Support Center for wildlife
become a major donor
Only 1% of philanthropic giving is prioritized for wildlife by donors in our country each year. Wildlife so seamlessly offers us hope, wonder, and resilience through their beauty, agility, and song. The work they do, while often invisible, prevents life-threatening human disease and helps tend our forests and crops. And all the while, they do not ask for anything in return. Perhaps this is why wildlife and the environment are severely underfunded in both philanthropic and government funding? We remain grateful that our work, and wildlife’s worth is not invisible to you and that you choose to be the 1 out of 100 that prioritize wildlife and environmental health as critical to our own wellbeing!
This year, we will likely treat more animals than ever as we continue our work completing outdoor patient recovery enclosures. Will you consider renewing or increasing your gift to Center for Wildlife this year, to help us grow our impact and meet an ever-increasing need for our services?
If you are interested in helping with a lead gift to our fundraising efforts, please contact Carolyn at 207-361-1400 x108 or carolyn@thecenterforwildlife.org. Please act today and know that you are making a difference in our part of the world and beyond with your gift to Center for Wildlife!
Ways to give
Operating Funds
Our annual operating budget is $1.1M with 75% dedicated toward providing competitive pay and benefits to our highly qualified clinic and education program staff.
Beyond the services provided for wildlife, the public, municipal and state agencies, along with children and families strategic goals for this year include:
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Expanding educational offerings for the field of wildlife rehabilitation and conservation medicine to increase the number of qualified wildlife rehabilitators
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Grow wildlife veterinary position from volunteer to dedicated hours per week to offer increased sterile surgery and complex injury care
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Grow education volunteer and intern staffing to support expanded outreach with the goal of increasing nature connection and ecological literacy
Capital Funds
Center for Wildlife is completing a 10-year, transformative capital expansion from a 1,200 square foot donated ranch house to the facility and campus we operate out of today.
This expansion has allowed us to accommodate the demand for our services in an appropriately sized and healthy facility, while also growing our earned income, ability to treat wildlife 365 days per year, and expanding our capacity to treat an additional 1,000 animals at our location (from 2,500 to 3,500). We have a capital needs projection of $300,000 over the next 1-2 years.
Endowment
Wildlife and the environment receive just 1% of philanthropic giving annually in the US. Additionally, there is no state or federal funding dedicated to the field of wildlife rehabilitation. Thus, many centers like ours have a short life span, limit admission hours, or are unable to sustain nature-based education and research programs alongside the wildlife clinic work, which we feel is critical to achieving long-term, systemic change. CFW’s endowment has been seeded at $110,000, and we have a very ambitious goal of growing this to $20M. This would allow Center for Wildlife to operate in perpetuity on the average annual interest earnings (5-7%) despite economic downturns, changes in tax code or global pandemics. It would also allow us to focus almost completely on our clinic and education activities, along with offering significantly more accessibility to our nature-based and intern and apprenticeship programs.