Greenpeace raises ship financing, one fork at a time

Want to help Greenpeace fund the construction of the new Rainbow Warrior? Buy a fork for EURO 1 or a washing machine for EURO 750 or a GPS for EURO 4,000.

Greenpeace International is taking a novel approach to raising funding for the construction of the new ship, which is under construction at Fassmer Shipyard in Bremen, Germany. It announced that it would sell over 400,000 items onboard the new Rainbow Warrior. The items along with the item price and quantities are listed on a website. By the way, all the forks have been sold out.

So why the novel financing approach? Greenpeace fundraiser Anita Lee explained, “As Greenpeace does not accept corporate or government funding, this allows us to maintain an independent voice, but means we are totally reliant on support from individuals. This is why we are always looking for new, creative to generate contributions, like this new Rainbow Warrior sale.”

All of the items, of course, will remain onboard the ship when it sets sail sometime in the fall of this year. The donors instead will receive a certificate of purchase and their names will be included on a dedication wall  in the Rainbow Warrior’s conference room. Donors will also be allowed to write their own dedication message to the website’s virtual ship.

What is particularly interesting about the website, http://www.greenpeace.org/anewwarrior, is that you can also see the construction progress on the ship (see screen capature at right) and take a 3D virtual tour of the ship.

The ship will be a sailing vessel, but also have the option to switch to diesel-electric propulsion. Plans are to have the 57.8-meter ship completed and ready for Greenpeace’s 40th anniversary on Oct. 14, 2011.

The new Rainbow Warrior will be used in the organization’s efforts promoting renewable energy, as well as in campaigns against what it determines as illegal fishing and environmental crimes.