User:Matkatamiba/sandbox



Friends of the River was founded in 1973 by Mark Dubois and Jerry Meral during the struggle to save the Stanislaus River from New Melones Dam. Some believe that the campaign to save the Stanislaus River marked the end of massive dam building in the United States, making the Stanislaus River the "last river lost". Many photographs, documents, and other materials relating to this failed campaign are available online at the Stanislaus River Digital Archive.

Following that campaign, the group branched out to work to protect other California rivers. The mission of Friends of the River is to preserve and restore California's rivers, streams, and their watersheds; as well as to advocate for sustainable water management.

Today, Friends of the River, a 501(c)3 organization, has nearly 6,000 members, 12 staff members, and a 12 member Board of Directors. The organization's 2009 budget was $1.06 million. The organization's flagship publication, Headwaters, is published bi-annually, and has a distribution of 6,000. Friends of the River is based in Sacramento with field offices in Monterey and Valencia.

Evaluations
Charity Navigator gives the organization four stars out of four for accountability and transparency and three out of four stars overall. In fiscal year ending 12/2014, the organization spent 69.5% of it's revenue on program expenses, 13.9% on administrative expenses, and 16.6% on fundraising expenses.