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Help! We Need Your Support!
Annually, the Benzie Conservation District receives only $11,605
from the Michigan Department of Agriculture to staff, operate and provide educational and outreach services. Our
annual operating budget is $120,000. We continually write grants to staff and deliver watershed and
forestry programs. Our annual tree and plant fundraising sales, and fees we charge for site visits provide minimal
coverage of personnel, travel and operational costs. We are dependent on gifts and creative funding to cover the
remaining expenses.
Northern Michigan's lakes and forests are natural wonders and it is our responsibility to protect them. They are
a place we call home and resources for us to use and protect... they are the heart of the ecosystems that we rely
on for life. They are a gift of nature whose beauty and bounty enrich our lives and identify our region.
Your donation to the Benzie Conservation District accomplishes a greater good: the assurance that Benzie County's
incredible beauty will endure for years to come. It is your personal legacy... a triumph of keeping the environment
in the forefront, protecting lands we treasure.
Ways You Can Help:
- Friends of the Benzie Conservation District
Donate annually and become part of a broadening group of individuals,
families, churches, and businesses. Your gift will enable our capable field staff to work with you and your neighbors
to ensure that our region's natural resources remain protected, productive and enjoyable. It will also support
our conservation education programs! Choose the level that stretches and gives you satisfaction:
- Friend - $25
- Donor - $50
- Supporter - $100
- Sponsor - $500
- Benefactor - $1,000+
Make your check payable to Benzie Conservation District and write "Gift"
on the memo line. All gifts are deductible from Federal taxes. Mail donations to:
Benzie Conservation District
P.O. Box 408
Beulah, MI 49617
- Give to the Benzie Conservation District Endowment Fund
As a way to build our capacity to serve Benzie County more fully, we
have set up an endowment fund within the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. Checks should be made out
to the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. Put "Benzie Conservation District Programs" on the
memo line of your check. Your gift will reduce your Federal taxes. Giving to the Benzie Conservation District through
the Community Foundation also entitles you to a substantial tax credit on your Michigan income tax. Click here
to access our fund at the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation's website.
- Spring and Fall Tree & Plant Sales
Purchase native trees seedlings, perennial plants, wildflower and grass
seeds each spring and fall. All profits help to underwrite the cost of newsletters, environmental education programs,
water quality monitoring, forestry workshops and expanded services. Click here for more information.
- Bequest: A Gift for the Future
It's easy to do!
Here are two ways you can make provisions for the future of our important
work:
- Include a gift to the Benzie Conservation District in your will.
- Name the Benzie Conservation District as the beneficiary of a trust
or other vehicle such as your retirement plan, insurance policy or bank account.
All it takes is a call to your attorney or simply make an addition to
your will. And of course you may change or enhance your choices at any time. There are options for your bequest
to the Conservation District. Select from the following:
- A specific dollar amount.
- A percentage of your estate's value.
- Designation of all or part of your life insurance or retirement plan
proceeds.
The following sample language may be helpful in providing a bequest to
the Benzie Conservation District:
"I give, devise, bequeath to the Benzie Conservation District,
a nonprofit corporation organized and existing under the laws of Michigan, and with current business address of
280 S. Benzie Blvd, P. O. Box 408, Beulah, MI, 49617, _______ (specific dollar amount, property, or percentage)
to be used for its general purposes for conservation and citizen services.
Thank you for making a charitable
contribution
to the Benzie Conservation District!
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