Community Based Initiatives Bloom

A new report by the Urban Institute identifies smaller, local environmental organizations as the primary driver of the environmental movement. Using tax data from 1989 to 2005, the report found that smaller, volunteer organization that form to meet specific challenges comprise the largest portion of environmental groups nationwide. These groups are scattered throughout the US.

In 2005, the IRS listed more than 26,000 groups, ranging from neighborhood-based groups to the Nature Conservancy, which reported almost $1 billion in 2005 revenues. 80% of these groups listed revenues under $600,000. Most of the larger groups (Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, Conservation International) are concentrated in the Washington, DC area.

Overall, the environmental movement is growing faster than other nonprofit sectors, the report says. Between 1995 and 2007, the number of environmental and conservation groups registered with the IRS grew by 4.6 percent annually, while the rate over that period for all nonprofits was 2.8 percent per year, it says.