To have influence over government decisions and plans we often need to pay expert consultants to write reports for us so that we're taken seriously. That's expensive, so we need to raise funds mainly to cover those costs. We also have other incidental costs incurred by our many environmental projects where they are not covered by grants.

Why don't we write these reports ourselves? Well, would you want government staff to be making decisions based on reports from armchair experts and folks who retired years ago? You'd want them to consult professional experts with up to date credentials and established reputations, right? So if we want to influence the decision makers we have to meet their standard for expert advice and evidence.

Other costs include things like calibrating water quality monitoring equipment, underwater drones for surveying populations of endangered marine species, marketing of community education campaigns, and so on.