Sixteen years ago, a group of outdoor business leaders began the Conservation Alliance. Since then, the Alliance has grown into a unique funding source for grassroots conservation groups as the only environmental grantmaker whose funds come from the non-motorized outdoor recreation industry.
With a changed business climate and elevated interest in environmental sustainability and conservation, the Conservation Alliance is now looking to the future.
With the generous grant provided by Keen Footwear in early 2005, the Conservation Alliance is poised to launch into a new phase of its existence. Moving forward, the Conservation Alliance will be working to recruit new prospective members and increase its ability to fund efforts to protect our last wild places.
“Threats to our shared environment have never been greater,” said Conservation Alliance Program Director John Sterling. “The Keen partnership gives us a huge boost at just the right time. This is great for both the Alliance, and for our grantees who are working to protect wild places for their habitat and recreational values.”
The Conservation Alliance believes that more than any other industry, the Outdoor industry should be giving back to the landscapes on which its customers recreate. Since its inception in 1989, The Conservation Alliance has contributed more than $4.5 million to dozens of grassroots environmental groups working to protect spectacular forests, rivers, deserts, coastlines and wildlands where outdoor industry customers recreate, and wildlife thrives.
Grant recipients have protected millions of acres of wildlands, stopped or removed 25 dams and preserved access to hundreds of miles of waterways and several climbing areas.
With the Keen Footwear grant, the Conservation Alliance has created a Challenge Grant, which will enable the Alliance to better reach its goal of increasing membership to the level where it donates $1 million annually.
Outdoor industry businesses that join the Conservation Alliance over the next year, will have their donations matched thanks to the Keen Footwear Foundation donation. The Conservation Alliance will also be providing its members with creative materials to enable members to better promote their involvement with the Conservation Alliance.
The Keen Foundation Donation will enable the Conservation Alliance to also:
- Demonstrate a notable increase in meaningful conservation action taken by outdoor industry companies and employees
- Implement a sustained marketing and outreach effort to maintain a high profile within the outdoor industry
- Generate enough non-grant revenue to sustain a permanent staff position
“Conservation Alliance membership has increased 20 percent over the past year, but we want every company in the industry,” Sterling said. “Weve got an active board, and the resources necessary to reach our aggressive membership development goals.”
