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Non-profit

Holdfast Collective

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Type:

Environmentalist Advocacy Group
Formation:

2022
Executive Director:

Greg Curtis

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Holdfast Collective is a left-of-center grantmaking entity that owns 98 percent of apparel brand Patagonia, which was valued at $3 billion in 2022. 1 The collective makes grants and advocates for left-of-center climate-related policy changes, 2 land conservation, and environmentalist activism. 3 4 5

History and Leadership

Holdfast Collective was formed in 2022 when Yvon Chouinard, the environmentalist founder of apparel company Patagonia, and his family transferred their private ownership of Patagonia to the Holdfast Collective and a family-observed trust, the Patagonia Purpose Trust. 6 Chouinard self-identifies as “an avowed socialist,” stated that he admires the governments of Scandinavia, and has said that he does not consider Venezuela to be a socialist state. 7

Greg Curtis is the executive director of Holdfast Collective. Previously, Curtis worked as deputy general counsel of Patagonia prior to assuming his role at Holdfast Collective. 8

Organizational Structure

As structured, the Holdfast Collective owns 98% of Patagonia, which was valued at $3 billion in 2022. 9 The collective owns all of Patagonia’s nonvoting stock, which has economic value but no decision-making role. Patagonia Purpose Trust owns the remaining 2% of Patagonia and all its voting stock, which has both economic value and decision-making authority. 10

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has faced criticism for skirting taxes through the unique structure of the deal that formed the nonprofit Holdfast Collective. 11 According to media outlet Bloomberg, by creating a social welfare nonprofit instead of selling the company, Chouinard owed $17.5 million in taxes for the shares he transferred to the trusts as opposed to paying potentially $700 million to the Internal Revenue Service in estate and gift taxes that he would have owed if he sold Patagonia, which was valued at $3 billion in 2022. 12 13

Chouinard has said he hopes the collective will influence a new form of capitalism. In a statement announcing the creation of Holdfast Collective, he also said the collective is one way to put money into campaigning on climate issues while also maintaining Patagonia’s environmentalist values. 14 After the announcement to form Holdfast Collective, Chouinard claimed that “Earth is now [Patagonia’s] only shareholder.” 15

Holdfast Collective receives an annual dividend of any Patagonia profits that are not re-invested into the business to fund its operations. Patagonia projects this will amount to approximately $100 million per year to fund Holdfast Collective’s activities. 16 Through this structure, the Chouinard family will influence the activities of the Holdfast Collective to support its left-of-center policy goals. 17

In 2023, the Holdfast Collective was named number 4 on financial website Fast Company’s most innovative companies of the year. 18

Activities and Funding

Holdfast Collective makes grants and advocates for left-of-center climate-related policy changes, 19 land conservation, and environmentalist activism. 20 21 22 23 Holdfast Collective holds all of Patagonia’s nonvoting stock and will use additional funds from Patagonia to build on the company’s history of funding grassroots activism, lobbying, and donating to political campaigns. 24 25

In 2023, Holdfast Collective spent $60,000 on lobbying activities. It also spent $120,000 on lobbying activities in 2022 and 2021. 26

The Holdfast Collective has donated to roughly 70 several environmental projects since 2022: these include removal of a dam in the Vjosa River in Albania, conservation efforts in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, and advocating in favor of a California state law preventing oil and gas operations in residential areas. 27

Grantmaking

In October 2023, Holdfast Collective awarded California Trout $1 million to remove dams on several California waterways. 28 In 2022, Holdfast Collective provided funding to the Alaska Native-owned Pedro Bay Corp  to prevent energy development in Alaska with the left-of-center Wyss Foundation and Alaska Venture Fund. 29

Holdfast Collective’s future grantmaking will constitute grants and donations worth millions of dollars. These efforts will compliment Patagonia’s Home Planet Fund and revenue grants of up to $15,000 that come from one percent of Patagonia’s corporate revenue. 30

Controversy

On February 22, 2024, right-of-center watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Holdfast Collective over allegedly improperly labeling political donations it made in 2022. According to FEC filings, Holdfast Collective donated almost $200,000 that year to several left-of-center Super PAC’s including Senate Majority PAC, the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, Galeo Impact Fund PAC, and Activate America. However, additional tax filings by nonprofits Holdfast Trust and Chalten Trust show that several of these contributions originated from them instead: Holdfast Trust’s tax records show it made grants of similar amounts to Senate Majority PAC, Jande Fonda Climate PAC, and Galeo Impact Fund along with one to House Majority PAC. In addition Charlten Trust’s tax forms show that it was a contributor to Activate America under a “memo item” instead of Holdfast Collective. 31 32 Both nonprofits are managed by the Four Seas LLC, a for-profit that Holdfast Collective is registered as. Other nonprofits under the Holdfast umbrella include Sojourner Trust, Wilder Trust, & Tail Wind Trust. 33 According to the complaint, ATP claims that this mislabeling of contributions is in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which bans such grants from being filed under another name. In a statement released, Patagonia spokesperson Corley Kenna claims that the mislabeling was due to errors, “made by the recipient political action committees.” 34 Since 2022, roughly $71 million has been donated by the five collective groups to left-of-center causes: environmental advocacy recipients include the Conservation Fund, Rewild, Raincoast Conservation Fund, Northeast Wilderness Trust Corporation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Black Voters Matter Fund, Nature Conservancy, Earthjustice, and Southern Environmental Law Center. 35 36

References

  1. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Fonder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  2. “What Patagonia’s Donation Shows Us about American Philanthropy.” Berkeley Economic Review. November 10, 2022. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://econreview.berkeley.edu/what-patagonias-donation-shows-us-about-american-philanthropy/#:~:text=The%20Holdfast%20Collective%2C%20where%20the,purpose%20of%20combating%20climate%20change.
  3. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 20, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  4. Locastro, Richard. “501(c)(4) vs. 501(c)(3) – Which Do I Choose?.” CPAx & Advisors. February 2, 2023. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://www.grfcpa.com/resource/501c4-vs-501c3-which-do-i-choose/.
  5. “Patagonia Founder Transfers Ownership to Boost Climate Advocacy.” The NonProfit Times. September 16, 2022. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://thenonprofittimes.com/people/patagonia-founder-transfers-ownership-to-boost-climate-advocacy/#:~:text=The%20Holdfast%20Collective%20is%20a,biodiversity%20and%20support%20thriving%20communities.
  6. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Fonder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  7. Geraghty, Jim. “The Socialist Billionaire Who’s Getting a Sweet Tax Deal.” National Review. September 16, 2022. Accessed October 21, 2023. https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-socialist-billionaire-whos-getting-a-sweet-tax-deal/.
  8. “Greg Curtis.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-curtis-367bb481/.
  9. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Fonder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  10. “Patagonia Founder Transfers Ownership To Boost Climate Advocacy.” The NonProfit Times. September 16, 2022. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://thenonprofittimes.com/people/patagonia-founder-transfers-ownership-to-boost-climate-advocacy/.
  11. Rando, Paul. “Taxagonia.” University of Cincinnati Law Review Vol. 91. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://uclawreview.org/2022/11/02/taxagonia/.
  12. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Fonder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  13. Devon Pendleton and Ben Steverman. “Patagonia Billionaire Who Gave Up Company Skirts $700 Million Tax Hit.” Bloomberg. September 15, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 21, 2023. https://archive.ph/ifEzF.
  14. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Fonder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  15. Chouinard, Yvon. “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Patagonia. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.patagonia.com/mx/ownership/.
  16. Toussaint, Kristin. “Patagonia uses capitalism to save the planet with the Holdfast Collective.” Fast Company. March 2, 2023. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://archive.ph/Qx46A#selection-801.261-805.1167.
  17. “Patagonia Founder Transfers Ownership To Boost Climate Advocacy.” The Non Profit Times. September 16, 2022. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://thenonprofittimes.com/people/patagonia-founder-transfers-ownership-to-boost-climate-advocacy/.
  18. “The World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2023.” Fast Company. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/list.
  19. “What Patagonia’s Donation Shows Us about American Philanthropy.” Berkeley Economic Review. November 10, 2022. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://econreview.berkeley.edu/what-patagonias-donation-shows-us-about-american-philanthropy/#:~:text=The%20Holdfast%20Collective%2C%20where%20the,purpose%20of%20combating%20climate%20change.
  20. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 20, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  21. Locastro, Richard. “501(c)(4) vs. 501(c)(3) – Which Do I Choose?.” CPAx & Advisors. February 2, 2023. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://www.grfcpa.com/resource/501c4-vs-501c3-which-do-i-choose/.
  22. “Patagonia Founder Transfers Ownership to Boost Climate Advocacy.” The NonProfit Times. September 16, 2022. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://thenonprofittimes.com/people/patagonia-founder-transfers-ownership-to-boost-climate-advocacy/#:~:text=The%20Holdfast%20Collective%20is%20a,biodiversity%20and%20support%20thriving%20communities.
  23. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 20, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  24. Chouinard, Yvon. “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Patagonia. Accessed October 20, 2023. https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/?s_kwcid=17928&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Non+Brand+-+Dynamic+Search+-+Catch+All&utm_content=alwayson&gclid=CjwKCAjwysipBhBXEiwApJOcuzhFBXwmr8KdqzlmzSiwJ5MH6c6LoEMVfeBTnmXVFQ3HTjWeW11wrxoC3mUQAvD_BwE.
  25. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive October 20, 2023. https://archive.ph/Y40xA.
  26. “Client Profile: Holdfast Collective.” Open Secrets. Accessed October 21, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2022&id=D000103257.
  27. Gelles, David and Kenneth P. Vogel. “Patagonia’s Profits Are Funding Conservation — and Politics.” The New York Times, January 30, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/climate/patagonia-holdfast-philanthropy.html
  28. “Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective Awards $1 Million for CalTrout Dam Removal Efforts.” Caltrout News. October 18, 2023. Accessed October 18, 2023. https://caltrout.org/news/patagonias-holdfast-collective-awards-1-million-for-caltrout-dam-removal-efforts.
  29. Joselow, Maxine. “Alaska Native group protects land coveted by Pebble Mine Developers.” Washington Post. December 22, 2023. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/alaska-native-group-protects-land-coveted-by-pebble-mine-developers/.
  30. “X Post.” Morning Brew X Page. Posted March 19, 2023. Accessed October 21, 2023. https://twitter.com/MorningBrew/status/1637493382757875712.
  31. “Americans for Public Trust Files FEC Complaint Against Patagonia’s Dark Money Group.” Americans for Public Trust, February 22, 2024. https://americansforpublictrust.org/news/americans-for-public-trust-files-fec-complaint-against-patagonias-dark-money-group/#:~:text=This%20morning%2C%20Americans%20for%20Public,of%20dollars%20in%20political%20contributions
  32. Catenacci, Thomas. “Major outdoor clothing company quietly operating liberal dark money group hit with FEC complaint.” Fox Business, February 22, 2024. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/major-outdoor-clothing-company-quietly-operating-liberal-dark-money-group-hit-fec-complaint
  33. “Americans for Public Trust Files FEC Complaint Against Patagonia’s Dark Money Group.” Americans for Public Trust, February 22, 2024. https://americansforpublictrust.org/news/americans-for-public-trust-files-fec-complaint-against-patagonias-dark-money-group/#:~:text=This%20morning%2C%20Americans%20for%20Public,of%20dollars%20in%20political%20contributions
  34. Catenacci, Thomas. “Major outdoor clothing company quietly operating liberal dark money group hit with FEC complaint.” Fox Business, February 22, 2024. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/major-outdoor-clothing-company-quietly-operating-liberal-dark-money-group-hit-fec-complaint
  35. Catenacci, Thomas. “Major outdoor clothing company quietly operating liberal dark money group hit with FEC complaint.” Fox Business, February 22, 2024. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/major-outdoor-clothing-company-quietly-operating-liberal-dark-money-group-hit-fec-complaint
  36. “Americans for Public Trust Files FEC Complaint Against Patagonia’s Dark Money Group.” Americans for Public Trust, February 22, 2024. https://americansforpublictrust.org/news/americans-for-public-trust-files-fec-complaint-against-patagonias-dark-money-group/#:~:text=This%20morning%2C%20Americans%20for%20Public,of%20dollars%20in%20political%20contributions
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