The Conservation Alliance

Gravely Range, Montana Photo: Pete Bengeyfield

Are You In? The Legacy Fund

A message from John Sterling, Executive Director

Since 1989, The Conservation Alliance has served as the outdoor industry's collective commitment to protecting wild places. With The Conservation Alliance Legacy Fund, we are taking an important step to ensure that we are a permanent fixture in the outdoor industry. 

In January 2008, The Conservation Alliance launched the Legacy Fund Campaign, an effort to build a $3.5-million endowment, earnings from which will cover the majority of our operating expenses. We reached our $3.5-million goal in January 2012 when The North Face committed $750,000 in addition to the $1 million they had already contributed. The Legacy Fund will ensure permanence for The Conservation Alliance, and allow us to maintain our commitment to contribute 100 percent of our members' dues to conservation organizations.

But, we aren't stopping there.  Our original endowment goal was a great start, but the Legacy Fund remains open for contributions from anyone who wants to give something back in support of the outdoor industry's collective effort to protect wild places.

Peter Metcalf, Founder of Black Diamond Equipment kicked off Phase II of the Legacy Campaign by making a personal commitment of $75,000 to the Legacy Fund, and an additional $50,000 from Black Diamond Equipment. We look forward to adding additional gifts to the Legacy Fund.

Benefits of Staff

Remarkably, The Conservation Alliance functioned for 16 years with no paid staff, zero operational expenses, and largely on the passion and volunteer time of an over-extended board of directors. That board recognized that the Alliance needed more firepower if we were to effectively confront the growing threats to our special wild places. So, in 2005, we added staff, while maintaining our commitment to give away 100 percent of our members' dues to conservation projects.

Since then, membership has doubled. Our annual grant budget exploded from $360,000 in 2004 to $1.05 million in 2011. We supported more conservation projects in 2011 than in our first four years combined. We now facilitate opportunities for our members to be directly involved in the work of our grantees. The Conservation Alliance is poised to be an organization worthy of the challenges we face, and the Legacy Fund will play a key role in ensuring a reliable source of funding for our operations.

Thank you, Legacy Fund Donors!

We are grateful to each of the companies and individuals who have contributed to the Legacy Fund:

What's Your Legacy?

The Alliance belongs to all members, and we invite each of our members and their employees to participate at whatever level is appropriate. The Conservation Alliance Legacy Fund represents our commitment to the future - our own, and the planet's. Like the many places our funding has helped protect, we now have the opportunity to permanently protect The Conservation Alliance; to ensure that wildland conservation remains a permanent priority for the outdoor industry. Please contact Conservation Alliance Executive Director John Sterling (john@conservationalliance.com)  if you are interested in making a gift to the Legacy Fund.

Click here for details on what the Legacy Fund will do for The Conservation Alliance.