me. Board members were allowed to build home on land donated to the Nature Conservancy. They will never get any more of my money. It goes to the Potomac River Conservancy (not listed by Charity Navigator)

to Asterroiid
Posted by umbress  |  September 22, 2008 5:46:42 AM

Perhaps they didn't answer you because they're not using your $$ to pay people to, but to help the environment. I agree that they shouldn't send out so much paper and he CEO's salary is way to big(though only .05% of their overall income), but what they're doing is very efficient, and very good: buying plots of land, and conserving them. I would donate to this charity

i donated for trees and they sent them to me
Posted by katieforever  |  September 3, 2008 6:27:42 AM

I gave $10 to The Nature Conservancy, for a promotion they were doing to plant a tree per dollar. Sounded good to me. Since then I have received several large packets (packets!) of paper from them, asking for more money, or telling me about the need to be green. Also they started sending me a magazine I didn't request. I can't believe they are sending me all this paper when I just donated money to specifically help save paper! argh! I won't be giving money to them again. If I was somebody else considering donating to a 'green' charity, I would love to know this before I gave the money.

Thank you for the feedback
Posted by Sue @ TNC  |  August 11, 2008 6:12:22 AM

My name is Sue and I work at The Nature Conservancy. Thanks for the feedback -- both good and bad. Please know we're listening and we hear you. For anyone that had any troubles opting out of receiving mailings from the Conservancy I would like to personally apologize. To opt-out of receiving mailings, including the Conservancy's magazine, or to ask any questions about your membership, please send an e-mail to membership@tnc.org or call our toll-free Member Care number at 800-628-6860 x5. The folks working on the Member Care team are first-rate and should be able to immediately resolve any problems or answer most questions. Thanks for the posts!

Google
Posted by uman  |  July 28, 2008 8:23:50 AM

Google the investigative Wash Post articles about the Nature Conservancy before choosing to donate.

Self-benefiting?
Posted by uman  |  July 28, 2008 8:23:47 AM

I think this article from Wash Post is worth reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701640.html

One paragraph: The panel began investigating the Conservancy in May 2003, in response to a series in The Washington Post. The articles detailed the organization's rapid growth -- its assets last year reached $4 billion -- and described financial transactions that benefited Conservancy supporters, including corporations that had paid pollution-related fines. The articles revealed that the Conservancy had logged forests and drilled for oil under the breeding ground of an endangered bird species, and bought land and services from corporations whose executives sat on the nonprofit's governing board.

The series also revealed that the Conservancy had repeatedly sold land to its own trustees, in transactions that allowed the buyers to claim significant tax breaks.

Get involved
Posted by Nicole  |  July 9, 2008 5:40:31 AM

I am biased, I admit, since I think TNC is a superb organization (run by humans who sometimes do dumb things - as do we all). That said, I believe, if one is ever concerned about where their donation is being used, that donation can be made to a specific state, region, preserve, project, or what have you. So if look up your area on their website you can find a local preserve or project you are truly interested in and get involved both financially and personally.

CEO salary
Posted by lyleand  |  June 18, 2008 8:28:15 AM

I received their magazine and was ready to contribute, but will not help pay for exorbitant CEO salaries. The justification that these people could make so much more money in the private sector tells me that they either can't get what they want there (money), or they the concept of charity and related notions of sacrifice and altruism doesn't apply to them. This goes as well for boards of directors who mostly so rich that third of a million dollar salary appears as chump change to them. This calls into question the whole notion of non-profit.

Mailings can be stopped after a phone call
Posted by jcn50  |  June 2, 2008 11:15:35 AM

Weird that some people didn't read their FAQ here: http://url.ie/f0z A simple call to their 1-800 line and you can control the incoming mails.

I donated 2 times to this organization (through an airline's miles program) and I'm impressed by their assets' size!

CEO's salary seems to be a big figure at first, but Steven J. McCormick is out since 2007, and I think CEOs deserve a fair salary, which its amount has been approved by the Board of Trustees.

Although they made one mistake in 2003 (see this link: http://url.ie/f17 ) I'll continue to donate.

Inaccuracy and salary comments
Posted by Karen Shaw  |  May 5, 2008 1:21:56 PM

I received an emergency plea to renew. I checked my last year's donation list and saw I had donated in May. I wrote another check for this year-2008. I went to put that information into my 2008 donation folder and saw that I had already sent them a donation a month ago. Very annoying. I ripped up the check. I agree that the CEO needs to be paid a fair salary, but his salary is beyond fair - it's excessive.

Too much wasted mail outs
Posted by Dot  |  April 23, 2008 1:03:57 PM

I will not renew my membership because I feel that too much is spent on unnecessary mailouts.

A Solid Organization
Posted by ableimes  |  March 20, 2008 5:38:49 AM

I have donated to the Nature Conservancy for 3 years now and truly believe in their mission and strategy.

But, in response to these criticisms, I would like to note that I called to request they stop sending me anything but membership renewal notices and they immediately complied. I am also a believer in the fact that although these are charities, they need to properly compensate Presidents and CEOs. These executives are forgoing much more money by leaving the private sector. Let's not forget how much these people would be making were they in charge of a company with a billion dollars in revenue... they would most likely be earning well into the seven figures.

Will not stop paper mailings
Posted by JWD  |  February 26, 2008 6:49:09 AM

I, also, will no longer donate to this charity. After numerous emails, letters, etc., over several months, I have received one lame reply, and still, I cannot get them to stop sending their magazine and other paper mail. They are supposed to be a CONSERVATION organization!

CEO's Salary is much too high.
Posted by PapillonOne  |  January 29, 2008 12:56:58 PM

I will no longer donate to this charity. Not only would I like to know why they have such a huge excess, I would also like to know why thier CEO is so highly paid - this is a charity afterall. I will now give to those effective charities whose CEOs' salaries are good but more modest and that have excellent ratings on Charity Navigator.

This NGO has no enthusiasm for Prospective Donors
Posted by Asterroiid  |  January 23, 2008 6:58:05 AM

I emailed 2 queries to The Nature Conservancy, one about their Rainforest program and other one regarding Donation but did not receive any reply from the organization except for an auto generated response acknowledging my email. My opinion is if an organization does not even bother to respond to a prospective donor then it seriously questions the sincerity and accountability of the efforts of that organization irrespective of how large it is and its operations are!

Conservancy spending and collecting
Posted by just dave  |  December 18, 2007 4:09:30 PM

I set the Nature Conservancy up to receive matching funds from my donation. They didn't collect them. I called them to ask why not and to also ask why they took in over $300 MILLION more than they spent (what are they doing with it?); they didn't call back on either question. I like their work, but I give where my company will double the donation.