Fern has a long-term strategy objective to have a stable, diverse group of funders that entrust Fern with long term, flexible funding. To ensure that Fern up-holds its values while working towards this goal, we devised the following ethical guidelines, which we are putting on-line for accountability.
Fern is a not-for-profit organisation that does not generate its own income (other than through investing our reserves). As such, we are dependent on external funds to fulfil our mission. One of Fern’s core values is to be ‘Independent’, meaning that “our strength stems from our ability to question established thinking. We support no political parties, governments or commercial enterprises, and have a funding strategy to ensure our work can be developed and continue regardless of any pressure from funders or the public."
Fern accepts funds where:
The funder, parent company, or linked organisation are not using Fern to greenwash activities that go counter to Fern’s vision or mission.
The funder’s strategy broadly aligns with Fern’s vision for “An environmentally, economically and socially just world where people influence, improve and implement decisions that affect them, their forests and the climate.”
The source of the funder’s income is not so clearly in contradiction to Fern’s vision that staff consider it to be a reputational risk.