RE-volv

Annual Report

2016Empowering people and communities to invest

collectively in renewable energy

5 Third Street, Suite 330San Francisco, CA 94103

415-579-3251www.re-volv.org

Letter from Board Chair and Executive Director

2016 was a monumental year for RE-volv. In February 2016, RE-volv celebrated its 5th Birthday. We are thrilled with the incredible accomplishments we’ve achieved during these first five years and are delighted about our prospects for the next five.

From 2013–2015 RE-volv completed one community-based solar project each year. Our first solar project was for the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley in 2013. Next was the Kehilla Community Synagogue in Oakland in 2014, followed by the Other Avenues Food Co-op in San Francisco in 2015. With a lean team, few resources, and a small yet mighty group of supporters, RE-volv used Indiegogo every year to build a new solar project here in our Bay Area backyard.

In 2016, that all changed. With support from students at UC Berkeley’s pro bono consulting group Blueprint, and funding from the the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, we realized our long held dream; we launched our own solar crowdfunding platform: re-volv.org. At its core, RE-volv’s mission is about empowering people. Having citizens from around the country actively play a role in putting solar on the roof is the real focus of our work. Our new web platform illustrates the environmental and social impacts donors are having, while giving them the ability to select where to reinvest monthly lease payments from projects they’ve supported. The other major development in 2016 was the breakout success of our Solar Ambassador Program. Realizing that our impact could scale if we empowered local communities to spearhead RE-volv solar campaigns, we started by training teams of college students around the country.

This shift allowed us to go from one project a year from 2013-2015 (all of which were in the Bay Area) to crowdfunding three projects in 2016 in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Santa Barbara.

A few additional highlights of the year included a generous matching grant from the 11th Hour Project of the Schmidt Family Foundation, which matched our crowdfunding donations dollar for dollar. Our staff were trained through the Open IDEO Climate Innovator Fellowship giving us invaluable skills in human-centered design. As an inaugural member of the White House National Community Solar Partnership, we were featured in two press releases from the White House.

Thanks to the continued support of our community of solar supporters around the country we’re thrilled with the progress we made in 2016 and look forward to the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Andreas Karelas Andreas Karelas Jennifer Martin RE-volv Executive Director RE-volv Board Chair

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The Solar Seed Fund Pays It ForwardSuccess to Date

5 Completed 6 solar projects in CA, PA and WI, totaling 105 kilowatts. The CO2 equivalent

of planting over 300 acres of trees

5 Crowdfunded over $200,000. More than 1,000 donations from people in 38 states and 22 countries

5 Inaugural member of the White House National Community Solar Partnership

5 Educated 10,000 people about solar energy, including 80 Solar Ambassadors

5 85 press citations, including in The New York Times, Forbes and White House press Releases

5 OpenIDEO Climate Innovator Fellowship winner

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RE-volv Completes First Project Outside Bay Area

Serenity House, an outreach center for the underserved in North Philadelphia, is now powered by the sun!The Serenity House project was a collaborative

effort between RE-volv, Swarthmore College Solar

Ambassadors, Serenity Soular, Arch Street United

Methodist Church, The 11th Hour Project, Jinko Solar,

Chint Power, Solar States and over 80 donors.

Impacts include:

O Crowdfunding $11,013

O Avoiding 92,000 lbs. of CO2 from entering the

atmosphere over the life of the solar energy system

O Saving Serenity House 40% on its electricity bills

O Training 10 Swarthmore college students to lead local solar campaign

O Educating hundreds of people about the benefits of solar energy

Meet Ky Saunders (front right) and Robert Crawford (back right) who are members of Serenity Soular, a partnership between Swarthmore College and Serenity House that bring the benefits of solar energy to North Philadelphia. Ky and Robert took solar training classes and shadowed professional installers. They were recently hired by our solar installer, Solar States!

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Training the Next Generation of Clean Energy LeadersSolar Ambassador Program

Our team is elated to have the chance to bring solar power to our community

and we’re looking forward to educating members of our community. We

just want to be a stepping stone in building OUR better tomorrow!”

—Derek Bussey, Solar Ambassador from Coastal Carolina University

At RE-volv, raising awareness about the benefits

of solar is a critical component of our work. While

many people can save money by going solar, not

everyone knows about it—it’s part of RE-volv’s

mission to change that. We do this through

outreach events and our Solar Ambassador

Program.

The Solar Ambassador Program is a year-long

fellowship for college students. Through the

fellowship, RE-volv trains students to spearhead

a solar energy crowdfunding campaign for a

nonprofit in their community. In the process, Solar

Ambassadors educate campus communities about

solar energy while developing leadership and

communications skills. Ambassadors participate

in bi-weekly webinars where they learn about

solar policy, finance, crowdfunding, and how to

work with a local nonprofit to complete a solar

installation. Solar Ambassadors develop a deep

understanding of solar energy, produce a real reduction in carbon emissions, and support

each other through the process, creating a growing network of young clean energy leaders.

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Solar Ambassadors in Action

Student-led 2015–2016 Projects:

1 Swarthmore College, Serenity House in Philadelphia, PA.

2 University of California at Santa Barbara, Isla Vista Food Co-op, Santa Barbara, CA.

3 University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Riverwest Co-op Grocery & Cafe, Milwaukee, WI.

Student-led 2016–2017 Projects:

1 Coastal Carolina University, New Directions for Families in Myrtle Beach, SC

2 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Goodman Community Center in Madison, WI

3 Swarthmore College, Morris Chapel Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA

4 University of New England, Camp Ketcha in Scarborough, ME

5 University of Connecticut, CLiCK in Windham, CT

6 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, River Revitalization Foundation in Milwaukee, WI

7 University of Dayton, Aullwood Audubon Center in Dayton, OH

To prepare the students for a year of

working with nonprofits to build their

own solar projects, we brought them

together before school started and

provided them with the tools they

need to be successful. Each team

sent one student, the project lead, to

a four-day leadership training retreat

in beautiful Tomales Bay, California.

Students learned everything

from solar policy, to stakeholder

engagement, to event planning.

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RE-volv’s U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Grant

As a winner of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Catalyst Business Innovation

Challenge, RE-volv received support to build our own crowdfunding platform. We

launched the platform in spring 2016 and hosted three successful crowdfunding

campaigns right off the bat! The platform empowers citizens around the country to

support solar energy in three ways:

1Support Solar Crowdfunding Campaigns Users on the platform are now able to browse through multiple

nonprofits looking to go solar. They can learn about the organization’s

role in its community, read project updates, see how much money has

been donated, how much more needs to be raised, and they can

donate directly to projects they care about.

2Direct the Solar Seed Fund On the platform, donors are able to track the environmental and social

impact of their donations to solar projects. They also receive

repayments from those projects which they can reinvest into other

solar projects on the platform. This creates a revolving fund for solar

we call the Solar Seed Fund.

3Lead a Solar Crowdfunding Campaign In 2016, RE-volv received support from Full Circle Fund to develop a

suite of online resources to train volunteers who want to lead solar

crowdfunding campaigns for nonprofits in their community. We call

this the Solar Champion Program.

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Team:

RE-volv is an excellent example of a lean nonprofit in action. In 2016, RE-volv had one of its most

impactful years yet. We launched our own crowdfunding platform and crowdfunded three solar

projects in three states. We accomplished it all with only three full time employees that worked

tirelessly to achieve these incredible results.

We also benefited greatly from the incredible dedication of over 50 volunteers and fellows during the

year.

A special thanks to Full Circle Fund and Taproot Foundation who each put together teams of pro bono

consultants to help RE-volv scale its mission. Full Circle Fund helped us redesign the layout of our

website and developed our online Solar Champion training program. Taproot helped us develop our

marketing and communications strategy.

Financials:

RE-volv is a resourceful organization that has learned to create a large impact on a small budget.

In 2016, our total annual budget was $321,250. The money that we brought in came primarily from

individuals (49%), foundations (28%) and in-kind donations (14%) which included donated solar

equipment and legal services. For a more in-depth look at our finances please reference our IRS Form

990 for 2016 available on our website.

Andreas Karelas, Executive Director

Sarah Brinker, Associate Director of Partnerships and Philanthropy

Gavi Keyles, Communications and Program Manager

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In Appreciation of Our Supporters

Thank you to all our donors! You make solar energy in our communities a reality.

We’re grateful for the support of the following organizations and individuals:

O The 11th Hour Project, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation O Clif Bar Family Foundation O First Solar, through the Toledo Community Foundation O Full Circle Fund O Hall Capital O Joseph and Vera Long Foundation O Neda Nobari Foundation O Strong Foundation for Environmental Values O U.S. Department of Energy, SunShot

Allies and PartnersIncredible organizations are championing

RE-volv’s cause with in-kind goods and

services. Thank you to our allies and

partners!

O ABB Group O AirBNB O California Clean Energy Fund O Chint Power O Full Circle Fund O Jinko Solar O Patagonia O SunWork Renewable Energy Projects O Taproot Foundation O Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

I support RE-volv because after meeting with the team, I could not imagine working with

a more sincere, dedicated, and knowledgeable set of people, especially on the scale of the

climate problem. They are also solving a very unique problem in the transition to clean

energy, targeting the nonprofits who do not benefit from current subsidies, while figuring out a way

to empower those of us who want to do something, but are not sure how. —RE-volv donor

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