Success Storty - How Environment Now Established a Donor Advised Fund

 

After school literacy program in Tijuana, Mexico.

Environment Now, a Santa Monica, California based private foundation, began with a goal of protecting and preserving the California coastal ecosystem. Several years after initiating this effort however, leaders of the California-based nonprofit realized that in order to truly be successful, their focus on coastal resources would need to encompass regions beyond the U.S. border. “Our board said ‘If we’re interested in continuing this vision, we need to look at Baja California and realize that its ecosystem is ours and the threats to its ecosystem are principally American threats from tourism and industrial development,’ ” explained Environment Now’s Executive Director, Terry O’Day. This began the organization’s search for the most appropriate way to expand its work internationally.

Environment Now focuses on creating programs that protect and restore California’s environment, particularly coastal, freshwater and forest ecosystems.

That effort includes eliminating sources of pollution in coastal waters, preventing damage to the watershed from unsustainable land-use patterns, and restoring ecosystems suffering from human encroachment. The organization’s interest in reaching beyond U.S. borders led them to the International Community Foundation.

In 2005, with guidance from the International Community Foundation, Environment Now began funding several organizations in Mexico that shared its environmental goals. Within three years, $165,000 has been distributed, primarily to four organizations - Vigilantes de Bahia Magdalena, A.C., Guardianes del Agua, A.C., Eco-Alianza de Loreto, and Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste (DAN). Collectively the groups watch over Magdalena Bay, the coastline surrounding La Paz; the costal zone and marine parks in Loreto as well as the coastal communities of the Baja California peninsula. The charitable fund Environment Now established through the International Community Foundation has enabled environmental education, public outreach, media campaigns and legal defense work in these regions.

Ultimately, with the expertise and guidance provided by the International Community Foundation, Environment Now has accomplished its goal of successfully and effectively extending its reach internationally. “We originally chose to work with the International Community Foundation to be sure we were legally compliant,” said O’Day. “But we found added value from the foundation’s network and knowledge on the ground. They have connected us to local activists and provided critical information from the field.”