Forever Fund

Perpetuity is a long time. And, unlike most everything else in a seemingly disposable world, Conservation Easements exist in perpetuity – they last virtually forever, ensuring beautiful habitat and productive land remains for our children and future generations to enjoy.

But this “forever” time frame presents a special challenge for funding. The obligation of a land trust to monitor and enforce a conservation easement in perpetuity requires yearly site visits and staff time to report on the status of the protected property and compliance with an easement’s terms. And, at times we also use drones and satellite imagery to monitor protected land.  Meeting these obligations also requires storing reports on the monitoring, and, in the rare instance when a violation warrants action, utilizing staff attorneys to defend the easement and resolve the matter. These are real costs that occur over the course of “forever.”

That is why GALT created a Forever Fund. We want to ensure GALT has sufficient resources to continue operating and last as long as the land will. We want to build a fund to confidently meet our operational and land protection needs in perpetuity.  Our initial goal for this fund is One Million Dollars.

GALT also utilizes other donations, grants, and investment income to operate and engage in land protection. And, we will continue to seek and carefully steward these resources. However, perpetuity is a long time and involves an inherent amount of uncertainty, such as changing donation levels, population trends, tax law and regulations, and economic outlook. A Forever Fund to supplement our other fundraising efforts will provide additional security over the long term. 

GALT has already allocated over $400,000 to initiate the Forever Fund utilizing existing general donations and bequests. We are asking you to help us find additional donations to meet our Forever Fund goal of One Million Dollars. If you would like to contribute or discuss a potential donation or bequest, please contact executive director Katherine Eddins at 404-861-8567 or katherine@galandtrust.org.

*The Forever Fund is governed by GALT’s written investment policy established by the Board of Directors. Furthermore, the Board oversees fund expenditures to ensure uses are consistent with and in furtherance of organization resiliency. Resiliency includes short term operational shortfalls, unforeseen circumstances/expenses, long term stewardship expenses, and unique land protection opportunities.