About the Endowment

The Wisconsin Conservation Endowment provides significant long-term financial support for the conservation, protection and management of Wisconsin’s rich natural resources—its lakes, rivers and streams, unique and beautiful landscapes, and the plant and animal diversity found therein.

Wisconsin is a state blessed with an abundance of diverse and enchanting landscapes –pristine lakes and quiet ponds, majestic conifer forests and deciduous woodlands, extensive wetlands and shorelines, breathtaking bluffs, sweeping prairies, rare fens and savannas, and countless miles of meandering rivers and crystalline streams. Residents and visitors alike revel in the beauty that Wisconsin offers. It is a land rich in culture and character, geographic variability and natural features. To protect and preserve this natural heritage long into the future will take thoughtful and decisive actions--today.

With this goal in mind, Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin created the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment to build a permanent and sustainable source of private funding to support all aspects of natural resources conservation in the state.

What is the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment?

The Wisconsin Conservation Endowment is comprised of numerous permanently endowed, individual named funds that are pooled, invested and managed as a whole, in order to provide long-term sustainable support for Wisconsin’s conservation needs. You can choose the conservation programs or organization, species or places you wish to assist and create your own permanent named funds to support the resources you care passionately about (Visit our Portfolio of Funds).

How does the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment work?

Whether you are an individual, family, or conservation organization, the Foundation’s experienced staff will work with you to clarify your conservation interests and philanthropic goals. Once you have identified your interests, you create a permanent or shorter-lived individualized fund with the Foundation. 

You may choose to contribute to any one of the many conservation causes in Wisconsin. You may wish to endow any of the ongoing programs of the Foundation, or one of your particular conservation interests, such as a specific location or region, a particular habitat or landscape, a favorite public conservation program, or an endangered species of wildlife. You may also choose to make a gift for long-term support of one or more of your favorite conservation organizations.

Sample conservation activities that you may choose to support include:

• Natural Resources Foundation programs
• Natural Resources Fund (supports a variety of priority conservation programs identified by the Foundation’s Board of Directors in collaboration with the conservation community)
• Existing Named Funds within the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment (See Portfolio of Funds)
• State conservation programs in general (State Parks Program, Endangered Species Program, State Natural Areas Program, Wildlife Management Program, Fisheries Program, etc.)
• A specific State Park, State Natural Area, State Wildlife Area, or other public lands
• A specific species of wildlife, an endangered or threatened species (e.g., whooping cranes, wolves, Karner Blue Butterflies)
• A favorite local, regional or statewide conservation organization that does not have the capacity or desire to manage its own permanent endowment.

The types of funds available to you include:

• Named Funds. With a minimum gift of $10,000, you can create a Named Fund either general in nature or specific to your interests. Working with Foundation staff, you will select the conservation cause to be supported, name and create an individualized fund with your contribution, and each year (following a 12-month start-up period) the Foundation will make an allocation from the Fund in support of your desired conservation interest as established through an Agreement with the Foundation (See Named Fund Policy)
• Donor-Advised Funds. With a gift of $20,000 or more, you may establish a Donor-Advised Fund whereby you advise the Foundation, on an annual basis, as to which conservation activities or programs may be supported with the Fund’s earnings. As your personal conservation interests may change, the Donor-advised Fund provides considerable flexibility to you in proposing worthy conservation causes to receive support (See Donor-Advised Fund Policy).
• Acorn Funds. You may “start small, think big” by creating an Acorn Fund with a starting gift of $1,000 and minimum contributions of $1,000 per year until the threshold is reached for establishing a Named or Donor-Advised Fund. 
• Agency Funds. An organization may endow their activities and programs by creating an Agency Fund with a minimum gift of $10,000.  An individual or group of individuals can also create a Designated Agency Fund to support the mission and activities of a conservation organization.

Named, Donor-Advised Funds and Agency Funds are generally permanent endowed funds. These funds ensure that perpetual support will be provided to your selected conservation needs. You have the option of creating a Spend Down Fund or a Pass Through Fund that exist for finite periods of time. A Pass Through Fund usually entails the Foundation making one or several allocations over a short period of time (less than one year). A Spend Down Fund will provide annual distributions for a specified number of years as determined by you (maximum 10 years), or until the fund is depleted.

Creating a Named, Donor-Advised Fund or Agency Fund with Natural Resources Foundation is easy.  With a gift of cash and/or other assets such as stocks, bonds or real estate, you may create, name and endow your own fund. 

Named Funds can also be created by naming the Foundation as a beneficiary of life insurance or a retirement account and through bequests and estate gifts, thereby offering you an opportunity to leave a lasting conservation legacy. Contact the Foundation to discuss your planned gift to the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment.

Creating your own fund will not only ensure that your conservation interests will be supported in perpetuity, but your charitable gift to the Foundation may result in a significant tax savings for you. Your gift may be tax-deductible, and a gift of appreciated assets such as stocks or real estate will likely reduce your capital gains tax burden. A gift to the Foundation through your will or estate plan may significantly reduce estate taxes, as well. Please confer with your financial advisor or tax preparer for more information.

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin was incorporated in 1986 as a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation under IRS tax code Section 501(c)(3). The mission of the Foundation is to create opportunities for individuals and organizations who care about the conservation of Wisconsin’s lands, waters and wildlife to: deepen their understanding and appreciation of these natural resources; support state and local conservation programs; and establish conservation endowments.

The Foundation serves as a “friends group” to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and raises private support for public conservation priorities. The Foundation, through the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment, serves the citizens of the entire state of Wisconsin exclusively in support of natural resources conservation, much as a community foundation serves the needs of a specific community or region. 

The Foundation serves a unique role in the Wisconsin conservation and philanthropy community. 

Wisconsin-Based. We are not affiliated with a larger national organization; all contributions stay in Wisconsin to protect and enhance the state’s natural resources.

Public Conservation Focus. The Foundation is unique in serving primarily public conservation needs throughout the state, thereby benefiting all citizens.

Professional Conservation Expertise. The Foundation’s staff has extensive experience in diverse aspects of Wisconsin conservation and can assist donors with identifying specific projects to be supported. The staff works closely with administrators and field personnel of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to identify our state's most important public conservation needs. The Foundation’s diverse and professional Board of Directors includes many prominent conservationists and former DNR administrators who bring their wealth of knowledge and expertise to the organization.

Professional Financial Services. The Foundation’s staff and Board of Directors bring considerable financial management expertise in support of the Endowment. The investment strategy follows a strict set of policy guidelines. You can be assured that your investments in Wisconsin’s future will be thoughtfully and professionally managed.

Socially-responsible Investing. Approximately 25%-30% of the entire investment portfolio is invested in carefully-screened socially-responsible securities to assure donors that we “walk the walk” of appropriate investing.

Further Endowment Information

Gifts to the Foundation are governed by a Gift Acceptance Policy.

Funds are established through a Donor Agreement with Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. Funds may be established with estate gifts. Language for wills and estates will be provided by the Foundation upon the request of the donor. Assets from all Agency, Named and Donor-Advised Funds are pooled under the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment and managed according to the Foundation’s Investment Policy. 

The Foundation establishes the endowment’s pay-out rate following an annual review of the endowment’s long-term performance. Currently (2/06) the annual payout rate for endowed funds is 5% of the average fund value over the prior 12 calendar quarters. 

The Foundation annually assesses each endowed fund a modest administrative fee (1% of fund value).

Unless otherwise specified by a donor, all endowed gifts are added to the Natural Resources Fund of the Foundation, a general endowment established for supporting priority activities as determined by the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Different rules apply to impermanent (non-endowed) funds such as Spend Down and Pass Through Funds.   Contact the Foundation for details at (866) 264-4096.