Protecting critical environments for the future

The Nature Conservancy keeps at-risk resources safe from interference.

The Nature Conservancy’s quest to protect the natural resources essential to life has led it to become one of the largest conservation charities on the planet, with a record of success since its founding in 1951 to match.

Its efforts focus on natural environments, healthy cities and the humans who depend on them, actively advocating sustainable clean food and water resources and a global approach to climate change. It uses science to advance understanding while utilizing savvy legal structures to explicitly guard some of the world’s most critical and at-risk habitats.

Its methods and approach have garnered it a diverse group of supporters and corporate partners whose donations have powered The Nature Conservancy’s science and policy advocacy, and amplified its message that demands a greater appreciation for the Earth and the risks it faces.

Many Raymond James Charitable donors are among that group of conscientious philanthropists, including a family Richard Jones advises. Jones is a senior vice president of investments for Harmony Wealth Partners in Louisville, Kentucky. Like many other clients they serve, charitable giving is very important, but so too is their ability to maintain their privacy and anonymity.

A donor advised fund helps them to maintain that discretion, and avoids many of the complexities that come from other vehicles for charitable giving, Jones said. In addition to the simplicity of using the Raymond James Charitable donor advised fund, it gives investors more flexibility in how they give – such as by donating appreciated securities that can then be diversified to hopefully continue to grow in value for years, during which time they can easily make grants from their donor advised fund to organizations that are important to them.

“I think most people see them as an elegant solution to charitable giving,” Jones said.

“Most people are fundamentally generous, and when you talk about convenience, the tax benefits to funding a donor advised fund, people say, ‘That’s a really smart thing to do.’”

Robert Bjork, a co-founder and managing partner of Birch Cove Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also has a client who is passionate about preserving the natural world.

“Our wealthier clients, particularly the charitably minded parents, like to use the donor advised fund to teach their younger children. It allows them to pass that onto their children,” he said.

And for his clients who are able to contribute but have a harder time seeing tax benefits as a result of the increased standard deduction, it allows them to make multiple years of contributions at once as part of their financial plan.

“It’s efficient, it allows donors to recommend their charity of choice, it creates a situation where family can get involved each year – it gives them a lot of flexibility,” he said. And it helps them support causes for which they deeply care.

A worldwide effort

Environment issues know no borders, so The Nature Conservancy works to secure essential resources and habitats across the globe with science-based strategies and priorities.

125+ million acres of natural land preserved

400 scientists

100+ marine conservation projects

79 countries