It’s not that easy being green–unless you’re a nonprofit looking for donations. A new Axios analysis of tax filings from 18 of the most influential environmental groups found significant increases in donations between 2015 and 2017. Comparing 2015, the last full year before Trump’s election to 2017, the first full year after, Axios found donations to well-known environmental groups increased by 20 to 149 percent.

The increased donations came as green groups reinvented themselves in the face of a White House opposed to their agenda. All but two groups, Conservation Fund and Environmental Working Group, saw increased donations. All in all, median donations to environmental groups increased 30 percent in two years.

Axios’s research shows that the same green groups taking Rockefeller money to go after ExxonMobil are raking in millions of dollars in donations. Both the League of Conservation Voters and Earthjustice play key roles in the broader #ExxonKnew campaign.

Starting in 2017, the League of Conservation Voters, Earthjustice, and 350.org, which all strongly oppose energy development, were top beneficiaries of donor largesse. Earthjustice saw fundraising surge from $50 million to $76 million, an increase of 51 percent, while the League of Conservation Voters saw donations increase from $22 million to $33 million over the same period. The League of Conservation Voters and Earthjustice are both funded by the Rockefellers and closely tied to lawsuits against ExxonMobil.

Other Rockefeller-funded groups, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Greenpeace, also saw a jump in donations, increasing of 20 percent or more. These groups are actively involved in the broader ExxonKnew campaign. In fact, donations to these groups spiked as they became more vocal about stopping energy development and supportive of litigation against energy producers.

David vs. Goliath? Not Quite

These non-profit groups often present themselves as upstart underdogs fighting massive corporations (especially in their fundraising emails), but Axios’s findings provide more evidence that the green movement is large, well-organized and well-funded.

A study released last year analyzed a subset of the organizations working on climate issues, pulling back the curtain on a massive funding apparatus working to boost anti-fossil fuel messaging. Matthew Nisbet, Ph. D., a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University, warned that scholars and journalists “have reason to be cautious in their assessment” of voices in the media because of wealthy anti-fossil fuel foundations like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which are financing a range of activist groups and research.

Nisbet’s research revealed the vast sums of money environmentalist non-profits were preparing to spend to stop fossil fuel development—and the stunning lack of oversight of both the groups and their donors. He also predicted that donors were likely to increase their support for efforts to restrict fossil fuel development or to turn public opinion against the industry:

“In coming years, as the endowments of major foundations continue to grow, providing philanthropists with ever greater resources, they are likely to play an even more active and strategic role in funding actions to address climate change in the United States and elsewhere. In 2017, the Hewlett foundation, for example, announced it would spend $600 million over the next decade to combat the problem (Gunther, 2018). By framing the challenges and defining the solutions to climate change, as they did in the years following the defeat of the cap and trade bill, Hewlett and other major philanthropies are likely to deepen their ability to bind together organizations and leaders into shared approaches and strategies. In an era of political dysfunction and diminished public spending, many will look to philanthropy and their resources for answers. Yet in contrast to elected officials and government agendas, there are few channels to hold funders accountable for their decisions or to a shine a light on their actions…” (emphasis added)

Axios’s findings support his prediction. Foundations like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Rockefeller Family Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation are becoming increasingly vocal about their anti-energy positions and are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-energy groups like 350.org.

It’s all support for a big, anti-development green giant.