Orvis Announces Four Recipients of 2013 Customer Matching Grants for Conservation

Protecting the fish and wildlife habitat of Bristol Bay will be a top priority.
Photo by Jim Klug

Today, Orvis announced four recipients of its annual Orvis Customer Matching Grants. This year’s grants are targeted to raise $430,000 or more for these projects, part of the company’s more than $1 million commitment to conservation and related causes this year.Orvis has awarded cash grants—used as matching funds to raise customer contributions up to equal amounts—to the following organizations…

    • The Stop Pebble Mine campaign will be Orvis’ top conservation priority for 2013. “The Pebble Mine (in Bristol Bay, Alaska), if developed, would certainly become one of the worst environmental risks on the planet and would permanently scar one of America’s most majestic natural resources,” said Orvis CEO Perk Perkins. Orvis will partner with Trout Unlimited in their campaign to convince Washington and the EPA to block the Pebble Mine.

 

    • Trout Unlimited, to continue collaboration on the Orvis/Trout Unlimited 1,000 Miles Campaign, which will reconnect 1,000 miles of streams throughout the United States over the next several years. The project will open up waterways through the repair or replacement of culverts – the passages that connect streams underneath roadways everywhere – which prevent fish from accessing vital upstream spawning habitat. “Dollar for dollar, repairing or replacing an impassable culvert is one of the best investments we can make in trout recovery,” said Orvis Vice Chairman David Perkins.

 

    • The Petfinder Foundation, for its programs benefitting animal shelters and providing homes for rescued dogs across America. Another repeat, this program, whose goal is to ensure that no adoptable pet is euthanized for lack of a loving home, was so popular with Orvis customers that it exceeded its goal twice over in 2012.

 

  • The Battersea Working Dogs Programme is Orvis’ first ever matching grant in the UK. This initiative continues a proud legacy of placing once-unwanted dogs into valuable service, training animals for police, security, rescue, medical and military assistance.

    Petfinder
    The Orvis Company has again partnered with The Petfinder Foundation
    to support rescue shelters.
    Photo courtesy PetFinder

    “I am always gratified, but never surprised by the willingness of our customers to contribute meaningfully to our conservation efforts,” said Vice Chairman David Perkins. “Together over the years we have achieved some remarkable results, and that’s why our commitment of five percent of pre-tax profits is not only a commitment to protect nature, but is a commitment to our customers, as well. Each year, we carefully select partners whose programs meet our common goals, and we highly commend these programs to our customers and the general public, through these matching grants and the accompanying year-long promotional campaigns.”Throughout 2013, Orvis will feature each of the four grant programs in its catalogs, website, retail stores, social media, and Conservation blog. Each partner organization will also feature the grant program in their marketing channels. These promotional efforts, coupled with the matching funds from Orvis, provide the opportunity for customers, organization members and the general public to amplify their contribution to these programs.

    In addition to the company’s matching grants, Orvis will donate more than $500,000 this year in smaller grants to conservation organizations including The Nature Conservancy, American Rivers, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Conservation Fund, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Bonefish-Tarpon Trust, Ducks Unlimited, Ruffed Grouse Society, Rare Conservation, Project Healing Waters, Casting for Recovery, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and others.

    Over the past 25 years, Orvis has raised and contributed in excess of $14 million for a wide variety of conservation programs, a result of the company’s ongoing contribution of 5% of pre-tax profits to protect nature every year. Details of this and past year’s Orvis Customer Matching Grant projects can be seen on the Orvis Commitment pages.

     

     

    The Orvis-TU 1,000 Miles Campaign raises funds for the engineering and removing of culverts.
    photo by Brian Grossenbacher