Help us fill our canopy and leave a legacy!

Purchase a leaf in support of our campaign and customize it with your personal message of 5-7 words. Leaves are available for donations of $25, $50, and $100.

Why do YOU support children’s environmental education at Aldo Leopold Nature Center?

Purchase Your Maple Leaf Here

WE ARE 89% OF THE WAY TO OUR $3M GOAL. CAN YOU HELP US RAISE $345K?

Together, we can ensure that children take the critical first steps in understanding the importance of balancing the needs of our community and those of the ecological systems that are vital to our existence. The Building Our Legacy Campaign, with its goal of $3 million, sets the Aldo Leopold Nature Center on a course towards sustainable equitable access to life-changing children’s environmental programming. We do this through a wide range of early childhood and school-age programming as well as public events.

Our major focus is on providing high-quality, affordable children’s education, based in nature. We create access for children and families from underserved households and marginalized neighborhoods by subsidizing program costs and providing tuition assistance. We do this for school field trips, summer camps, the Nature Preschool, the OAKS After-School program, Wonder Bugs On the Road, and our free family-friendly events.

With your help, we can expand these subsidies and build a legacy where all children have access to the benefits of a connection to the natural world.

For more information…

Please contact Kelley Van Egeren, Director of Development & Stewardship, at kelley@aldoleopoldnaturecenter.org or Betsy Parker, Executive Director at betsyp@aldoleopoldnaturecenter.org

$3M to Prioritize Equity & Sustainability

EQUITABLE EDUCATION INITIATIVES

• Provide subsidies, tuition assistance, and free programs for schools and families
• Support Nature Net: The Environmental Learning Network
• Ensure equitable staff compensation to retain quality staff

ESSENTIAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Install engaging, multi-language interpretive signage
• Replace boardwalk, outdated roof, and solar panels
• Restore trails, docks, and bridges for accessibility
• Upgrade Science on a Sphere and the Immersion Theater climate science exhibits

ACCESS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME

• Grow endowment fund to annually support access initiatives

Review Our Campaign Materials

ROOTED IN COMMUNITY

Thirty years ago, the land where the Aldo Leopold Nature Center sits was slated for development until a group of concerned Monona residents came together and petitioned the city to purchase the land. The proposal went to referendum and Monona residents voted to save the land from development, preserving it as a natural space for all to enjoy.

BASED IN NATURE

Nature is the heart of every program and children spend a majority of their time outside, using all of their senses to experience and connect with the natural world around them, providing daily opportunities for growth and achievement. Our philosophy, inspired by Aldo Leopold, is that children learn with nature, through nature, and in nature.

ADDRESSING TODAY’S CHALLENGES

The work of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center stands at the intersection of children’s health and environmental education, and serves as childcare for many families. Through our work, we’re addressing two of the greatest and inextricably-linked challenges today: the health of our children and the sustainability of our planet.

2024 PROGRAM COST vs. PROGRAM REVENUE*

To provide free and subsidized programs, we need to fundraise for a significant portion of our expenses annually.

*This means that what you see in green, is subsidies.

TOGETHER, WE CAN BUILD A LEGACY WHERE ALL CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO NATURE

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