We Can Do More!
One-time donations to ACRES have ranged from $1 to over $3,000,000, and many amounts in between. We need and appreciate each of these donations. As ACRES continues to nurture growth, increasing the amount of money donated is a necessary part of this growth in capacity. Listed below are some of the impacts possible through donations of varying amounts:
$20
▶ Materials for two members to attend an art workshop
▶ Box of hanging file folders
▶ Gallon of chainsaw bar oil
$200
▶ Habitat management on one acre (prescribed burn, mowing or forest stand improvement)
▶ Buys 500 tree seedlings
▶ A year’s worth of business cards for all employees
$2,000
▶ Four months of postage
▶ 10 acres of warm season grass/forbs seed mix
▶ 10 acres of trees for reforestation
▶ Volunteer supplies and materials for one year
$20,000
▶ 200 acres of invasive species management
▶ Materials, supplies and salaries for three summer college interns
▶ Purchase two acres of farmland or three acres of forest
$200,000
▶ Two years’ worth of typical restoration activities
▶ Purchase 35 acres of rural, average-valued land
▶ Yearly salaries of Stewardship team
$2,000,000
▶ Purchase 200 acres of average developable, or fertile agricultural land
▶ Placed in an endowment, would generate $80,000 annually, in perpetuity
▶ Covers two years’ worth of operating expenses
$20,000,000 to $200,000,000
This level of donation would be transformative. It would allow ACRES to better meet the demand for our services. Currently, we are able to acquire only about 3-5% of the lands available each year that are a high priority for ACRES to protect. This means that each year we fail to acquire 95% of these projects: expansion of existing properties, high quality natural areas and income-producing lands that serve as buffers. This is frustrating!
We would not wonder how to spend such transformational donations. We already have properties ready to buy, lands already owned that are overdue for restoration and natural resource management, and programs ready to offer to further connect people to the land that sustains them. Transformational donations would mean that ACRES would be able to acquire 7,300 acres of land every five years, instead of our current rate of every 62 years!
We are prepared. We have planned ways to responsibly use your donation — whether $2 or $200,000,000. If our current projects are too small for your ideas, please let us share ACRES vision for what could be — what should be — and what lacks only funds to achieve.
We are ready to be wowed by your generosity of any amount. ACRES has the institutional history, internal controls, abilities, skills, experience and planning to accommodate a donation of any size.
We can do more, but we need your help. Money is one way to help. Please make a gift beyond your membership this year. Together, we’ll make a big difference!
