You may choose to direct your legacy gift to one or more of UVLT’s three endowment funds:

Conservation Endowment: The Conservation Endowment provides funds to cover transaction costs for landowners who wish to donate conservation restrictions, but need assistance with survey, appraisal, and legal expenses. As the fund grows, it will also enable UVLT to purchase development rights to protect important resources.

Stewardship Fund: The Stewardship Fund secures the conservation restrictions entrusted to UVLT, providing income for easement monitoring and legal defense. UVLT adds to this fund every time a conservation easement is accepted. Legacy gifts to the Stewardship Fund ensure that UVLT’s conservation successes last in perpetuity.

Operating Endowment: The Operating Endowment provides income to support UVLT operations. This fund is key to UVLT’s long term strength because it allows the organization to focus more of its staff resources on conservation work and protects UVLT from year to year fluctuations in membership support.

Other Donor Directed Gifts
If you have a particular interest in an Upper Valley Land Trust program, or wish to make a gift to benefit a specific region, please contact UVLT President Jeanie McIntyre to discuss opportunities for directing your gift to a restricted purpose. Guidelines for restricted funds should provide for meaningful public benefit over time, and restricted fund gifts should be of a size sufficient to accomplish realistic objectives. Donors may choose to establish a restricted fund with an initial gift and add to the fund in subsequent years.

UVLT’s donor restricted funds include:

  • Lois McGean Fund – provides income to assist with land conservation in Norwich and surrounding towns.
  • Colette Drape Memorial – provides income for the establishment and maintenance of a trail along Bicknell Brook, and support to UVLT.
  • Patchen Miller Internship – provides income for an annual summer internship at UVLT.
  • Donella Meadows Farmland Conservation Fund – provides supplemental funds to close the gap in cases where grants are insufficient to purchase development rights on working farmland.
  • Mary and Elizabeth Kilmarx Endowment – provides income to support land conservation projects with a special emphasis on projects that provide public access.