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September 21, 2023 2023 Giving Guide

The Ecology School

2024 Goals

Host businesses, organizations and groups to live and learn at River Bend Farm: Our beautiful and sustainable campus offers a comfortable, spacious and unique setting for conferences, retreats, professional developments and workshops. Gatherings can be customized to your group.

Continue growing our AgroEcology for Resilient Communities (ARC) Project and its impact: Our recent land acquisition of neighboring 207 acres of farmland and buildings provides opportunities for growing our hands-on educational experiences, partnerships and collaborations, as well as our climate-smart farming operations, allowing us to continue serving farm-fresh produce on site to program participants and donating one third to local food pantries.

Continue engaging new and returning students and teachers from across the Northeast for year-round immersive, hands-on programming: The Ecology School provides immersive, outdoor environmental education to more than 15,000 students and teachers across the Northeast annually through our school year programs, Summer Ecology Academy, and Teacher Institutes.

Fundraising events/Opportunities

The Ecology School has launched a Business Partner Program to offer businesses and organizations who value The Ecology School’s mission the opportunity to support student scholarships, helping to ensure equitable access to our programming.

Additionally, our River Bend Farm campus is available to businesses and organizations to host gatherings at one of the most sustainable and beautiful farms and living and learning campuses in Maine.

Having served as the host site for national, regional and state conferences and gatherings, event sponsorships at River Bend Farm are often available to businesses and organizations to support these convenings while raising visibility for their business with a national audience.

Giving Opportunities

Year-round giving opportunities include monetary donations to our Annual Fund, where donors who give $1,000-plus are recognized as Community Partners, and recurring donors are members of our Sustainability Circle. Gifts to our Annual Fund provide critical operating support which allows us to continue providing programming and grow our offerings to welcome more people to our River Bend Farm campus.

We invite the local business community to become a Business Partner of The Ecology School to support equitable opportunities for children to experience immersive, transformative lessons and time spent together to foster more thoughtful and intentional living within our natural world, every day.

We also welcome in-kind donations as needed, and offer sponsorships of gatherings, conferences and events that take place at River Bend Farm.

Volunteer Opportunities

The Ecology School hosts business/corporate and community organization volunteer days for groups seeking a way for their employees and/or members to give back outside of the office. Volunteers help with office projects and campus upkeep such as trail maintenance, gardening and repairs. Classroom teachers and chaperones volunteer thousands of hours each year in helping to supervise students during school programs at River Bend Farm.

As The Ecology School celebrates its 25th year of service to Maine communities and the environment, many new opportunities for Business Community Engagement will be available throughout the coming year! River Bend Farm welcomes your partnership!

Leadership

Drew Dumsch, President/CEO

 

Mary Martin, Board Chair

 

Board officers

Cathy Goodwin: Vice Chair, Retired US Senate Staff

Linda Boudreau: Secretary, Former Mayor and City Councilor of South Portland

Amanda Magee: Treasurer, CFO, Curtis Industries

Board Members

Robert Adkins: Retired Attorney, Nixon Peabody LLP

Dylan Doughty: Senior Buyer, General Dynamics

Steven Grindle: Lawyer, Grindle Robinson & Goodhue LLP

Mike Hansen: Retired Classroom Teacher and Environmental Educator

Thomas Howell: Retired Vice President, Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Jet Blue

Abigail Humphrey Coit: Educator

Kristin Hunter-Thomson: Program Director, Dataspire and Teaching Instructor, Rutgers University

Richard Mersereau: Retired Secretary of the College Emeritus, Bowdoin College

Sanjay Patel: CEO, Perpetuating; CTO, Mediflix

Susan Swanton: Retired Executive Director, Maine Marine Trade Association

At a Glance

Established: 1998

Employees: 29

Annual revenue: $2,461,561

Top funding sources

62% Fundraising and Grants

31% Program income

7% Other income

Contact

River Bend Farm: 184 Simpson Road, Saco, ME 04072

(207) 283-9951

www.theecologyschool.org

Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @TheEcologySchool

Awards/Accolades

2023: Woodworks Sustainable Wood Design national award; 2023: Department of Education’s Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative Grant Award; 2022: American Institute of Architects Maine Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture; 2022: Department of Education’s Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative Grant Award; and 2020: World’s first approved Living Community Challenge Vision & Master Plan.

Mission Statement

The Ecology School inspires stewardship of and connection to the natural world through experiential learning in ecology, conservation, farming and sustainability. The Ecology School’s wide array of overnight and day programs at our 312-acre River Bend Farm campus focus on teaching the science of ecology and the practice of sustainability.

Service locations

The Ecology School hosts program participants from around the U.S. and Canada. School year programs include students from Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts.