Where your money is spent FAQ

Is it true there have been accusations of financial mismanagement?
The financial management of The Wilderness Society Inc has never been more sound. Our accounts are externally audited and the last audit report for the 2008/2009 financial year praised the Wilderness Society's financial management. You can see a copy of this report here, plus the full financial statements are in our Annual Review.

Is it true the Wilderness Society spent over $1m on consultants last year?
This is not true. Again as per our financial report in the Annual Review, the total amount spent on consultancy in 2008/2009 was $650,000 or just over 5% of total expenditure. The Wilderness Society has experienced rapid growth over last decade. From 2004 to 2008 we grew by 60%. This kind of growth requires re-engineering of an organisation and this type of re-engineering requires external expertise. Consultancy’s included reviews of programs, strategic planning, communications advice and the establishment of a new database that could adequately manage a membership of 45,000.

Is it true you only spent $5.5m or 1/3 of revenue last year on campaigning?
The figure of $5.5 million was the amount provided specifically for campaign purposes. Campaigning is just one aspect of the Wilderness Society’s environmental protection work. The total amount spent on environmental protection work was closer to 60% of all monies spent last year or $9.2 million. Download a summary of our financials for full details.

Is it true you spend 30% of revenue on fundraising?
Yes, but the actual figure is more like 28cents in every dollar that is spent on fundraising and this is fairly standard for charities and even more so for environmental charities that do not receive government grants, service fees or huge bequests like medical charities. Comparatively, the Wilderness Society fundraising programs run very efficiently compared to other environmental groups in Australia including Greenpeace which spends 40%, of revenue on fundraising, WWF which spends 31% of revenues and ACF which spends 26% of revenue on fundraising.