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:
- Make a donation to the Benzie Conservation District
It has never been easier to make a donation to support the programming
of the Benzie Conservation District! By making a donation today, you are supporting the Mission of the Benzie Conservation
District and believing that providing public natural resource assistance to private landowners in Benzie County
is a vital service that should be maintained. Your contribution will aid District programming including, but not
limited to: Environmental Outreach & Education, Invasive Species Awareness & Control, Water Quality Management,
Forestry Assistance and Recycling.
There are two options for making a direct contribution to District programming:
1. Download and print this Donation Form and mail
it to us with a check or money order.
2. NEW!!! Click
Here for more information about making a donation online!
- 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!