Through the program, over 100 nonprofit organizations including Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and most recently, National Wildlife Federation and National Parks Conservation Association, have all partnered with Sungevity to offer their members a simple and tangible way to fight climate change and save money by adopting solar power as the primary electricity source for their homes.
Sungevity provides referral bonuses for each nonprofit member who goes solar through the program, which has helped these organizations gain a new funding stream. Sungevity co-founder Danny Kennedy launched the program in 2010 with Academy Award-winning actress and environmental activist Helen Hunt, as a way to simultaneously help scale his business and raise much-needed funds for social change organizations.
"The Sungevity.org program has helped grow our business by keeping us connected to our roots as a mission-driven, social change company," said Danny Kennedy, Sungevity co-founder and lifelong social change activist. "Our results show that the ‘market' can support the ‘movement' and vice versa."
"It's amazing how far Sungevity.org has come since we launched it," said Helen Hunt. "I love that a company like Sungevity can spread solar power to rooftops across America and raise over one million dollars for nonprofits at the same time."
Sungevity.org's funding has come at a vital time for the nonprofit sector hit hard by the most profound economic downturn since the Great Depression. Studies show that most nonprofits have been in difficult financial straits, and many report that the decline in the U.S. economy continues to impact their operations. At a time when the financial future of many nonprofits remains uncertain, Sungevity has injected over one million dollars of unrestricted funds to support its partners' principal operations.
While the financial windfall is significant, the impact extends beyond economic: by offering solar power to their members, these organizations have offset over 85,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent effect of planting over two million trees.
"The Sungevity.org program provides our members with another way to reduce their carbon footprint and also provides direct financial support for our work everyone wins," said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of National Wildlife Federation.
"We greatly appreciate the generous donations Sungevity makes to The Wilderness Society to support our mission of protecting our nation's wild places," said Jamie Williams, President of The Wilderness Society. "Sungevity also offers a wonderful opportunity for our members to act on their beliefs and generate renewable energy from their own homes."
Sungevity.org is a concrete extension of the company's vision – Solar for Universal Need, or "SFUN" – which strives to address climate change through the mass adoption of solar power. The program also serves as an integral component of Sungevity's Solar Social Strategy, which has helped the company effectively lower the residential solar sector's common hurdle of high-cost customer acquisition.
"Sungevity has always been a standout leader in clean-tech and by partnering in the Sungevity.org program, we've demonstrated that nonprofit and for-profit organizations can push forward with our separate initiatives and achieve success for our common goals," said Michael Brune, Executive Director of Sierra Club.
