B.C. environmental groups are facing tough challenges in the economic recession as declining donations lead to layoffs, budget cuts, reduced pay and hours of work, and a critical re-evaluation of campaigns and programs.

The Sierra Club of B.C. has slashed the equivalent of six full-time positions, leased out half its office space, loaded up remaining staff with more work while reducing hours of employment, and cut its annual budget to $762,000 in 2009 compared with $1 million in each of 2008 and 2007 and $1.3 million in 2006.

“It’s been painful,” executive director Kathryn Molloy said an interview. “Everybody is working harder and longer and looking forward to time off at Christmas, because they’re just tired.”

Molloy said the Sierra Club proved vulnerable because 70 per cent of its funding comes from charitable foundations, mainly the Bullitt, Brainerd, Hewlett, Packard, and Gordon and Betty Moore foundations.

The foundations warned recipients in the spring to expect a 30- to 50-per-cent drop in funding, Molloy said. “The big lesson is to diversify your revenue,” she said, rallying private donors to come forward and support the environmental movement. “That’s where our future success lies.”

Devon Page, executive director of Ecojustice, formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund, said donations dropped by $200,000 in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, and by another $100,000 in November, raising concerns for December, a time when many individuals make charitable donations for tax purposes.

“December in so many ways is a make-it or break-it month for charities.”

Ecojustice, which offers legal services to mainly environmental groups, has implemented an “austerity budget” with cuts to areas such as library books, staff development, office parties, and a policy of refusing requests for speaking engagements unless travel and accommodation are provided.

So far no one has been laid off on Ecojustice’s $4-million budget, and the group has actually hired a “donor relations” staffer to fight for a bigger share of the donor pie. Page noted that fewer than two per cent of Canadians who donate to charities give to environmental groups.

Daniel Sherrod, executive director of the $150,000-a-year Valhalla Wilderness Society, said small environmental groups are especially vulnerable because they lack the fundraising staff and foundation connections.

“There has been a corporatization of the bigger environment groups and alignment with big foundations looking to fund that kind of thing. I am hoping that is going to swing back.”

Daniel Bouman, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, said his organization doesn’t have much “wiggle room” given its modest annual budget of $80,000. Options include reducing work hours and reducing his own $25,000 salary so that campaigns can still be waged.

“The public demand doesn’t slack off,” he said, citing the environmental impact of so-called green run-of-river hydro projects on fish streams.

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee has a $2.2-million budget, with 30,000 members and 40,000 donors who are not members, and is “holding up well” so far, said campaign director Joe Foy.

“It’s going to be a tough year,” he acknowledged. “We’re on high alert, we’re nervous because like everybody else in the world, we’re not quite sure how all this is going to move out.”

Peter Robinson, chief executive officer of the David Suzuki Foundation, said his organization has trimmed discretionary funding and taken a critical look at what it does to avoid duplicating the work of others.

“Look at your organization and focus on the critical things you want to do,” he advised. “When you hit a recession, don’t do general cuts across the board and dumb down the entire organization.”

The organization will continue to focus on issues such as climate change as well as infrastructure, including green buildings, transportation, and energy, he said.

About 50 per cent of the organization’s $7-million budget comes from individuals.