Times are tough. There’s absolutely no getting around it. Job losses, foreclosures, an anxious nation that’s holding its breath waiting to see how bad it’s going to get. Facing those uncertainties, we at the Center for Northern Woodlands Education braced ourselves for a below-normal response to our Annual Fund appeal.
That’s why we are overjoyed at the outpouring of support for our work. Our Annual Fund not only met the previous year’s total, it exceeded it by 12 percent. We have many stalwart supporters who give generously when asked – and sometimes without being asked – and have done so for years. For your staunch support, we are ever so grateful.
Most of our supporters are subscribers to Northern Woodlands, and it’s always inspiring to know that readers value the work we do highly enough that they’ll make a donation on top of the cost of a subscription. Just as heartening is the fact that almost one-third of the contributions in response to this last appeal were from first-time givers. These are often people who have become aware of our work through our website (www.northernwoodlands.org) or through our other publications. Specifically, we had a very strong outpouring of support from readers of the Vermont edition of The Place You Call Home.
Even though endowments at most foundations are down, and corporate giving has greatly diminished as businesses struggle to keep their doors open, the generosity of individuals remains strong.
Planned Giving
There were other strong expressions of individual generosity: this past year, we heard from three different people notifying us that they had made provisions for Northern Woodlands in their estates. We are deeply honored that these people want to make sure that their support continues after they are no longer with us.
Their commitment to our future tells us it’s time for us to begin a planned giving program in earnest. We have established a strong reputation across the region, and we have solidified our financial situation with prudent management and effective outreach to partners. Further, we now have directors on our board who have expertise in planned giving. They are helping us take the first steps in developing our program.
Everyone hopes to leave a lasting impression. We all want to be a part of something that will have a positive influence on future generations. You can help make a lasting impression on the wonderful forest that surrounds us by supporting Northern Woodlands’s work through a planned gift.
A bequest is the most direct form of planned giving. It needn’t be more complicated than inserting a sentence in your will such as: “I give, devise, and bequeath to the Center for Northern Woodlands Education, a nonprofit charitable organization with offices in Corinth, Vermont, the sum of $____ (or describe any real or personal property) to be used for its general purposes.” If you do make provisions in your estate for Northern Woodlands, please let us know.
We are also able to set up charitable gift annuities. With these, it’s as if you made a bequest, but you are still around to see the fruits of your gift. In this way, you make a gift (it can be cash, securities, or even land), and you receive an immediate income tax deduction and regular income payments for life while providing long-term financial support to Northern Woodlands. Please call me if you would like to learn more about a charitable gift annuity.
All of us at Northern Woodlands – staff and board – want to help create a society in which people treat the land as the precious gift that it is, recognizing that it is the true source of all that we have. That would be a wonderful legacy.
Your support can help make that possible.