Annual Report2012 - GreaterGood.org · 2020. 4. 25. · GreaterGood.org • 2012 Annual Report 3...

Annual Report 2012

1GreaterGood.org • 2012 Annual Report 1GreaterGood.org • 2012 Annual Report

Letter From Elizabeth Baker, Executive Director

Dear Friends,

People often contact us at GreaterGood.org wanting to know “What can I do to help?” Our response is simple, “Just do something.” At GreaterGood.org, we strive every day to make a difference in the world by working on issues that affect people, pets, and the planet. We are privileged to work with over 150 charitable partners worldwide with one goal in mind: to make the world a better place.

I am continually amazed at what we can accomplish when we all come together and perform smallactions – actions like clicking daily at GreaterGood.com, choosing where we shop carefully so we know we are helping a cause with every purchase, donating directly to projects we believe in, and getting out into the world to volunteer for causes we care about.

With your support, we have contributed over 29 million dollars to protect the health and well being of people, pets, and the planet.

Together, we have helped remove landmines in Kosovo and Mozambique, educated orphans in India, provided children in developing countries worldwide with access to clean water, quality education, and life saving healthcare. We have provided comfort and safety for homeless animals both in the U.S. and abroad.

In times of disaster, such as the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, GreaterGood.org provided much needed assistance for both humans and animals. We also supported our nation’s veterans through job training, as well as feeding and housing programs.

GreaterGood.org supporters also helped purchase and protect thousands of acres of land that is home to some of the planet’s most critically endangered species. These are just a few of the ways in whichGreaterGood.org impacted our global community.

This year GreaterGood.org oversaw the launch of several new Signature Programs. These programs aim to create a larger impact in cause areas we care about and with projects that have a compelling need with which we can help.

Programs like Operation Sandwich not only fund food banks in need, but put volunteers into those food banks each week to make sandwiches for America’s hungry. One Picture Saves a Life works to change the image of animal rescue and adoption by teaching volunteers and shelter staff online and offl ine how to save more lives with positive adoption photography. Our Save the Maned Wolf campaign works to preserve critical land so we can ensure the survival of the Maned Wolf and other endangered species that live in the rapidly disappearing Bolivian Beni Savannah.

As you read through this report, I hope you are inspired to do something, to do more, and to spreadthe word. Every one of your actions, no matter how small, will contribute to the Greater Good.

Sincerely,

Liz Baker, Executive Director, GreaterGood.org

2GreaterGood.org • 2012 Annual Report

Signature Programs & Continued Commitmentto Core Programs

Over the past two fiscal years, GreaterGood.org continued to expand our activities whileremaining committed to our core mission of protecting the health and well-beingof people, animals, and the planet through innovative partnerships with leading charitiesand corporate sponsors.

In 2012, we opened our first fully staffed office in Tuscon, Arizona. This allowed the creation of several new signature programs that launched in 2013 as well the strengthening of severalpreviously formed signature programs: A Shot At Life: Join the Two Million Pet Challenge*Bachpan School for Girls in Barrackpore*Bringing Greater Good to Haiti*Cats R Cool*Disaster ReliefElephantsHelp Americans in Need Feed Their PetsMadrean Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment (MABA)*Mae Tao Clinic Dry Food Program*One Picture Saves A Life*Operation Sandwich*Pet Food DistributionRescue URide to Rescue*Save The Maned Wolf*Soles for SoulsTrain to Adopt

*launched in 2013

© Tim Kunin

© Sky Island Alliance


Mission Statement

Protecting the health and well-being of people, animals and the planet.

GreaterGood.org partners with and funds leading nonprofit organizations around the world in order to alleviate poverty and hunger, promote peace, address cancer and otherwidespread health problems, foster literacy and provide education, preserve vital habitats inperil, and provide protection and care to vulnerable animals.

We are proud to work with our charitable partners to address both immediate needs in times of disaster as well as foster sustainable solutions.

Following is our Annual Report on how this work was accomplished from July 2011 through June 2013 as well as our financial statements for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.


Alleviating Poverty and Hunger

GreaterGood.org launched several signature programs to provide meals for those inimmediate need.

In the United States, Operation Sandwich began with a $20,000 pledge toNorthwest Harvest.The pilot program launched in June 2013 allowed Northwest Harvest to reinstate theirFriday “sandwich program” that distributes free sandwiches to those coming to their Cherry St. branch in Seattle, WA. Besides underwriting the costs of the sandwichesfor a year, GreaterGood also recruitsvolunteers to help make and distributesandwiches. Through Operation Sandwich, GreaterGood seeks to raise awareness of the needs of food banks nationwide. By creating an engaging online campaign, and by providingvolunteers, we seek to inspire our audience to get involved locally and address the issue ofhunger in their own communities.

Also in 2013, GreaterGood made a $75,000 pledge to support the Mae Tao Clinic’s Dry Food Program. This program provides the primary nourishment for 3,000 migrant Burmese students living along the Thai/Burma border. We will actively promote this program andprovide for these children in years to come.


In the island country of Haiti, we expanded support of such longterm charity partners as Soles For Souls as well as adding several new charity partners seeking to provide basic services to those still rebuilding after the devastating earthquake of 2010. Bringing Greater Good to Haiti supports existing and new programs addressing human services, basic healthcare, and literacy.

GreaterGood.org also began work with Soles for Souls to develop new programs to support women’s micro-enterprise and provide toys for children.

Our other grants for hunger relief supported domestic food banks through such organizations as Feeding America as well as long-term programs seeking to address the root causes of poverty and hunger worldwide.

Alleviating Poverty and Hunger continued…


Financial Numbers for 2012

Statement of Financial Position - Modifi ed Cash Basis

Assets

Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 315 Accounts Receivable 387,314

Total Assets $ 387,629

Liabilities and Net Assets

Bank overdrafts $ 58,363

Total Liabilities $ 58,363

Net Assets:Unrestricted $ 329,266

Total Net Assets: $ 329,266

Total Liabilities and Net Assets $ 387,629

Statement of Cash Flows - Modifi ed Cash Basis

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

Change in net assets $ (87,264) Adjustments to reconcile change in net assets to net cash provided by operating activities - Changes in assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable $ 30,891 Bank overdrafts $ 54,591

Net Cash Used by Operating Activities $ (1,782)

Net Change in Cash and Cash Equivalents $ (1,782)

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year $ 2,097

Cash and Cash Equivalents, End of Year $ 315


Financial Numbers for 2012

Statement of Financial Position - Modifi ed Cash Basis

Assets

Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 315 Accounts Receivable 387,314

Total Assets $ 387,629

Liabilities and Net Assets

Bank overdrafts $ 58,363

Total Liabilities $ 58,363

Net Assets:Unrestricted $ 329,266

Total Net Assets: $ 329,266

Total Liabilities and Net Assets $ 387,629

Statement of Cash Flows - Modifi ed Cash Basis

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

Change in net assets $ (87,264) Adjustments to reconcile change in net assets to net cash provided by operating activities - Changes in assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable $ 30,891 Bank overdrafts $ 54,591

Net Cash Used by Operating Activities $ (1,782)

Net Change in Cash and Cash Equivalents $ (1,782)

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year $ 2,097

Cash and Cash Equivalents, End of Year $ 315


Financial Numbers for 2012 continued…

Statement of Activities - Modified Cash Basis

Revenue and Other Support:

Donations $ 1,013,307Royalties 1,634,864

Total Revenue and Other Support $ 2,648,171

Expenses:Program $ 2,697,066Management and general $ 38,093Fundraising $ 276

Total Expenses $ 2,735,435

Change in Net Assets $ (87,264)

Net assets, beginning of year $ 416,530

Net Assets, End of Year $ 329,266


Humanitarian Aid During Natural Disaster

GreaterGood.org considers Disaster Relief to be one of its signature programs. From July 2011 through June 2012, numerous grants totaling over $300,000 helpedorganizations around the world assistpeople coping with fire, flood, famine,and storm damage.

Many local charities in the United Statesreceived aid following tornadoes in theMidwest and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. “Funding from GreaterGood.org is helping us provide disaster relief to the areas impacted by Hurricane Isaac,” saidNatalie Jayroe, President and CEO ofSecond Harvest Food Bank in 2012.

After Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast at the end of 2012, GreaterGood.orgDisaster Relief grants supported the clean up efforts and emergency assistanceprovided by Team Rubicon and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. Team Rubicon also

received a GreaterGood grant to aid in the clean up of Moore, Oklahoma, after atornado flattened that town in 2013.

As the famine worsened in Africa,GreaterGood.org increased donations to Mercy Corps’ efforts there as well assupporting the work of Millennium Villages to create more sustainable farmingcommunities in Ethiopia.

Other international disaster relief grantsincluded donations to Angels of theAmazon following the 2012 floods in Peru.


Addressing Cancer, Diabetes, and Autism

GreaterGood.org’s grants continue to provide healthservices to those in need. For programs based in the United States, our grants primarily focused on helping women with breast cancer and children with diabetes or autism.

In February 2012, GreaterGood.org continued itscommitment to breast cancer research with the award of $100,000 to Mayo Clinic. A grant of $50,000 went to theUniversity of Michigan for breast cancer research in 2013.

Nearly a million dollars went to National Breast CancerFoundation between July 2011 and June 2013 to underwrite thousands of free mammograms offered by suchorganizations as Adventist Medical Center, BayhealthFoundation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, League Against Cancer/Liga Contra el Cancer, LSUHSC: The Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program, and POH Riley Foundation, among others.

Other GreaterGood grants helped pay formedications, wigs, and other out-of-pocket expensesnot covered by cancer patients’ insurance.

In 2012, GreaterGood.org increased its support of programs providing services for families coping with autism. Recipients of these grants include National AutismAssociation, Lekotek International, andAutism Speaks. The grants helpedunderwrite programs providing playtherapy, speech therapy, behavior therapy, and other learning experiences for children with autism.

Recognizing that diabetes is the nation’s leading cause of heart disease and stroke as well as kidney failure, GreaterGood.org gave $20,000 to the University of

Michigan in 2013 for diabetes research. This donation supports the research aimed at freeing insulin-dependent diabetics of the need for daily insulin injections to control glucose levels.


Improving International Access to Healthcare

Our international grants focused on improving access to pre-natal care (well baby programs), combating cholera and other diseases through vaccination programs, providing simple surgical procedures to correct disabilities such as clubfoot, and supporting international efforts to create new sources of clean water and reduce waterborne diseases.

As part of GreaterGood.org’s continued interest in supporting the Haitian people, westrengthened our support of Partners In Health and Prosthetics Outreach Foundationprograms there as well as forming new charity partnerships beginning in 2013 with Med Share, Village Partners International, and Meds and Food for Kids.

Internationally, GreaterGood.org’s expanded partnership with Soles for Souls will help stop the spread of foot-borne diseases. Foot-borne illnesses are easily preventable if people have access to free or low cost quality shoes


Providing Protection and Care to Vulnerable Animals

GreaterGood’s longtime partnership with Petfinder Foundation continued to benefit hundredsof small shelters and rescue groups through the Shelter Challenge and several newsignature programs.

In 2012, the Shelter Challenge topped more than $1 million given in cash grants to smallshelters and rescue groups since 2008. In addition, grants from GreaterGood.org enabledPetfinder Foundation to expand the Rescue U program to rebuild shelters across America with the help of college student volunteers; test a Train To Adopt program for shelter dogs; pay for vaccinations and other types of care for shelter pets; and much more.

“Small shelters like ours face an uphill battle every day, and programs like this one are trulyinvaluable in that struggle,” wrote Heather Balester, president of SPCA of Luzerne County, PA, after a Rescue U visit made possible by GreaterGood.org grants.

Additional grants given between 2011 and 2013 expanded Rescue Bank’s food distribution program to shelters throughout the United States, supported the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s rescue efforts here and abroad, and helped HSUS/Fund For Animalssanctuaries for abused or abandoned large animals.

In 2013, GreaterGood.org’s commitment to Pet Food Distribution included a pledge of a $50,000 grant to expand the distribution of Halo pet food to shelters and rescue groups in partnership withFree Kibble.

We also continue to look to ways to lessen the number ofanimals surrendered to shelters through supplying access to pet food through Help Americans in Need Feed Their Pets. Over the


past two fiscal years, this program hasawarded over $50,000 to shelters and food banks providing pet food to seniors, people with disabilities, and the working poor.

The Ride To Rescue signature programawarded IFAW $10,000 for transport efforts following Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and will continue to support IFAW efforts in 2013 to remove tigers from private zoos.

Following weather-related disasters such as wildfires in Colorado, tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, and Superstorm Sandy at the end of 2012,GreaterGood.org Disaster Relief grants to ani-mal rescue groups reunited pets and theirowners, saved hundreds of animals, and helped many groups weather unexpected hardshipsin a tough economy.

At the beginning of 2013, GreaterGood.org, The Animal Rescue Site, Petfinder Foundation, and Boehringer Ingelheim began A Shot At Life tovaccinate two million animals living in shelters or fostered by rescue groups. This goal is expected to be reached before the end of 2015 and will besupported by ongoing grants from GreaterGood.

Also beginning in 2013 will be Cats R Cool toimprove the lives of shelter cats throughawareness, education and adoption.

Providing Protection and Care to Vulnerable Animals continued…


One Picture Saves A Life

Through a unique partnership with famed pet photographer Seth Casteel, The Animal Rescue Site, John Paul Pet, and the Petfinder Foundation, GreaterGood.org launched One Picture Saves A Life in 2013.

This signature program gives shelter staff and volunteers the resources to successfully groom and photograph shelter pets through free training workshops as well as gifts of grooming supplies, cameras, and digital photo editing software. Touring the country with Seth Casteel and a John Paul Pet groomer and teaching hands on training workshops to regional shelters and the public, GreaterGood.org staff assisted at six tour stops in the first year, with more planned for 2014.© Seth Casteel


Fostering Literacy

Many of GreaterGood.org’s literacy grants in recent years have focused on improving access to education for girls and young women. These grants helped advance the cause of equaleducation for girls in some of the poorestcountries in the world.

In the Himalayas, GreaterGood grants to the Nepal Youth Foundation (formerly known as Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation) helped free girls from indentured servitude and provide them with an education. NYF programsprovide education from kindergarten through college and their efforts successfully break the cycle of poverty that leads to parents selling their girls into service.

GreaterGood.org also supported similar efforts by Community Partners International’sefforts to move Burma’s girls into schools and discourage the practice of child marriageor indentured servitude.

In Afghanistan, Razia’s Ray of Hope has used GreaterGood.org grants to expand the Zabuli Education Center for girls in Deh’Subz.

GreaterGood sponsored scholarships at the Fabindinia School inRajasthan, India, also made itpossible for girls to receive aneducation traditionally reserved for boys in their community.

Additional grants also providedsecondary education for young women in Africa, India, and Central Asia through such nonprofits as Eliminate Poverty Now, CAMFED, Darfur Peace and DevelopmentOrganization, and others.

© Nepal Youth Foundation

© Razia’s Ray of Hope


Working with longtime charity partner Baal Dan, GreaterGood.org pledged $20,000 in 2013 to fund the living and educational expenses entirely for one year for the Bachpan School for Girlsin India.

As part of the Bringing Greater Good to Haiti program, new partnerships were formed toprovide adult literacy classes on La Ganove as well as tuition and shoes for school children in other regions of the country. Through these new efforts, GreaterGood.org hopes to significantlyincrease the number of children able to receive quality education in Haiti as well as help adults break out of poverty through learning to read.

GreaterGood.org also continued to purchase books for literacy programs worldwide through such organizations as First Book and Room To Read. These programs target the millions ofprimary school children without access to books in their homes and limited availabilityof reading materials at local schools.

Fostering Literacy continued…

© Lynn Peterson


Preserving Habitat

In 2012, many of GreaterGood.org’s charitablepartners successfully completed projects to saveendangered wildlife habitat.

With final land acquisition done by the World Land Trust-US, the 6,000-acre Sierra Caral AmphibianReserve will protect some of Guatemala’s mostendangered wildlife.

In Africa, the new Laikipia National Park, created by African Wildlife Foundation and Nature Conservancy, will give wide ranging wildlife like elephants, lions, and zebra the ability to move safely through open habitat that is not bisected by roads, fences, and other formsof development. More than 17,100 acres of previously privately held land was saved from development.

Additional grants for wildlife rescue, preservationprograms for big cats and marine mammals, and sanctuaries for threatened species like theSumatran orangutan were made during the past two years.

Along with World Land Trust - US, GreaterGood.org ended 2012 with an effort to save anadditional 332 acres in the Serra Bonita rainforest of Brazil through a matching grant sponsored by a generous donor.

In 2013, GreaterGood.org launched several new signature programs to save endangered species through protecting their habitat.

Save the Maned Wolf may represent the last chance for preserving this unique canid, not closely related to any wolves, dogs, or foxes. Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to protect the Maned Wolf’s habitat in Bolivia by purchasing land at an unprecedented price of just $29 an acre, GreaterGood.org ispartnering with the World Land Trust-US (WLT-US) to raise $100,000 to buy as much of this land as possible. WLT-US is matching the GreaterGood.org commitment of $50,000, ensuring that every dollar donated will be doubled.

Also in 2013, GreaterGood.org started work on the Madrean Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment that will take a group of scientists throughout the Sky Islands, a globally unique region of mountains and grasslands stretching from centralArizona and western New Mexico to northwestern Mexico, including the Chihuahuan and

© Leo Reynolds

© Andrew Ives


Sonoran deserts. This effort to study thecurrent state of the environment andmigration patterns of animals in the region will help bolster efforts to develop relationships with local landowners to protect and preserve the natural state of land.

Another signature program aimed at saving wild elephants is currently in development.



Preserving Habitat continued…

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Annual Report2012 - GreaterGood.org · 2020. 4. 25. · GreaterGood.org • 2012 Annual Report 3...

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