Having lost more than 20% of its donors over the past five years, Greenpeace Nederland is spending nearly €5.5m this year on fund-raising, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday.

This is 30% more than the environmental organisation’s Dutch branch spent on raising money last year, the FD added. Greenpeace had 370,000 donors in 2017, down from more than 465,000 at end-2013.  ‘This is a trend which started a few years ago,’ Joris Thijssen, one of Greenpeace Nederland’s two directors, told the paper.

Thijssen said there has been a shift away from ‘true supporters’ who back the same good cause all their lives and towards incidental gifts, often spurred on by developments in the news.  ‘The way the younger generation donates money – often by means of one-offs such as crowdfunding – is a real challenge for many NGOs,’ he said.

Greenpeace Nederland had an income of €25.4m in 2017, of which €19m came from donors, a decline of €355,000 over 2016. Income was boosted by a single donation from the Postcodelotterij of €3.2m.

Greenpeace is a NGO with offices in over 40 countries. Its international coordinating body is based in Amsterdam and is separate from Greenpeace Nederland.