Team Trees

Team Trees was a 2019 online fundraising campaign that aimed to raise funds to plant millions of trees globally. Initiated by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson (known as MrBeast) and engineer Mark Rober, the campaign partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation and engaged creators, corporations, nonprofits, and public figures to achieve rapid public attention and donations.

Background and Origins

The campaign originated from collaborations among internet personalities and nonprofit organizations following viral philanthropy trends on platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram. Founders included Jimmy Donaldson, Mark Rober, and collaborators from channels such as Dude Perfect, Marques Brownlee, Evan Newell (DrossRotzank), and Casey Neistat who amplified visibility. Early endorsements came from celebrities including Elon Musk, Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, and corporate partners such as Google, Tesla, Inc., Apple Inc., and Microsoft. The initiative connected with environmental NGOs like the Arbor Day Foundation, One Tree Planted, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and governments in regions where planting occurred, including projects in the United States, India, Kenya, Canada, and Brazil.

Campaign Structure and Partners

The organizational model paired digital influencers with established conservation NGOs and corporate sponsors. Operational partners included the Arbor Day Foundation as the primary beneficiary, logistical support from forestry groups such as American Forests, Conservation International, Rainforest Alliance, and supply chain partners including nurseries and land managers in regions like California, Oregon, Texas, Amazon Rainforest, and Sahel. Payment processing and platform support involved technology companies like PayPal, Stripe, YouTube, and TikTok. Major media amplification featured outlets such as The New York Times, BBC News, CNN, Forbes, The Verge, and Vox. Corporate donors and matching contributors included SpaceX, Binance, Shopify, Patreon, Disney, and Nike. Academic collaborators and reviewers from institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, Yale University, and Imperial College London evaluated planting methodologies and ecological outcomes.

Fundraising and Impact

The public goal was to raise funds corresponding to planting one tree per dollar, with an initial target of 20,000,000 dollars to sponsor 20,000,000 trees. Influencer-led drives, celebrity endorsements, corporate matches, and grassroots micro-donations propelled rapid growth across platforms like Reddit r/AskReddit, Twitter Spaces, Twitch, and Discord. The Arbor Day Foundation, reporting project allocations, coordinated planting across landscapes including urban forestry in New York City, wildfire restoration in California (state), mangrove restoration in Bangladesh, and agroforestry initiatives in Kenya. Impact assessments referenced carbon sequestration models used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, biodiversity frameworks from Convention on Biological Diversity, and ecosystem service valuation approaches discussed in reports by the United Nations Environment Programme. Measured outcomes included number of seedlings planted, survival rates monitored with partners such as Global Forest Watch and academic studies from University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University on reforestation efficacy.

Criticism and Controversies

Critiques centered on debates common in conservation discourse, including tree monoculture risks raised by researchers at Cornell University, concerns about permanence and additionality noted by analysts at World Resources Institute, and critiques of celebrity-driven environmentalism voiced in commentary from National Geographic and The Guardian. Methodological questions addressed seedling survival rates, species selection, and local land tenure impacts examined by scholars at University of Cambridge and Michigan State University. Allegations of oversimplification in media coverage prompted responses from the Arbor Day Foundation and participating influencers who cited transparency reports and audits by accounting firms such as Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Debates also involved policy advocates from Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and think tanks like Brookings Institution and World Resources Institute about the role of reforestation relative to emission reductions under frameworks like the Paris Agreement.

Legacy and Continued Activities

Following the initial campaign, organizers and partners leveraged the momentum for sustained initiatives, spawning follow-on projects, collaborations, and corporate pledges with organizations including One Tree Planted, Ecosia, Eden Reforestation Projects, Plant-for-the-Planet, and foundations such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Influencer philanthropy models informed subsequent drives addressing issues covered by UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and Red Cross. Academic analysis and policy discussions continued at conferences hosted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and panels at institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and London School of Economics. The campaign influenced corporate sustainability reporting among firms listed on exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and led to increased dialogue in outlets like Wired and Scientific American on scalable afforestation and ecosystem restoration, feeding into global restoration initiatives such as the Bonn Challenge and Trillion Tree Campaign.

Category:Environmental organizations