Meet Our Donors

Barbara and Donald Frank
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As leaders within Sierra Club’s network of 32,000 volunteers and activists, Barbara and Donald Frank have worked tirelessly on environmental issues in the Midwest and on the national stage. In November 2006, the Sierra Club Board of Directors was discussing plans for a comprehensive campaign in response to the climate crisis. During the meeting, board member Barbara  announced that she and Donald intended to support Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Partnership with a gift from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) at year’s end.

The Franks joined Sierra Club in 1968 while living in Kentucky. At that time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was proposing to dam the Red River Gorge to provide drinking water for the city of Lexington. “An organized group of conservation-minded citizens proposed moving the dam 40 miles away to protect the Gorge, while still ensuring that Lexington would have drinking water,” explain the Franks, “and that group was the Sierra Club. We were impressed and decided to join.” Although it took more than 20 years to achieve full protection, the Red River was eventually designated a Scenic and Wild River.

Following that campaign, Barbara and Donald worked with the Club on numerous other conservation efforts, including opposing sulfide mining in northern Wisconsin, blocking Midwest coal plants, preventing a proposed tire-burning facility in Minnesota, and preserving that state’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area. While there have been many victories, the Franks recognize that protecting the environment isn’t easy, and they offer the following advice:

“You won’t always win, at least not right away, but you have to keep trying. Contributing time and energy is the right thing to do and it feels good. Think of supporting Sierra Club as an investment in protecting the earth and all its systems — a way to be good stewards, and to leave a healthy environment for our children and grandchildren.”

Climate Recovery Partnership

Climate Change: The Challenge of Our Time

The Climate Recovery Partnership (CRP) unleashes the full strength of The Sierra Club Foundation’s charitable engine to power Sierra Club’s 1.4 million members and supporters, working in every state on nationally coordinated public education, advocacy, organizing, research, communications, and litigation. 

Together with the scientific community, entrepreneurs, labor unions, communities of faith, community based organizations serving diverse ethnicities, aligned nonprofits, tribal nations, and the philanthropic community, the Partnership can wage the intellectual, political, social, and financial capital to make America the leader in the climate fight – not its largest contributor. 

The CRP focuses on four main campaigns:

Beyond Coal    

Defending against the most polluting energy source on earth, and clearing the way for clean renewable energy solutions like solar and wind.    Learn More >

Beyond Oil    

Keeping fossil fuels in the ground while promoting low-carbon fuels, electric vehicles and smarter transportation systems.   Learn More >

Resilient Habitats

Restoring, connecting, and protecting healthy ecosystems so that wildlife and wilderness can thrive in a climate-changed world.   Learn More >

Protecting America’s Waters

Fostering broad-based alliances to promote water quality monitoring, public education, and citizen action.  Learn More >

The Sierra Club Foundation stewards charitable contributions and assets responsibly. We are proud to have earned a four-star rating from nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator, as well as an A+ from CharityWatch. TSCF is also an accredited charity in good standing with the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, meeting all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. TSCF spends 90 cents of every dollar on environmental and conservation programs.