Donations to charities focused on the environment increased 12.5 percent in 2005 over 2004, promising another banner year in 2006. However, in the dealmaking community environmental philanthropy appears to lag behind more popular education and healthcare initiatives.

Yet, as the report's editors Matt Miller and Vyvyan Tenorio write, a number of prominent dealmakers have embraced various environmental causes. Like other patrons of the environment, these individuals are linked by a common respect and concern, while approaching the subject and task in many different ways. Many of them try to inject a practical, business-like approach into institutions to raise operational efficiencies, but all share the underlying belief that the environment is ultimately everyone's business, something that should be both rewarding and sustainable.

In the report's stories about the selected dealmakers, The Deal's editors and writers spotlight those individuals working tirelessly for their favorite environmental causes:

"Greening the inner city," by Matt Miller. Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr., founder and CEO of Fletcher Asset Management Inc., has emerged as one of the most prominent and active of all African-American philanthropists. His Wall Street-based firm taps investments it believes are socially and environmentally responsible and sustainable, including alternative energy sources, waste management and energy-efficient homebuilders. All the while, Fletcher runs a foundation increasingly focused on minorities and the urban environment.

"Where boardroom meets policy," by Vyvyan Tenorio. Carter Bales, co-founder of New York private equity firm the Wicks Group of Cos. LLC, has immersed himself in studying global climate change, dissecting issues that he believes have profound consequences and no easy fixes. Energizing corporate support for these global climate change initiatives, Bales injects his activism with the rigors of corporate problem solving.

"Foundation Builder," by Vyvyan Tenorio. Since his early days as a White House staffer working for President Lyndon Johnson, Matthew Nimetz, now managing director with Greenwich, Conn., private equity firm General Atlantic LLC, has carried global awareness throughout his career in government and law. Nimetz and several others founded the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank in Washington and now also concentrates on the Nature Conservancy's initiatives in the New York area.

"Putting out the fires," by Matt Miller. Entrepreneur Steven Kirsch is a typical Silicon Valley mega-success story who made a fortune on various technologies. Starting the Kirsch Foundation with his wife, he has paid out more than $20 million in grants to dozens of environmental initiatives and concerns. Ranging from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to a solar power project for South African schools, Kirsch invests in the strategies it takes to accomplish goals, whether its advocacy, legislative work or support for grass-community work.

"Home on the ranch," by Kate Gibson. A desire for a vacation home in the Western U.S. sparked a far larger ambition for Montgomery & Co. LLC investment banker Brian Bean and his wife. Rather than falling for a small cabin in the woods, the couple found themselves buying a working ranch in Idaho, a purchase that eventually led them to taking on even larger issues than those involved with the business of ranching. Bean now runs an economically viable livestock operation while protecting the land's wildlife, including more than 100 bird species, elk, wolves and coyotes.

"Mountainous goals," by Dan Slater. On the heels of his 14th birthday, Boston-native William Hill, a litigator at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, saddled up his bike, camped and pedaled north until he reached the Canadian Maritimes, 500 miles from home. Now the president of the Appalachian Mountain Club, a 130-year-old conservation society with nearly 90,000 members, his love of the mountains still continues. Under his leadership, the club has wielded the power of its vast resources to further the Maine Woods Initiative, purchasing 37,000 acres from International Paper Co. in 2003.