The program heard from former workers who claimed as little as seven per cent of the donations were actually passed on to the desired charity, with the rest going directly to the Appco Group.
“The behaviour on display by Appco staff is disgusting and shows a company taking advantage of the generosity of the Australian public,” Greenpeace Deputy Program Director, Nic Seton, said.
“While Greenpeace Australia Pacific have never had any dealings with Appco we are nonetheless disgusted that executives in that company would see using a charity’s good name to gouge the public for donations.
Greenpeace use a number of different service providers to connect with the public for charitable donations all of which go through a rigorous due diligence process.
“Agencies are constantly reassessed as part of this due diligence process and any suppliers who show the lack of ethics and frankly predatory behaviour that Appco had on display will be terminated,” Seton said.
“We believe in protecting the environment and assisting impacted communities and every single dollar that we raise is budgeted to best maximize our impact.”
For interviews contact:
Simon Black
Greenpeace Senior Media Campaigner
0418 219 086 / simon.black@greenpeace.org