does irreparable damage to species and landmass. From 1971 to 1974, Greenpeace's main push was on nuclear disarmament. Many early Greenpeace members were journalists and knew how to get across a compelling story. They used the media as their weapon against powerful governments in an attempt to drive policy changes. The Greenpeace methods of "bearing witness," "direct action," and creating a "media mindbomb" became their trademarks as the organization expanded into fights for other environmental causes such as the Save the Whales and the Seal Pup campaigns.
WWF was founded in response to the destruction of Africa's natural habitat when British biologist Sir Julian Huxley wrote articles in an English newspaper warning that large portions of wildlife would become extinct if no action was taken. The articles attracted attention from scientists, businesspeople, and nongovernmental organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN had been set up in neutral Switzerland in 1948 by 18 governments and 100 NGOs with the objective of coordinating activities to preserve wildlife. As of the early 1960s, however, the IUCN did not have sufficient resources to carry out its projects, which led to the idea to form a new organization focused on fundraising and conservation in coordination with the IUCN. The WWF was constituted in Switzerland in 1961 with the purpose of conserving natural resources by acquiring and managing land while coordinating and communicating the necessity of conservation to a wide number of stakeholders.
The challenge for a business student is how to put a quantifiable measure on these organizations.
In the organizations' histories, some differences are clear: Greenpeace has primarily been a campaigner while WWF presides over conservation projects. In class, we talk about Greenpeace trying to convince others to deliverthe public good while WWF works directly onproviding the public good.
Other key differences include the composition of the founding members and the methods in which the organizations gained public support. Greenpeace's early membership was made up of journalists, scientists, and activists, whereas WWF attracted the attention of scientists, businesspeople, and government officials. Greenpeace's beginnings were looselyknit and highly autonomous, since it started more as a movement than as a charity. It wasn't until nearly 10 years after the first campaign that consistent rules were developed on the use of the Greenpeace name and the opening of new offices. In contrast, WWF began as a centralized organization and closely controlled the growth of international sites.
In garnering public support, Greenpeace encouraged people to protest against governments while WWF looked for ways to work with governmental representatives. For example, WWF gained the public participation of members of royal families such as Britain's Prince Phillip and the Netherlands' Prince Bernhard. In 1970, Prince Bernhard led the creation of an endowment fund, The 1001: A Nature Trust, calling upon 1,001 donors to contribute $10,000 each. The endowment permitted WWF to cover its administrative expenses through interest income. Another interesting example of governmental involvement was in the 1980s when WWF created a debt-for-nature swap, whereby indebted governments could trade debt for funds earmarked for conservation purposes. Debt-for-nature swaps were conducted around the world in countries such as Ecuador, Madagascar, and the Philippines.
Interestingly enough, Greenpeace also mobilized renowned although markedly different individuals to help with fundraising. For example, one of Greenpeace's early fundraising campaigns culminated in a benefit rock concert featuring Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. Greenpeace's early campaigns were in direct opposition to governments and mounted "direct action" crusades to confront what the organization believed were environmental wrongdoings.
In addition to involving high-profile individuals, throughout the histories of the organizations, both harnessed the 