Advancement Notes Advancement Notes

Happy New Year! 2020 already seems both long ago, far away and yet like just yesterday–what a tumultuous time. I hope your 2021 is filled with hope, joy and prosperity for you and yours.

By Liz Ruffa, Advancement Director

Effective communications and fundraising depends in large part on solid planning and sound execution. MFFC’s Advancement Office works assiduously to promote and bring capacity to programs and the institution in a manner that supports and amplifies Merck Forest’s mission and values.

Advancement at MFFC supports activities on our property and in our community. We greatly appreciate both nascent and ongoing collaborations with regional educators and natural/working lands practitioners. The office also partners with MFFC’s Board-led Advancement Committee to ensure that our efforts are purposeful and complement Trustee-driven initiatives and forethoughts.

In 2022, MFFC’s Advancement Office plans to:

• Launch a spring Annual Fund campaign focusing on “accessibility”

• Utilize social media campaigns to cultivate new members and supporters

• Establish a Legacy and Planned Giving program

A warm welcome to our many new members and donors–your financial support in 2020 allowed us to operate and continue to deliver mission during an unprecedented time for us all. Our team worked quietly last year, doing its best to capture the energy and spirit of signature events and programs by offering them on-line or in modified live ways. We missed having our usual throng of day visitors, outdoor enthusiasts and workshop participants on site. We missed campers stopping in the Visitor Center for a chat and some hiking tips. We really missed greeting the many area students who use Merck Forest as their outdoor classroom as they conduct their environmental science and citizen learning. We didn’t get to host as many young day campers on-site last summer as we might have liked, but hope to turn that curve in 2021! Not being able to interact and engage with people on the property was most certainly a downside to 2020, but Vermont’s ably handled Covid-19 response protocols were all followed to a T here.

• Rebrand and retool our essential Membership program

Help us meet these goals! In addition to donations, suggestions and examples of mission-based advancement efforts that you think work well are always helpful. I welcome your input and ideas of how MFFC can continue to “advance”.

Don’t hesitate to reach out at liz@merckforest.org or at 802-394-2579.

This Ridgeline issue illuminates just how remarkable experiencing “place” can be–whether that experience is live and tactile or via an Instagram post or Nearby Nature online video. The images in this Ridgeline document how the sun here rises and sets every day, how animals here capture everyone’s hearts–whether on the farm, in the woods, or on a leash. Staff contributions explain how to track animals in the snow and on camera. Offerings capture how MFFC cabins continue to be revered destinations that renew souls and inspire creativity. People just love Merck Forest! Many thanks for doing your part to help us steward this special place.

Thanks so much for your involvement with Merck Forest. We are all the better for it.

Happy Spring!

Save The Date

MFFC’s 2021 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 12. We will host it, not sure in what format quite yet, but make sure to mark your calendars today!