NGO - 350.org

 350.org was founded in 2008 by an environmentalist named Bill McKibben. The 350 in its name is a refernce to 350 ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide, which is the upper threshold for our atmoshpere to limit a climate catastrophe. The primary goal of the organization is to end the use of fossil fuels and switch to using more renewable methods of sourcing our energy.

They use multiple strategies to reach that goal. The first is mobilizing the masses. The more people that back a cause, the more likely it is that their voices will be heard. 350.org has organized hundreds of thousands of people to stand up and push back against organizations and policies that harm the environment and atmosphere. They also run campaigns that target specific policies, which can be incredibly effective when you are able to move so many people against a very specific thing. A third method they utilize is pushing for fossil fuel divestment. Divestment is the opposite of investment, so essentially they are convincing people or organizations that have invested in fossil fuels to pull out of those deals. This can help speed up the transition to renewables because there is less money flowing into the fossil fuels industry.

The organization has had a history of leading successful campaigns and demonstrations. For example, in 2014 they led the largets climate march in history, with 400,000 people marching in New York alone, as well as 2,000 other demonstrations in 162 other countries. They've also been a crucial voice in the fight against multiple pipeline projects across the world. The most famous of these was the Keystone XL pipeline which was proposed to stretch from Canada to Nebraska. Their efforts helped lead to President Obama rejecting the plan. Among their actions to help fight the pipeline was an effort to construct solar arrays directly in the path of proposed construction for the piepline, which would force the project to cause even more harm to people if it went through.

350.org has employees operating in 32 different countries, and it is currently headquartered in New York. Their leaderships system includes the board of directors, which operates across 4 continents. They have volunteer partners in 188 different countries. Most of these volunteers were brought in through grassroots organizing, which is a common method used by NGOs because groups of people usually already have shared experiences that drive them to fight alongside each other. They also have a strong online presence which had helped spread their messages and add people to their growing list of supporters and volunteers. They receive their funding through private investments and donations from institutions and individual activists. There are no membership fees, but rather a large groups of people and organziations who are willing to help fund climate action. Their donors are not usually made public, however it has been made public that they receive some funding from a donor-advised fund called the Tides Foundation, which focuses on social justice.

As far as the success of 350.org, they have historically been a potent force in helping push back against fossil fuel projects. They have run into a bit of trouble recently in the United States though. In 2025 they announced that they would have to temporarily suspend their programs in the US, which caused them to drop some of their staff, leaving just 3 in the country. Between 2025 and 2026 they saw a 25% drop in income, which is almost guaranteed to be a result of the changing political climate in the US surrounding the validity of climate change and environmental issues. This has led to questions surrounding the future of the organization. While events in the US may not directly hinder their progress in other places around the world, they are based there and receive a significant portion of their funding from US-based organizations and individuals.