Frequently Asked Questions

“How is the Rivers Foundation different from River Network or International Rivers Network or American Rivers or my local river group?”
RFA is totally different from these organizations. We are a public foundation (also known as a community foundation). This means that we are establishing endowment funds in order to solicit proposals from and give grants to groups like (and possibly including) some of those listed above. We will use our staff and board expertise working with these groups and many others like them to give grants for effective river conservation, protection and restoration in critical areas throughout North, Central and South America. Our board and staff combined has over 150 years experience working on river watershed protection and restoration. We have learned what works and where innovative approaches to environmental and human health problems and biodiversity protection can make a big difference.

By contrast, River Network and American Rivers are national river protection groups in the United States. River Network concentrates on providing technical, strategic and fundraising experience to local and statewide river watershed groups throughout the United States. American Rivers largely works on national policy in Congress. International Rivers Network (IRN - co-founded by RFA Board member Mark Dubois) works on river protection strategies throughout the world. RFA President Peter Lavigne has worked for both River Network and American Rivers, and has also worked closely with IRN on various river campaigns over the years. RFA will bring new sources of funds to support the work of these and like-minded groups throughout the Americas.

“What is a "public" or "community" foundation?”
You may be familiar with private foundations like the Ford or the Gates Foundations. These are privately funded organizations, "internally" supported by the family or corporation they represent. Public foundations rely on funding from a variety of individuals and companies and are governed by an independent Board of Directors. The funds are combined in permanent endowments which provide interest income used for grant making in perpetuity - new grants year after year, decade after decade. RFA's 'community' is broad and diverse - the peoples and places of North, Central and South America.

“Who is on the Rivers Foundation team?”
Our team includes national and international visionaries:

• Trudy Coxe, the former executive director of SAVE THE BAY, former Republican Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts and former director of the Office of Coastal Resources Management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington DC.

• Mark Dubois cofounder of Friends of the River in California and International Rivers Network, and "etc"--Environmental Traveling Companions--which guides inner city and disabled youth down whitewater rivers.

• Chuck Hudson, a Hidatsa tribe member who was flooded out of his family home by the Fort Berthold reservoir in North Dakota as a young child, and who currently serves as the Public Affairs Manager of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

“What else is special about the Rivers Foundation?”
We will bring new sources of funds to underserved groups and areas. The RFA Board of Directors has adopted three significant policies regarding our grant making and support efforts:

• Focus on the Americas - First, we focus on all the Americas and it is our policy that over time approximately two-thirds of our funding will go to Central and South America.

• Indigenous Peoples - Second, it is our goal that a priority of our funding overall in North, Central and South America is to support the efforts of indigenous peoples and organizations for conservation, protection and restoration of rivers and their watersheds in the Americas.

• Systemic Solutions: Human Health, Sustainable Population and Biodiversity Protection. - Third, we are committed to the idea that all people deserve to breathe clean air, live on uncontaminated lands and drink clean life-generating water. That simple statement includes the idea that a healthy environment leads to healthy, happy and prosperous people. We believe that in many areas throughout the Americas human health, population and quality of life concerns have to be integrated with biodiversity protection and ecosystem restoration. To put it another way, until we deal with human health problems and population growth, in many areas there is no way to ensure environmental health.

“I still don't understand, what is so special about the Rivers Foundation that makes it worth donating my money to?”
Our implementation team—Board of Directors, CEO and Advisory Board—has an extraordinary record of producing results throughout the Americas and around the world. We know how to locate and leverage River CPR leaders, and we know why and how to strategically supply grants and support for those leaders in critical areas of opportunity throughout the Americas.

We will provide grants to groups and areas which are not being reached by existing funding sources and where that new source of money can make a significant difference in river protection and restoration. This means that we will target carefully selected river watersheds for grant requests. The best way to ensure permanent environmental protection and restoration efforts in critical areas is to work with groups and people who care about specific rivers and who have the vision to work with diverse strategies to protect those resources.

“How do you decide where to invest your endowments?”
Our Board has adopted an investment policy providing for:

• Strong fiduciary control of over all investments and cash by the Foundation's appointed custodians;
• Investments consistent with the Foundation's mission;
• Continual growth and secure preservation of capital
• Avoidance of inappropriate concentrations of investments, and
• Adequate liquidity to meet funding requirements.

We have also established an expert Investment Committee chaired by our Board Treasurer Hal T. Nelson, C.F.A. and which includes three outside experts in socially responsible and large fund investing.

“Are you establishing donor-advised funds like some other community foundations do?”
Many community foundations allow "donor advised funds" where the donor decides the specific use of the investment income from donations. Instead of creating potentially hundreds of small donor advised funds with high tracking and administrative costs, RFA has created three different River CPR endowments (Conservation, Preservation and Restoration funds) which give donors a comfortable array of activities to choose from.

“How much of my donation investment will actually go to river protection and restoration work?”
The RFA Board is dedicated to keeping overhead low and making sure that our endowment funds are used wisely for grants. When initial endowments are complete, our expert board and efficient staff and volunteers will keep RFA administrative costs below 15% of total annual expenditures.

“I noticed that you had a number of dignitaries and experts on your Advisory Board. What is the function of RFA's Advisory board?”
Our advisory board brings the significant experience and connections of people like former Governor of Oregon Barbara Roberts, renowned educator and environmental expert Professor David W. Orr, and Kevin Coyle, former president of American Rivers and current President of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation to the service of the Rivers Foundation. Quite often, members of the Advisory Board will take a more active role by eventually joining the Board of Directors.