EarthShare is a national fundraising federation that raises money for left-of-center environmentalist organizations. The organization helps employers set up a payroll-deduction program that enables employees to donate either directly to EarthShare or have their money funneled to a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with EarthShare.

The organization’s main product is a platform that allows users engage in environmentalist activities. The main purpose of the platform is to raise money for environmentalist organizations, but the platform also allows its users to track their carbon footprint and allow users to purchase carbon offsets. It also has a section that allows users to volunteer for environmentalist causes. ¹

According to the organization, it has raised over $375 million for environmentalist organizations. ² It was founded in 1988. ³

Background

EarthShare is a national fundraising federation that raises money for environmentalist organizations. The organization raises for national organizations but it also does fundraising for organizations with a state or local focus. ⁴

Platform Offerings

The main product of the organization is a platform that enables employers to set up a payroll deduction program that enables their employees to donate directly to EarthShare or through EarthShare to a member environmentalist nonprofit. The platform allows companies to set themselves up as environmental leaders by enabling their employees to donate money to environmentalist organizations. ⁵

In March 2023, the organization launched a platform that allows for individual members to contribute to a donor-advised platform that features 500 environmentalist nonprofit organizations. The platform also features educational content about environmental issues, volunteer opportunities to take part in environmental related projects and activism, tools to measure users’ carbon footprints and to purchase carbon offsets, and recommended grants to EarthShare to any environmental nonprofit of the user’s choice. ⁶

In addition to launching the individual donor platform, it launched an individual membership in 2023 offering for as a low as $25 a year. ⁷

Besides funneling donor money to selected nonprofit organizations, EarthShare makes its own grants to environmentalist organizations. In March 2022, EarthShare announced plans to award grants to organizations working in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Arizona to organizations that were working on environmentalist energy programs on the community level. Previous versions of the grant program awarded grants to left-of-center organizations such as the Children’s Environmental Health Network, Interfaith Power and Light, and the National Wildlife Federation. ⁸

Leadership

In 2023, Brad Liebov was the chief executive officer of the organization. He has been working in that role since 2019. Before joining EarthShare, Liebov was the CEO of the Liberty Prairie Foundation. While in that role, he was a co-founder of the Funders for Regenerative Agriculture. ⁹

Funding

According to its 2020 tax return, EarthShare received $5,098,845 in revenue and had $5,068,031 in expenses. It had $6,881,488 in assets. ¹⁰

The overwhelming majority of its expenses and grants were awarded through its workplace giving program. Among the organizations supported were the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Earthjustice, and others. ¹¹

1. “About EarthShare.” EarthShare. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.earthshare.org/about/.
2. “About EarthShare.” EarthShare. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.earthshare.org/about/
3. “EarthShare Announces Second Round Grant Opportunity.” EarthShare Announces Second Round Grant Opportunity, March 22, 2022. https://www.3blmedia.com/news/earthshare-announces-second-round-grant-opportunity-clean-and-equitable-energy-initiatives.
4.  “Earth Share .” Philanthropy News Digest, March 18, 2008. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/features/nonprofit-spotlight/earth-share.
5. “Earth Share .” Philanthropy News Digest, March 18, 2008. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/features/nonprofit-spotlight/earth-share.
6. [1] “A Letter from the CEO: Introducing EarthShare Membership.” EarthShare, March 20, 2023. https://www.earthshare.org/were-changing-the-rules-of-the-game-for-environmental-giving-and-for-the-better/.
7. “EarthShare’s New Platform for Giving Brings Fintech to Environmental Philanthropy.” Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo! Accessed April 24, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/earthshare-platform-giving-brings-fintech-145500199.html.
8. [1] “EarthShare Announces Second Round Grant Opportunity.” EarthShare Announces Second Round Grant Opportunity, March 22, 2022. https://www.3blmedia.com/news/earthshare-announces-second-round-grant-opportunity-clean-and-equitable-energy-initiatives.
9.  “EarthShare Welcomes Brad Leibov as New CEO.” 3BL Media, July 8, 2019. https://www.3blmedia.com/news/earthshare-welcomes-brad-leibov-new-ceo.
10. [1] “Earthshare, Full Filing .” ProPublica. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521601960/202141109349301429/full.
11. “Earthshare, Full Filing .” ProPublica. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521601960/202141109349301429/full.