Taking Flight

An Introduction to Building Refuge Friends Organizations

As you form your Friends group, you will have many questions that are not fully answered in this book. However, we believe that Taking Flight provides the basic tools you will need to get started. We hope you will agree that this book is a useful tool in building your organization.

Building Your Nest Egg

An Introduction to Raising Funds for National Wildlife Refuge Support Groups

Fundraising can seem like an impossible task for many National Wildlife Refuge Support (“Refuge Friends”) Group members. Most groups are made up of volunteers who care deeply about their refuges, but who feel overwhelmed by the idea of raising the funds they need to make their organizations succeed in the long run. Despite this common concern and living on shoestring budgets, Friends groups around the country report extraordinary successes. Yet, we all want to do more and that takes money. The purpose of this book is to provide a framework that will help your group become successful fundraisers. Raising funds is really all about making friends. It is your friends who will become your most ardent supporters—and they will show their support through their financial contributions. If you position your group to make and keep lots of friends, you will find yourself succeeding at raising funds. This book is not intended to be a detailed “how to” guide on fundraising— there are some excellent books and videos listed in the resource section. Instead, the stories and concepts presented in this book are meant to help you assess your group’s approach to “friendmaking” and organizational management, both of which are key to raising funds.

Advocacy Webinar Series

A three-part introduction to Advocacy for your Refuge Friends Organization