Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

September 19, 2024 2024 Giving Guide

The Ecology School

 

2025 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 acquisition of the neighboring 208 acres of farmland and buildings provides opportunities for growing our hands-on educational experiences, workforce development training, partnerships and our climate-smart farming operations, allowing us to continue serving farm-fresh produce onsite to program participants and donating one-third to local food pantries.

Continue engaging new and returning students and teachers from across the Northeast and beyond 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 Outdoor School programs, Teacher Institutes and Summer Ecology Academy summer camps.

Fundraising Events/Opportunities

The Ecology School’s Business Partner Program offers 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 meetings and gatherings at one of the most sustainable and beautiful farms and living and learning campuses in Maine and the Northeast.

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 both local and national audiences.

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 Business Partners 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 its employees and/or members to give back to the community 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 Outdoor School programs at River Bend Farm in the spring and fall.

The Ecology School is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and as we continue to grow our service to Maine communities and the environment, new opportunities for engagement are always available and welcome. We invite you to contact us to discuss ways in which we can partner!

Leadership

 

Drew Dumsch
President/CEO

Mary Martin
Board Chair
Retired RSU 16 Principal

 

Board officers

Cathy Goodwin, Vice Chair, Retired President/CEO of the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce

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 & Environmental Educator

Thomas Howell, 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

Susan Swanton, Retired Executive Director, Maine Marine Trade Association

Amy Winston, Senior Director of State Policy, Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI)

At A Glance

 

Established: 1998

Employees: 22+

Annual revenue: $2,250,866

Top funding sources

48% Fundraising and Grants

46% Program income

6% Other income

Contact

184 Simpson Road

Saco, ME 04072

(207) 283-9951

www.theecologyschool.org

Facebook: TheEcologySchool

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/theecologyschool

Instagram: @theecologyschool; @riverbendfarm_maine

Awards/Accolades

2024: Drew Dumsch, The Ecology School’s president/CEO, named Mainebiz Nonprofit Leader of the Year; 2023: Woodworks Sustainable Wood Design national award; 2022-2024: Department of Education’s Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative Grant Award; and 2022: American Institute of Architects Maine Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture

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 313-acre River Bend Farm campus transform how people think about science, food, community, the environment and themselves.

Service locations

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