Tides Foundation & Tides Center
P.O. Box 29907, Building 1014, San Francisco, CA 94129
Phone 415 561-6300 | Fax 415-561-6301 | Email info@tides.org

Adbusters The Tides Foundation has granted the anti-corporate Adbusters Media Foundation over $170,000 since 1996. Ironically, much of the money Tides funnels to activists comes from foundations started with corporate money, such as Pew Charitable Trusts (Sun Oil money) and the Ford Foundation.

Center for Food Safety The Tides Foundation gave the Center for Food Safety $60,000 in 1997, according to publicly available tax filings. CFS’ parent group, the International Center for Technology Assesment, has also received at least $170,000 from Tides since 1997. Tides never specified the purpose of any of these grants, nor the name of the original donor or donors.

Dakota Resource Council The Dakota Resource Council started accepting grants from the Tides Foundation in 2000 ($30,000 to date), but neither party has bothered to tell the IRS where the funds came from or what the grant was for.

Dakota Rural Action By Tides’ standards, its contributions to Dakota Rural Action have been modest (only $60,000 since 1996). But that number could dramatically increase in the near future, as the political battles over the future of Dakota farmland grow more vicious and attract even more out-of-state cash.

Earth First! One of the single largest donations ever received by the Fund for Wild Nature -- formerly called the Earth First! Foundation -- was a $50,000 gift from the Tides Foundation in 1998.

Environmental Media Services Environmental Media Services (EMS) was until recently a “project” of the Tides Center. Tides ran its day-to-day business operations, including payroll and tax matters, and allowed EMS to “piggyback” on its tax exemption. This is a legally questionable practice in which Tides regularly engages for its over 350 “projects.” In 2001 EMS was spun off and obtained its own tax exemption -- its business operations are now handles by employees of Fenton Communications, a high-powered DC public relations firm known for its leftist sympathies, and for its “food scare” and “health scare” campaigns.

Environmental Working Group The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is one of many organizations that was “incubated” while under the blanket protection of the Tides Foundation & Tides Center. For many years, all of EWG’s incoming donations flowed through Tides’ coffers, including at least three years before EWG was even incorporated (it was originally a “project” of the Center for Resource Economics, now known as Island Press). It’s no coincidence that Island Press’ founding director is now a Tides board member.

Greenpeace A variety of big-money donors have made sizable grants to Greenpeace through the Tides Foundation -- over $150,000 in all. As is usually the case with Tides, no public mention has been made about the names of these donors, and the current tax law protects this sort of secrecy. In 2004, however, the two organizations came together publicly to endorse a nationwide boycott of Ford automobiles.

Idaho Rural Council The Idaho Rural Council received its first grants from the Tides Foundation in 2000 ($37,500 in all).

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy The Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP) has received over $320,000 in Tides Foundation grants since its incorporation. And this isn’t the least bit surprising, considering that IATP leader Mark Ritchie is listed on the Tides Center’s founding documents as its “registered agent” for Minnesota. Tides has also poured at least $20,000 into Ritchie’s for-profit “sustainable” coffee venture, Headwaters Inc., which sells its products under the name Peace Coffee. Headwaters operates out of Ritchie’s nonprofit Minnesota offices, and IATP promotes the environmental concept behind Headwaters’ products; this clear conflict of interest has so far escaped the notice of IRS investigators.

Institute for Social Ecology The Tides Foundation hasn’t poured much money directly into the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE), but it does financially support literally dozens of other organizations that participate in ISE’s carefully orchestrated “BioDevastation” events. These annual “direct action” proceedings feature the world’s most high-profile anti-technology agitators, and generally result in an appreciable number of arrests as well.

Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC predates the Tides Center by several years, so it was never formally a Tides “project.” But it did enjoy similar “startup” assistance from the Tides Foundation during its early years. To date, Tides has used its “pass-through” granting structure to funnel over a quarter of a million dollars to NRDC, without ever acknowledging where the funds originally came from. In one example, the Tides Foundation was the funding vehicle through which NRDC received funds in 1989 to hire Fenton Communications, its PR firm of choice, to promote its much-hyped and thoroughly debunked Alar-on-apples food scare.

Northern Plains Resource Council NPRC has received over $140,000 from the Tides Foundation since 1992. As is typical with Tides, no information has been made available about where this money originated. Tides isn’t required by law to disclose these details, and it isn’t talking.

Ruckus Society The Ruckus Society has accepted over $23,000 in contributions from the Tides Foundation since 1999. These grants, of course, represent funds that Tides has obtained from other donors, all of whom have remained anonymous. While the current tax law permits such underhanded money-laundering, Tides has turned it into a high art form. Ruckus and Tides also co-signed an open letter in 2004, urging consumers not to buy Ford automobiles.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society In early 2004, the Tides Foundation/Tides Center complex and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society were among the many co-signers of an open letter urging consumers not to buy Ford automobiles.

Sierra Club The Tides Foundation regularly funnels money to the Sierra Club Foundation.

Western Organization of Resource Councils The Tides Foundation has granted over $250,000 directly to the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), beginning with a $25,000 grant in 1999. But this represents barely half of Tides real contribution, as several WORC member groups have received their own pieces of the Tides pie.

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