With so many fundraising options, it’s hard to find one that feels good while doing good. That’s where native plant sales fits in:
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Kelly LaVaute: Hello, my name is Kelly and today we're here to learn about fundraising with Garden for Wildlife. Rebecca, tell us what you've been working on.
Rebecca Ali: So happy to be here and I'm excited to share that Garden for Wildlife has launched a new fundraising program designed for nonprofit organizations who want to raise funds while doing something wonderful for their community and the environment.
Kelly LaVaute: I'm excited to tell us more about it.
Rebecca Ali: I'd love to so our mission at Garden for Wildlife is restoring habitat. So Wildlife like pollinators can Thrive and one of the best ways to meet this goal is to plant native plants, which are keystone species. So many animals including bees and butterflies have evolved with specific native plant species and can only survive if those plants are available to them. So the most common example that we hear about is the monarch butterfly and milkweed. So to further this Mission we had a goal to get as many people as possible involved to support this Mission and that goal became an idea and that became our new fundraising program. We want to get more native plants in the ground while also giving nonprofits a chance to grow too.
Kelly LaVaute: That's great. How does the fundraising program work?
Rebecca Ali: So the fundraising program has two different campaign options. So we knew from the beginning that we really wanted to offer a Native Garden reward. But we also knew that not every organization would have a need for a garden. So for example an elementary school might want to add a science Garden or beautification to school grounds, but another organization like Scouts for instance might not have a place to plant a garden. So when you decide to register for a fundraiser with us, you have a choice: one that earns you plants and money or one that's just money.
Kelly LaVaute: You mentioned money. Does it cost anything to sign up for our fundraiser?
Rebecca Ali: No, this is a commitment fundraising opportunity. You can start and stop at any time.
Kelly LaVaute: How long would the fundraising campaign run?
Rebecca Ali: So each campaign can run for up to one year and we definitely recommend that you leave it open for the full year taking advantage of sort of the natural Ebbs and flows of gardening and gifting seasons. For example, you can promote during spring planting season around Mother's Day or Father's Day fall planting season is a great time and around the holidays as well because we do offer gift cards that make wonderful gifts for the gardener in your life and running your campaign and sort of short Cycles. this means that you don't have to be on top of the messaging every week. We know groups have other fundraisers and community. Events, and this can just run in the background.
Kelly LaVaute: Why should a group choose this fundraiser over something else?
Rebecca Ali: That's a great question. So full disclosure. I've been a fundraising chair for a few PTAs and other youth organizations over the years and I've spent countless hours looking for fundraising opportunities that I thought my community could benefit from And that were easy to manage often. I was either struggling to find volunteers to help me deliver on big events or the fundraiser just didn't resonate with the community at all. And the money raised didn’t really match the efforts and this program was designed to alleviate some of those challenges that I personally ran into. So first and foremost every single purchase helps the environment and the organization meaning it won't end up in your junk drawer or the trash.
So this is a truly sustainable product that puts a lot of good into the world. The program was designed to be a one-person job if needed we've done a lot of the creative work and the promotional messaging to get you started and you can use our customizable flyers and social media posts, or you can create your own it comes down to how much time you have to spend on getting the word out to your supporters. And finally it's not geographically limited meaning you can ask friends and family outside of your area to help you raise funds when we think about two very common fundraisers spirit wear and dine and donate nights.
Sure, we've all heard of those. It's hard to get grandparents and uncles and friends that sort of live out of the area to support those activities. So this fundraiser not only can move outside of the school, but it can go into your Greater Community and Beyond and the best part you're helping to spread habitat across the country.
Kelly LaVaute: We love that. I have a question though. How does this fit into our one-to-one plant donation program?
Rebecca Ali: Yes, thanks for mentioning that very important. So for every plant purchase Garden for Wildlife sets aside a plant to donate to communities in need and that means we're doubling and possibly tripling the impact of native plants with each fundraiser. And I'm gonna explain that - ONE, your supporters are planting native plants. TWO, we're donating plants to organizations who wouldn't otherwise have access and THREE, your organization could earn its own Native Garden if you choose the blossoms and Bucks program, and that's a lot of wildlife habitat in Green Space creation. And that's not only good for our pollinators. That's good for us humans, too.
Kelly LaVaute: That's great for us. How could people find out more about Garden for Wildlife fundraising?
Rebecca Ali: That's a great question. Anyone who might be interested can email fundraiser at Garden for wildlife.com and I'll follow up with them as soon as possible. We'll also share links to the fundraising website. So people can learn more and see if our fundraising programs meet their needs.
Kelly LaVaute: Thanks Rebecca. We'll be posting a transcript and more information on our blog and social media and we can't wait to hear from you. Thanks.