Deeply Rooted
Annual Report 2017/18
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MISSION, HISTORY, AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES
We offer more than 800 environmental education opportunities each year. including school field trips, outreach to schools and the community, teacher professional development, summer nature camp, after-school programs, Scout programs, volunteer naturalist training, a native plant seminar, and countless lectures, workshops and special events.
We also are a popular location for nature-themed weddings and birthday parties. Our Nature Preschool and other early childhood programs are filled to capacity, as are many summer camp and public programs.
This wide range of programs and services has enabled us to diversify our funding and ensure our financial sustainability. In 2008, philanthropy supported 90% of Irvine’s operating budget. While the overall dollar amount of donations has risen over the past nine years, our fee-based program income has increased significantly and is projected to account for 42% of our FY 2019 budget. Irvine received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, confirming that we are financial healthy.
Irvine is led by a Board of Trustees composed of 27 individuals with expertise in the legal profession, business, marketing, higher education, the environment and energy sectors, philanthropy, and the non-profit community, as well as representatives from local garden clubs, volunteers, and parents. Executive Director W. Brooks Paternotte was hired in 2014 after many years of education leadership. Irvine has a relatively flat staffing structure, with four directors leading a staff of 38 part- and full-time personnel. We collaborate with businesses, schools, and government agencies to recruit volunteers to support our staff. Volunteers may lead field trips, build fences, cut down invasive plants, set up for events, prepare mailings, or build trails. They typically save $400,000 in salary costs, according to salary equivalents calculated by Independent Sector.
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Irvine Nature Center is the largest private nonprofit environmental education center in the greater Baltimore region.
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Irvine 42nd year (10th at Garrison Forest Road) had both impressive successes and a few challenges. Attendance numbers remained strong as we revised our strategic plan, completed multiple land improvement projects, maintained a strong educational outreach to the community and piloted some new initiatives.
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Our mission is to educate and inspire current and future generations to explore, respect and protect nature. At Irvine, we guide learning. We live green. We foster respect. And we thrive outdoors.
Founded in 1975 by Olivia Irvine Dodge, Irvine was originally located on the campus of St. Timothy’s School in Stevenson, but its programs were so popular that it eventually outgrew the rented facilities. In June 2008, Irvine moved to 116 ecologically diverse acres in the Caves Valley donated to us by the State of Maryland. In October 2015, a very generous gift from a local philanthropist enabled us to acquire an adjacent property that brings our total footprint to nearly 210 acres. After laying out trails, mowing paths, building boardwalks, and installing directional signs, Irvine opened the property to the public on June 23, 2018. Our 210-acre property is rich in wetlands, forests and meadows, making it ideal for our environmental teachings and a treasured resource in a region that is becoming increasingly urban. Our campus includes a 17,200-square-foot visitor center with interactive exhibits, educational gardens, an Outdoor Classroom, and 7.5 miles of trails, all surrounded by nearly 1,400 acres of protected land. Irvine’s trails and exhibit hall are open to the public year-round, seven days a week.
Contents Branching out
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2017/2018 highlights
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* Four program highlights
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* 2017/18 Attendance
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*Events
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Branching Out
Last year more than 80,000 people breathed fresh air, learned new lessons, and just had fun in nature! With the opening of Bauer Preserve in 2018, our trails will be standing room only! Irvine has experienced spectacular growth in both program and propertyimprovements. Only with your help can we can continue this trajectory of excellence. Our phenomenally successful Nature Preschool
Spending time in nature enhances educational
pioneered “The Irvine Way” to graduate children
outcomes by improving children’s academic
who are curious, confident, inquisitive, and
performance, focus, and behavior. Exploration
happy. Now we are sprouting new programs for
and discovery through outdoor experience can
kids of all ages – Little Birds,
provide motivation to learn.
Forest Dreamers, Earth Friends – that use the same
Irvine’s school programs set a
nature-based, child-focused
new record in FY 2017: 9,167
teaching approach. (314)
students learned to observe, measure, analyze, and enjoy
Last year, more than 850
nature, a 19% increase over
volunteers committed their
previous years.
time, talents and love of nature to our programs, exhibits,
New curricula matching state
property, and animals. We could
outcomes attracted a record 108
never accomplish so much if not
school groups for field trips
for them.
through our wetlands, meadows and woods.
A capital grant from the State of Maryland is helping us honor the indigenous peoples who once lived upon the land that Irvine has committed to preserve, protect and respect. A new Native American village is beginning to take shape.
A $1.9 million wetlands restoration project returned cornfields to the ponds and streams that once ran through Irvine. Snapping turtles, green herons, bullfrogs, and sandpipers quickly found their way home. If you build it, they will come.
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Fo
am
Progr r u
g hli hig
Irvine continued its sixteen different program areas (8 school-focused and 8 public-focused), and many achieved impressive results.
ht s
Four highlights: 1. Earth Friends (Homeschooled kids): 32% growth in enrollment and exceeded budget by $3,500 2. Eco-Explorers (After-school): More schools, nearly doubled income, exceeded budget by >$17,000 3. Growing Green Leaders (Urban Ed): Successful green school certification for Sinclair Lane Elementary 4. Eat, Drink, Learn (Adult series): Consistently sold out programs (avg. ~105) and very well received
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Ourresidentmammals,amphibians,reptiles,birdsandfisharevitaltoourmission.Manyhave permanentinjuries,otherswereraisedbymisguidedanimallovers.Allcanteachourvisitors lessonsaboutenvironmentalstewardship.Theseanimalambassadorsbringenvironmentalissues to life, rather than remaining abstract principles open to debate.
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Attendance highlights: Total attendance at programs and events was 25,147. While this was ~9% lower than the previous year’s record high of 27,638; nevertheless, it was still higher than all the years before that. The decrease was due primarily to two programs: Tales & Tales -- temporarily discontinued this free story time program in the fall, pending review (result: 1,500 fewer attendees) and Growing Green Leaders -- this Urban Ed program was in a transition year with two staff changes (result: ~1,000 fewer attendees). Attendance numbers alone don’t reflect the program lengths or reveal the differing amounts of instruction that participants receive. Irvine continued to offer many multi-session programs to increase both the contact hours and impact.
Our greatest resource is our donors. Without you,Irvine would not be able to welcome over 80,000 visitors every year; expand our property to include woods, wetlands, and meadows; and continue to cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders. *Look online for our donors list
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Preschool Events/Highlights:
• Field trip to Hammerman Beach • Annual Fall Night Hike and Spring Sing Campfire Programs • Winter Art Workshop for families • Maple Magic Pancake Brunch and Hike • Project Clean Stream, Spring Hike & Sing-Along and Valentine’s Day Party • Annual Flower Ceremonies (graduation) • ECE Open House
There’s over 100 programs listed in the newsletter (many free to members) as a way to attract new vsitors to Irvine as well keeping old-timers interested and engaged. Some of the more popular programs in 2017-18 were: Evening Campfire and Night Hike, Terrarium Night, Animal Encounters, Maple Magic, Falconry and Cattail Weaving.
Irvine offers a list of 22 different topics on all aspects of nature and environmental education -- many of the adult programs selected (garden clubs, senior centers) were one-hour PowerPoint presentations with sounds clips videos and other artifacts.
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SUPPORT & REVENUE Contributions Contributions for Land/Endowment Foundation Grants Membership Program Income Special Events, net of direct costs Rental Income Retail Revenue, net of COGS Investment Return TOTAL SUPPORT & REVENUE EXPENSES Program Management & General Fundraising TOTAL EXPENSES Change in Net Assets before Depreciation Depreciation Expense Change in Net Assets ASSETS, LIABILITY, & NET ASSET SUMMARY
Cash & Cash Equivalents Investments for Endowment Pledges Receivable, net Inventory Total Liabilities Total Net Assets
TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS Prepaid Expenses Property & Equipment, net TOTAL ASSETS
2017
2016
428,878 89,150 527,713 29,830 699,709 261,900 78,185 11,736 341,320
301,534 1,707,109 262,613 32,907 652,660 263,987 92,538 11,722 26,028
2,468,421
3,351,098
1,421,998 58,580 274,144
1,280,759 57,425 309,915
1,754,722
1,648,099
713,699 (180,482) 533,217
1,702,999 (187,155) 1,515,844
882,458 3,199,506 308,738 982 214,741 11,017,368
1,188,561 2,085,090 546,258 32,779 239,885 10,484,151
11,232,109
10,724,036
12,431 6,827,994
12,431 6,827,994
11,232,109
11,232,109
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11201 Garrison Forest Road Owings Mills, MD 21117 ExploreNature.org 443-738-9200 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Founder Olivia Irvine Dodge President Thomas D. Washburne, Jr. Vice President Susan B. Kearney Secretary Margaret A. Lawrence Treasurer Thomas B. McCord Trustees Theodore W. Bauer Topher J. Brewer Jamie Brown Willis Chen David O. Dardis Eric DeCosta Jack Finney Frances H. Flanigan John W. Guinee III Genia Hill ex officio Jessica Kartalija Joanne Larson Glenda LeGendre Joshua H. Levinson Clem Palevich Page W. Seville Anna Smith Michele Speaks Adair B. Stifel Nettie Washburn Howard Wolfe Executive Director W. Brooks Paternotte Trustees Emeriti Nancy B. Allchin William L. Balfour Angus M. Burton Suzanne E. Chapelle, PhD Malcolm Gee W.T. Dixon Gibbs, Jr. Robert H. Johnson Lynn R. Jordan Ellen H. Kelly Gregory C. Pinkard James Piper III Barbara B. Shea Judy Van Dyke