Greenpeace's bold fundraising strategies echo its aggressive, cutting-edge approach to protecting Mother Nature's greatest gifts.

By Abny Santicola

Getting direct
The organization’s renewed focus on monthly giving pushed it to find new ways to garner supporters. And find them it did, most successfully through its direct-dialogue operation.

The concept, which involves using professionally trained canvassers to do face-to-face fundraising door to door and to passers-by on city streets, was pioneered in 1995 in Austria by a company working for none other than Greenpeace. It was shared among the organization’s international offices, and Greenpeace now operates direct dialogue in about 30 countries, from Thailand and India, to Europe and North America, using a mixture of external agencies and in-house teams. It made its way to the United States in 2000.