Grassroots organizations get top votes for best environmental nonprofits, according to GreatNonprofits' 2009 Green Choice Awards. The contest asked people to submit reviews and ratings about environmental nonprofits. The results provide surprising insights into the kinds of organizations that are considered effective by volunteers, donors, and stakeholders.
GreatNonprofits is a provider of user-generated ratings and reviews of nonprofits. Reviews appear on both www.GreatNonprofits.org as well as www.GuideStar.org. Nonprofits with the most positive reviews in their budget category were determined the winners of the 2009 Green Choice Awards. Those who submitted reviews were eligible to win prizes, such as an autographed copy of Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded, earth-friendly wines from Fetzer wineries, subscriptions to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, a getaway at Joie De Vivre hotels, gift certificates for Whole Foods, coupons for Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and more. The winning organizations of this year's Green Choice Awards were:
Annual Budget Less Than $250,000: Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group, San Francisco, California. Once a hangout for drug dealers and prostitutes, now youngsters plant organic vegetables and care for gardens. The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group is an all-volunteer group that has cleaned up local parks and turned them into fun, safe places for the neighborhood to enjoy nature.
Annual Budget Between $250,000 and $1 Million: Slide Ranch, Muir Beach, California. At Slide Ranch, spend the day in the organic garden, walking the trails, milking a goat or just sitting on the bluff above the roaring ocean. It is a place to connect with nature and learn about the growing of healthy food and our interdependence with the environment.
Annual Budget More Than $1 Million: Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset, Maine. The Chewonki Foundation instills a life-long appreciation of nature through programs such as canoe and sailboat explorations on the rocky coast of Maine and wilderness backpacking trips that teach forest management.
Best of Northeast: Global Links, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This organization refurbishes, sorts, and sends donated hospital equipment (everything from beds and wheelchairs to IV poles and dialysis machines) to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Global Links recovers more than one hundred tons of medical materials a year.
Best of Southeast: Solar Electric Light Fund, Washington, DC. SELF provides power to villages in developing countries for water pumps, schools, health clinics, homes and drip irrigation to grow crops.
Best of Midwest: PLACE, Minneapolis, Minnesota. PLACE is a nonprofit developer that works with cities to build green and affordable housing.
Best of Southwest: Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson, Arizona. Using science, law, and creative media, the Center for Biological Diversity works to protect the habitats of endangered species. They wrote the petition that got the polar bear listed under the Endangered Species Act, and they have been successful in protecting the orca habitat in the Northwest and the wolves in the Rockies.
Best of West: Foundation for Sustainable Development, San Francisco, California. By partnering with more than 200 community-based organizations throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America, FSD works to support sustainable change. Projects include construction of communal clothes-washing areas and non-polluting bathrooms, teaching organic farming methods, and establishing vegetable nurseries and organic gardens at local schools.