Our Funding
SumOfUs is a global consumer watchdog: an online community of ten million people who campaign to hold big corporations accountable. We use our power as consumers, workers and investors to hold the biggest companies in the world to account. For more information about SumOfUs please consult our FAQ.
2018 financials will be available Fall 2019.
Where our funding comes from
Individuals
Foundations
Other sources
The majority of our support comes from member donations. In 2016 we received over 286,484 contributions with an average gift of $14 USD.
SumOfUs also partners with a number of foundations and NGO groups, including Tides Foundation, Chorus Foundation, BetterWorld, Changing Markets, General Service Foundation, Hull Family Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Packard Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, Voqal Foundation, Wallace Global Fund, Funders for Fair Trade, Media Democracy Fund, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, New Venture Fund.
How we spend donations
Campaigns
Management & Operations
Fundraising
2018 financials will be available Fall 2019.
Our Commitment to Donors
When you donate to SumOfUs, you join a community of people from all over world
who are investing their money to take on the corporations that put profit over
people and planet.
Our members are committed to holding the biggest companies in the world to
account. Each day tens of thousands of SumOfUs members take actions that help us
win campaigns, whether by signing a petition, writing to a Chief Executive or
asking a question at a shareholder meeting -- and, for those who can afford
to, donating.
Simply put, campaigns cost money. We do not accept money from corporations or
governments. So without the generosity of our members we would not exist.
We’ll never have the bank balances of the corporations we take on. But thanks
to our members who donate what they can, we can stand up to corporate power
and we can win.
We are powered by you, and in return we promise you:
Recently, your support has allowed us to achieve some huge victories all around the world. Here are just a few:
- We will spend your money wisely: we’ll make the most of every cent or penny you donate by spending it where it’ll have the biggest impact. We have just over 30 staff but we take on corporate giants such as Nestle and PepsiCo, and we win. We’re lean and we get results.
- We will keep in touch with you: we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop with what’s going on with campaigns.
- We will get back to you quickly: if you contact us we’ll respond as promptly as we can.
- We will give you a refund if you ask: if you change your mind about a donation we will give it back to you, no questions asked.
- We will always treat you with respect: You are a valued partner and every staff member and volunteer understands how important our relationship is with you.
- We will keep trying to get better: we will always look for ways that we can improve how we do all of the above.
Recently, your support has allowed us to achieve some huge victories all around the world. Here are just a few:
Glyphosate
Monsanto’s favourite pesticide, glyphosate, has been contaminating food,
clothing, personal hygiene products, and even breast milk. SumOfUs members
were a crucial part of the coalition that led to pushing major EU countries
such as France and Italy to not back the renewal of its license.
Your donations helped us to advertise in publications widely read by key
EU decision-makers, and helped prevent the license from being railroaded
through.
Westpac
When Westpac, one of the biggest banks in Australia, planned to bankroll
Adani's Reef-wrecking coal mine, your donations raised money for billboards,
online ads and a spoof video - and along with our members' actions and our
partners, we won. Westpac publicly stated that they won't fund Adani's mine.
WestJet
When details came to light over WestJet’s failure to investigate sexual
assault, money raised by SumOfUs members helped us to run an effective
targeted campaign. We went to Calgary to meet with company executives,
flyered customers at one of Canada's largest international airports, got
a letter signed by WestJet shareholders and frequent flyers, and attended
the AGM, where we asked tough questions about its failure to protect employees
in front of investors and shareholders. Eventually, WestJet backed down and
agreed to an external audit of its policies.
Baysanto
The merger of Bayer and Monsanto into one megacorporation would’ve been
a disaster - but SumOfUs members helped make sure the EU Commission didn’t
give the green light and instead launched an investigation. EU Commissioner
Margrethe Vestager even responded to our members directly. Your donations
helped us fund a huge advertising campaign and hire our own lobbyist to beat
the corporate giants at their own game.
And more
Donations from SumOfUs members have helped to fund leafleting, advertisements,
billboards, lobbyists and more. We’ve helped beekeepers and experts travel
to speak in front of congress against pesticides, funded advertisements to
stop companies supporting hate speech in Breitbart and the Daily Mail, and
much more. Your donations, along with the actions of our members, have made
all of this work possible - we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without it.
For more information, you can view our annual Form 990, an official US
Internal Revenue Service form that provides public information about
nonprofit organizations, and our audit report conducted by Lederer
Levine & Associates, an independent accounting firm based in New York.