Organizations, foundations, corporations, governments and individuals worldwide, who have a passion for Galapagos, support CDF’s work. They understand the uniqueness and importance of preserving this archipelago for generations to come, and the key role that science plays in this effort.
More than 90 percent of CDF’s revenue comes from donors, sustaining effective continuing operations in pursuit of its Mission. This support is vital to CDF’s accomplishments and to the health of the Galapagos ecosystem.
Friends of Galapagos
Friends of Galapagos Organizations (FOGOs) provide substantial support through funding for priority conservation work in Galapagos. There are currently FOGOs in 9 countries.
Governments and Multilateral Organizations
Governments often give though their Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) organizations. Multilateral agencies are global or regional cooperative organizations that represent various countries. These agencies have historically been the CDF’s largest donor group and contributed 38% of revenue in 2005, totaling more than US$1.4 million.
The challenge is that there is a significant drop in this type of support both for conservation and in South America as there has been a great shift toward causes such as Africa (poverty, AIDS, conflict), the Iraq war, anti-terrorism and natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami and the North American (New Orleans) hurricane. The affect of this shift on CDF has been a decrease of more than US$800,000 from these sources.
Individual Donors
A visit to the Galapagos is an emotional and awe-inspiring adventure. Many visitors describe it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and want to ensure that their children and grandchildren will also have the chance to enjoy this astonishingly distinctive ecosystem. Donations of all sizes come from tourists and people around the world who understand the global significance of this island archipelago and wish to show their appreciation and support for CDF’s research, capacity building, advisory and educational efforts.
To offset the drop in funding from government and multilateral organization support as well as diversify charitable support overall, increasing donations from this group is now a major priority for CDF.
Public and Private Foundations and NGOs
Foundations and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are also growing in importance as supporters of the CDF as a means to diversify historic dependence on government and multilateral organizations.