Susan R.’s Post

Are you a grassroots nonprofit leader or founder looking to make a larger impact? Take inspiration from the Mississippi Forestry Association. Their successful advocacy and awareness strategies are anchored in education - teaching landowners, legislators, and the public about forestry's essential role in Mississippi's economy. As leaders in nonprofits, we too carry a similar responsibility to articulate the significance of our missions to our communities. Collaboration is crucial too. By fostering partnerships, we amplify our ability to bring change! Remember, the best stories aren't just told, they are shared. And the best connections are born from a shared passion and understanding. Let's reach out, educate, collaborate and weave our stories into the fabric of our communities! #GiveHopeDaily #NonprofitCollaboration #EducateToElevate #NonprofitMarketingSolutions

Wishing you a buzzing National Urban Beekeeping Day! This celebration, originally promoted by the Detroit Hives organization in 2019, encourages community members in cities to practice apiculture as a way to help support primary pollinator species in urban environments where natural systems have historically been displaced, disrupted, or degraded. Along with the ecological functions, beekeeping also provides a range of other potential benefits to local communities. https://beesinthed.com/ (While some critics have cautioned that 'domesticated' apiculture adversely impacts wild bee species, carefully planned and managed urban beekeeping where wild bee colonies are not viable can help mitigate potential adverse impacts.)

Took a little longer than I wanted to add this all up (because a - maths, b - BUSY and c - managed to muck up my website and lose the impact tracker page... FAIL! Huge thanks to the team at Green Hosting for helping me get it back!) OK, anyway. The Ocean Writer's first year of business is complete (woop) which means it's time to track my first year's impact and see how it compares with previous years (as a sole trader). 💙 13 great clients: some I'd worked with before and some new (all lovely) 🎁 7 days of pro bono support, volunteering & citizen science (down on last year's stonking 12.5 days but still respectable I think!) 💰 1.57% of my income donated to good causes... creeping up from 1.2% the previous year (wahoo) 🌿 That includes enough donations to Project Seagrass to fund 2,251 seagrass seeds (also up from last year) 🌴 1,407 trees planted (up on the previous year's 1,163 but likely to fall next year) ✏️ 23 petitions signed (down on 22-23's 35 petitions boo... hopefully I can increase again this year) For the full spiel, check out the roundup blog 👇 & gimme tips/ideas to keep improving in 2024-25 please! https://lnkd.in/d37iiSQw

This #EarthDay 🌎 Nylabone is planting 1,000 trees through One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted's vision is to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. To learn more https://lnkd.in/g9cxnWGU

The feedback from my fall experiment of offering free habitat workshops was so positive I’ve decided to host seasonal habitat workshops this year to share actionable ways to create a more ecologically sustainably landscape - with the focus on the function of our yards as a wildlife habitat. The size of the workshops is intentionally limited to make them more interactive and encourage authentic connections. I’ve worked hard to offer hands-on and practical ideas geared towards anyone who is at the beginning of the process of restoring habitat where they live. I’m maintaining the low-key nature of the workshops by reaching out through my networks to folks who are open to making their yards more wildlife friendly. Feel free to share this information with anyone who you think "gets it" and might benefit. The Winter Habitat Yard Workshop is on Sunday, February 25 from 12:00-2:00pm. Before reserving a spot by e-mailing [email protected], please read the blog post here (https://lnkd.in/dbps6NzX) plus the one I wrote last fall (https://lnkd.in/g3H9z_ij) detailing the reasons for the workshop and what to expect. Spring and summer dates are in the works! The workshops are for adults, but children of all ages are welcome – after all it’s their future we’re all trying to save! Be on the lookout for a special family workshop this summer. * I'm keeping the workshops free. My website is being updated and will have a donate button now that Nurture Native Nature is a non-profit organization. This will help offset the cost of offering free educational community outreach programs and activities throughout the year. #nativeplants #naturelovers #habitatyard #coexistwithnature #nurturenativenature

Community Giving Week is all about giving back to Camp and School—but we would be remiss not to extend that spirit of giving back to the place we call home! To celebrate our Adirondack community, we wanted to recognize one of our great nonprofit partners here in the region, AdkAction. Here are some pollinator facts they shared with us recently: 🦋 Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. That’s one out of every three bites of food you eat! 🐝 Threats including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticide use, climate change, and disease are causing a decline in global and local pollinator populations. 🐞 Pollinators that can’t find the right quantity or quality of food (nectar and pollen from blooming plants within flight range) don’t survive. Right now, there simply aren’t enough pollinator friendly plantings to support pollinators. Learn more about AdkAction’s work in this recent conversation between our Garden Manager Kim Smart and Hannah Grall, AdkAction Project Coordinator - visit https://lnkd.in/ej96TWVK to watch the full interview. And if you haven’t made your gift yet, donate today at https://lnkd.in/e5-rHD2S!

In March 2021, I began an effort that would greatly impact the course of my life, the creation of the NYC Plover Project — a first-of-its-kind non-profit organization with the unwavering purpose of increasing nesting success for the endangered Piping Plover - the only federally-listed species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 that nests in NYC. I will cut to the chase - the situation for this fragile beach-nesting bird in NYC is dire, and I am asking for your help. For this work, and the impact we have had in less than three years, we have built great partnerships with National Park Service and NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, and have been awarded several honors including National Park Service’s Hartzog Volunteer Group of the Year (for the entire nation) and the Keesee Conservation Award from National Audubon Society — New York & Connecticut. But why should you or we care about a tiny shorebird? I would argue that if you want to see the impact of climate change TODAY in our nation’s most populous city, come to the beach and meet the Piping Plover. I strongly believe that a city and society that protects the most vulnerable is a better and kinder one overall. As most of us care deeply about the climate crisis, I suggest that we need to center species protection and biodiversity efforts within this work. We are looking to expand from our volunteer programs on every single beach in NYC where Plovers nest (hard work we will continue to grow), but also to bring our work in NYC public school classrooms, bring classrooms to the beach, and expand our community engagement work. Humans are the leading cause for Piping Plover nest and chick loss, so we must do anything and everything within our power to reach people. It may not happen overnight, but we are already seeing impact throughout the tens of thousands of people we have reached through our 10,000 hours of volunteer service with more than 250 volunteers since 2021. This holiday season, we have also set an audacious goal of $30,000 for individual giving. Please consider a donation here: https://lnkd.in/ebSHxedZ

Local 🤝 Global 🎬 Watch this 1-minute video for a special note from COO Laure Fisher, and a peek at how CTM spent a day with Chesapeake Bay Foundation, volunteering in their restoration efforts in honor of our customers as part of #CustomerAppreciationDay. Leadership and team members from across the company spent a half day volunteering at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's restoration plant. We got our hands dirty preparing oysters for replantation and bagging recycled shells to provide homes for baby oysters! Thanks to you, we were able to donate enough money to help plant 250,000 oysters in the bay. Simultaneously celebrating YOU, observing #EarthDay, and honoring our local roots in light of the daily challenges Baltimore – and the global shipping industry – continues to face in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. ----- 🦪 Why Oysters? 🦀 Native oysters are crucial to the health of the Chesapeake Bay. They filter algae, sediment, and pollutants, and oyster reefs are home to fish, crabs, and other marine life in the Bay. 📉 Unfortunately, the Bay's native oyster population has declined to as little as 1% of historic levels. Restoration efforts like these help improve the Bay's water quality and keep it healthy and full of life for years to come. 🏡 A big part of this work is preparing recycled shells. These shells are used by conservationists to provide new homes for baby oysters to grow and continue restoring the Bay. ❤️ THANK YOU! ❤️ We couldn't do this without you. #CommunityImpact #Volunteer #BestWorkplaces

All species on earth (including us) are part of an interdependent ecosystem. Since invertebrates (animals without spines) make up 96% of all animals on earth, their survival and biodiversity are extremely important to the balance of our shared ecosystem. If we let enough invertebrate species go extinct, we will start to see irreversible changes to the world as we know it—problems with crop pollination, collapsing food webs, polluted waterways, and much more. Giving Tuesday is the perfect time for a good deed! You have the power to help conserve these animals. Whether its habitat restoration, a tax-deductible donation to Xerces, a share on this video, or something else, we’re grateful for all the ways that you advocate for invertebrates! Make a donation at xerces.org/give Learn more at xerces.org/giving-tuesday #givingtuesday #givingtuesday2023 #generosity

🚀 Landing Page 15/30 ✅ Driftwood By Sea 💥Half the challenge is done! 🌷I'm excited to share the redesign of Driftwood By Sea. This isn't just a garden, every visit contributes to charities. Its owner, a distinguished gardener, reflects his experience in magazines. 🌼A very special greeting to the owner and creator of this wonderful garden Gardening is a beautiful world, and I hope my page brings that beauty to you.💚 What I Did: ✅ Maintained content ✅ Incorporated a video of the garden What I Learned: 📹 Learned to add videos 🌐 Distributed information visually 🔄 Kept content accessible  #30DaysOfCode by Women Who Code Front End 🌼