Non-profit

Food and Water Watch (FWW) Action Fund

Website:

www.foodandwateractionfund.org/

Location:

WASHINGTON, DC

Tax ID:

32-0160436

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Budget (2018):

Revenue: $1,257,397
Expenses: $1,948,415
Assets: $1,074,862

Formation:

2005

Director:

Wenonah Hauter

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Food and Water Action Fund (FWW) is the 501(c)(4) lobbying arm of the environmentalist nonprofit Food and Water Watch. The organization engages voters, lobbies lawmakers, and participate in a variety of functions of political advocacy. 1 Food & Water Watch takes a hard-line attitude toward the environment, with goals of 100 percent renewable energy and maximizing the budget of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The group wants to ban fracking and completely remove the U.S. from using fossil fuels. 2

Critics note that while money given to 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax-deductible, Food and Water Watch solicits donations through its 501(c)(3), to which some portion of contributions are tax deductible, and shuffles the money to FWW Action Fund. 3

Initiatives

Trans-Pacific Partnership

Food and Water Watch fought against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, claiming it was a “corporate giveaway disguised as a trade deal.” 4

But several authorities – including the Obama administration – argued the partnership would lead to net positive economic outcomes for all countries involved. Advocates who signed off on the partnership included the U.S. International Trade Commission, World Bank, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 5

Fracking, Oil, and Natural Gas

Following the election of President Donald Trump, Food and Water Watch pushed an online campaign to restrict production of natural gas and oil in the United States.  The group urged followers to “stop dangerous pipelines and infrastructure projects.” 6

New Yorkers Against Fracking, a Food and Water Watch-funded group, claimed in a commercial that a natural gas well contaminated a Pennsylvania farmer’s water and killed his cows, but the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found that the deaths were the result of E. coli bacteria. 7

Despite its radical position on carbon emissions, Food and Water Watch and its associated groups have attacked reliable zero-emission energy supplies. James Hansen, who served as senior science advisor for Environmental Progress, called Food and Water Watch “the most anti-environmental of all of the anti-nuclear groups operating in New York state.” 8

Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (HR 4447)

In September 2020, Food and Water Action was one of 100 environmentalist organizations that opposed the Democratic-led Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (HR 4447) because while it pushed environmental regulations, it did not directly restrict fossil fuel production. 9 The organizations sent a letter to Congress that accused legislators of sacrificing communities to climate change, and said that the bill  offered false solutions to the “climate crises across [the] country and world.” 10

People

Founder and Executive Director

Wenonah Hauter is the founder of Food and Water Watch, and serves as executive director of Food and Water Watch Action Fund. She was paid total compensation of $197,946 in 2015, according to the group’s IRS Form 990. 11

Hauter has spent more than three decades in the environmentalist movement. She served as senior organizer for the Union of Concerned Scientists from 1989 to 1995 and as environmental policy director for Citizen Action from 1996 to 1997.12

Board of Directors

FWW Action Fund’s board of directors is comprised of like-minded activists, including Maude Barlow, Elizabeth Peredo Beltran, Rudolf Amengo Etergo, Robert Howath, Mary Ricci, and Lisa Schubert. 13

Funding

Food and Water Action Fund reported $866,838 in revenue and $936,103 in expenses on its IRS Form 990 for 2015. 14

As an IRS-designated 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, the Food and Water Action Fund doesn’t have to reveal its donors; but reports have highlighted some of its past grantees. Much of Food and Water Watch’s funding comes from donor-advised funds, such as the National Philanthropic Trust, which gave $2.5 million in 2012. The Park Foundation, one of the biggest players in the anti-fracking movement, has been a steady contributor to Food and Water Watch Action Fund. 15

Other Organizations

In 2018, FFW Action Fund raised $140,000 for Colorado Rising, as both groups back Colorado’s Initiative 97, an oil and gas ballot initiative which “would bar extraction on more than 80 percent of non-federal land” in the state.16

References

  1. Food and Water Action Fund: Home page. Accessed October 6, 2017. https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org/
  2. Food and Water Action Fund: Home page. Accessed October 6, 2017. https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org/
  3. Shepstone, Tom. “The Food and Water Watch Funding Farce.” Natural Gas Now. May 23, 2015. Accessed October 9, 2017. http://naturalgasnow.org/the-food-and-water-watch-funding-farce/
  4. Food and Water Action Fund: We Stopped the TPP! September 29, 2016. Accessed October 6, 2017. https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org/campaign/we-stopped-tpp
  5. U.S. International Trade Commission: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Specific Industry Sectors. May 2016. Accessed October 6, 2017. https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4607.pdf
  6. Food & Water Action Fund: Off Fossil Fuels. Accessed October 6, 2017. https://www.foodandwateractionfund.org/content/fossil-fuels
  7. Activist Facts: Food & Water Watch. Accessed October 9, 2017. https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/food-water-watch/
  8. Shellenberger, Michael. “Dark Money Behind Food & Water Watch As Blitz Attacking Clean Energy in New York.” Environmental Progress. June 9, 2017. Accessed October 9, 2017.
  9. “Over 100 Groups Oppose Democrats’ Energy Bill as Insufficient.” Friends of the Earth, September 23, 2020. https://foe.org/news/over-100-groups-oppose-democrats-energy-bill-as-insufficient/.
  10. “Over 100 Groups Oppose Democrats’ Energy Bill as Insufficient.” Friends of the Earth, September 23, 2020. https://foe.org/news/over-100-groups-oppose-democrats-energy-bill-as-insufficient/.
  11. Guidestar: Food & Water Action Fund IRS Form 990 for 2015. Accessed October 9, 2017. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2015/320/160/2015-320160436-0d85c967-9O.pdf
  12. Food & Water Watch: Wenonah Hauter. Accessed October 9, 2017. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/bio/wenonah-hauter
  13. Food & Water Watch: Board of Directors. Accessed October 9, 2017. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/board-directors
  14. Guidestar: Food and Water Watch Action Fund IRS Form 990 for 2015. Accessed October 9, 2017. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2015/320/160/2015-320160436-0d85c967-9O.pdf
  15. Activist Facts: Food & Water Watch. Accessed October 9, 2017. https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/food-water-watch/
  16. Goodland, Marianne. “What measures will be on November ballots in Colorado?” The Journal. July 28, 2018. Accessed August 2, 2018. https://the-journal.com/articles/104509 ; Aguilar, John. “Colorado oil and gas ballot initiative would bar extraction on more than 80 percent of non-federal land, state regulators say.” The Denver Post. July 10, 2018. Accessed August 2, 2018. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/07/10/colorado-oil-gas-ballot-initiative/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: November 1, 2005

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2018 Dec Form 990 $1,257,397 $1,948,415 $1,074,862 $800,641 N $1,257,397 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $2,540,095 $1,846,750 $1,681,165 $715,926 N $2,540,056 $0 $19 $0 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,403,927 $1,095,879 $758,875 $486,981 N $1,403,916 $0 $11 $0 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $866,838 $936,103 $241,689 $277,844 N $866,838 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $749,902 $756,268 $261,202 $228,092 N $749,902 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $450,471 $352,604 $390,207 $350,731 N $450,471 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990EZ $153,127 $208,292 $335,159 $393,550 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2011 Dec Form 990EZ $210 $5,958 $4,487 $7,712 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2010 Dec Form 990EZ $765 $4,096 $5,118 $2,595 $0 $0 $0 $0

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Food and Water Watch (FWW) Action Fund

    1616 P ST NW STE 300
    WASHINGTON, DC 20036-1408