mirror worlds 2018
sydney Harbour■
Most environmental giving operates in the dark.
RUMBL'FISH is the independent Dutch standard for verified water philanthropy.
Oceans, reefs, rivers, coasts.
[ the problem ]■
You want to give to the water. So you do.
You receive a newsletter. Maybe a photo. But did it work? Did the money reach the water? What happens in year three?
You were never brought close enough to know.
So serious capital sits on the sidelines — waiting for something trustworthy enough to back. And some of the world’s strongest restoration teams stay underfunded.
Not because the work fails, but because no one can show, from the outside, that it’s real.
The living world is asking for action, not intentions.
Not charity. Certainty.
[ why water ]■
Less than 1% of philanthropic capital reaches the ocean.
Yet water gives back faster, and more visibly, than almost anything you could fund. Reefs recover. Mangroves regenerate. Rivers run clean and life returns to them. The work can be seen, photographed, and followed over years — which means it can be proven, not just promised.
I focus on water alone. Not because the rest doesn’t matter, but because focus is what makes judgement worth trusting. I know these teams, this science, and these places, and I have spent my life on the water, not just advising on it.
No country understands water like this one. The Netherlands exists because of how it reads the sea — holds it back, works with it, survives by it. The instinct to protect water runs deeper here than anywhere.
RUMBL’FISH gives that instinct somewhere precise, and honest, to go.
[ the work I back ]■
I only recommend work I would stake my name on.
I scout water restoration across the world and close to home, and treat every project as a field mission — the team, the science, the place itself, studied before a euro moves. I hold each one to one test: can the outcome be independently proven?
Coral Gardeners, rebuilding reefs in Moorea. SeaTrees and the mangrove teams of Mexico and Indonesia. De Rijke Noordzee, restoring life beneath our own North Sea.
I have weighed these against what matters — proven results, credible science, a place worth restoring, and motives I trust. Not every project passes. That is the point of having someone who looks closely before you give.
When I bring you a project, the work is done. It is real, in a real place, run by people who can show what they achieved. All that is left is for you to decide — and then to watch it come back.
[ how i work with you ]■
Most giving asks for trust. RUMBL’FISH earns it.
Most philanthropy keeps you far from the work. I bring you close — close enough to believe it.
It starts with a conversation.
Not a menu of causes. A conversation about the water you love, what you want to change, and what you’d want to be true in ten years. No cost, no obligation, until we both know it’s a fit.
I find the one project worth your name.
I treat every project as a field mission — the team, the science, the place itself, studied before a euro moves. You don’t get a portfolio. You get one exceptional effort I would stake my own name on, and the honest reason why.
You give directly. All of it reaches the water.
Your gift goes straight to the project — never through me. You see exactly where it lands. I’m paid for my work, separately, so my only interest is whether yours succeeds.
You witness what came back.
The work does not vanish into a newsletter. Once a year it returns to you as something rare: the Annual — a beautifully made record of exactly what was restored. Field photography, the restoration team’s own account, a signed letter from the independent scientist who visited, and every euro, in full. Honest about what worked and what didn’t. Made to be kept, not filed away.
And once a year, I bring the few who made it possible together — an intimate evening with people behind the work and the proof of what it achieved.
[ about me ]■
Alle Roodbergen
For years I designed flawless journeys for people who already had everything. It taught me the rarest luxury left is purpose — and that comfort without consequence is just drift.
I have spent my life on and under the water — as a competitive sailor, a coach, a diver. It is the thing I understand best, and the thing I most want to see protected.
RUMBL’FISH grew out of both: a life spent on the water, and a conviction that wealth is most alive when it restores something.
For over a decade I built long-term relationships with entrepreneurial families and private clients as Managing Director of Roberts & Partners, one of the Netherlands’ leading boutique travel firms.
I later led NL Cares, growing it into one of the country’s largest volunteering platforms, connecting businesses and more than 50.000 people to hands-on social initiatives.
I know wealth, and I know what it looks like when people want to do good with it but can’t tell what’s real. I built RUMBL’FISH to change that — for the water, and for the people who want to restore it.
I sell no products and manage no assets. My only interest is whether your giving worked.
“One of every two breaths we take originated in our imperiled seas.”
— paul hawkenRegeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation
[ FAQ ]Common Questions
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Individuals, families, and foundations who want their water giving to be serious — and who’d rather know what their capital achieved than hope it did. Often people with their own connection to the water. I work with a small number of them at a time, by design.
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I find you the one water restoration project worth your name, make sure it’s real and independently verified, and bring you close to the work. Your gift goes straight to the project. Once a year, you see exactly what it restored. I handle the judgement, the rigor, and the proof — so you can give with certainty.
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The bank advises on giving as part of managing your money — it has a product to sell. I don’t. I manage no assets and sell no financial products. My only interest is whether your giving worked. And I focus on one thing, water, rather than a little of everything.
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The first conversation is free, with no obligation until we both know it’s a fit. Beyond that, I work for a clear fee, agreed in advice — never a commission, never a cut of what you give. Your gift goes straight to the project and is never touched by me. You pay me only for my work, so my only interest is whether yours succeeds.
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Yes. Sometimes one exceptional project is best funded by a small circle of like-minded people, each giving directly. I bring the group together, coordinate the giving, and make sure the work is independently verified and recorded — for all of you. A shared act, with each gift going straight to the water.
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Because focus is what makes judgement worth trusting. Less than one percent of philanthropic capital reaches oceans and waterways, yet water offers some of the clearest conditions for restoration you can actually see and prove. I’ve spent my life on and under this water. I’d rather know one field deeply than advise on all of them lightly.
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I treat every project as a field mission — the team, the science, the place itself, studied before a euro moves. Each is held to one test: can the outcome be independently proven? Proven team, credible science, a place worth restoring, and motives I trust. Not every project passes. That’s the point of having an advisor.
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That the results are confirmed by someone independent — not by the team doing the work. The people restoring a reef should never be the only ones reporting on it. I arrange for an independent scientist to observe the project and report honestly on what they see. That account becomes part of your Annual.
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Once a year, you receive the Annual — a beautifully made, independetly verified record of axactly what your giving restored. Field photography, the restoration team’s own account, the signed letter from the scientist who visited, and every euro, in full. Honest about what worked and what didn’t. Made to be kept. If it isn’t in the Annual, it didn’t happen.
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Often, yes — but it depends on the project. Giving is most efficient when it reaches a recognised charity: in the Netherlands an ANBI, abroad its equivalent. Many strong restoration projects can be reached through such a route, and part of my work is finding the one that fits — so your gift reaches the water and stays efficient. I’m not a tax advisor, so we’ll confirm the specifics with yours.
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I’m based here, and the Dutch relationship with water runs deep. But the work I recommend spans the world, from reefs in the Pacific to the North Sea. Dutch roots, global reach.
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A conversation. What you care about, what you’ve given to before, and what you want your capital to change. No cost, no obligation. From there, we’ll both know whether to go further.