Annual Fund Drive

Wow!   What a year it has been for SCCF and the island community. Thanks to you, we have preserved a 28-acre Northern Sanibel Wildlife Corridor. SCCF’s Wildlife Habitat Management staff have begun restoring it to better function as habitat for our “wild” neighbors.  At the same time, the volunteer Hammerheads and our Environmental Education staff are working to turn the Bailey Homestead into an interpretive site for the nature and history of the islands. This unprecedented land acquisition would not have been possible without the generous giving of time and treasure by trustees, campaign committee members, and thousands of donors for whom we are eternally grateful. Thank you, thank you!

Going forward, our work continues to be guided by our mission: “The conservation of coastal habitats and aquatic resources on Sanibel and Captiva and in the surrounding watershed.”

To share how that works in practice, we’ve challenged ourselves to ask the question:

What have we done lately?

Well, the short answer is…a lot. We know it’s not enough to look back on our land acquisition history, the work that helped make these islands the nature sanctuary they are today.

You can read about all our program areas in this year's Annual Report. This year, for the first time, we have also prepared a map that represents some of the work being done by our staff and the locations of their efforts. We’re proud to share these accomplishments with our members and neighbors.   Click here for a PDF of the map.  Click here for a PDF of the Annual Report.

Let us honestly share that we’re feeling the pressure to keep all our programs and projects moving forward after the massive capital undertaking that was the Bailey land campaign. Augmenting grant monies with contributions remains a necessity for covering our operating expenses. That’s a tough thing to ask for on the heels of last year’s $5.3 million campaign.

After looking at the grant monies our staff has secured, and matching funds for those grants generously given by a small group of major donors, we are able to set the remaining FY 2011-2012 Annual Fund Drive goal at $650,000. While that remains a daunting prospect in this economy, it is 1/8 of the support we gratefully received from you last year. We count on this support — combined with grants and other income — to balance our budget. Can we count on your support again this year?
 
To learn more about how you can help, including major gifts and naming opportunities, please contact Erick Lindblad at elindblad@sccf.org or 239.472.2329 or Cheryl Giattini at cgiattini@attglobal.net or 239.395.2768.  Finally, we hope you will consider stopping by our Nature Center to ask us about what we’ve done lately. We’d be happy to have that chat.

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