by David Wheeler, Executive Director
our viewers may otherwise never see, like watching the birth of the season’s
first baby osprey in real time on the Barnegat Light Osprey Cam.
Connecting people to nature through our website is a vital part of Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s mission.
That’s why we have been thrilled by the record numbers of scientists, students, educators, and wildlife enthusiasts of all ages who have used this resource, especially since the start of the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people like you are inspired and enlightened by viewing our species guide, our wildlife webcams, and our conservation project pages each year.
Now, however, our website needs a complete overhaul.
Our custom management system was ‘cutting edge’ when it was launched over 10 years ago, but it relies upon software that will be unsupported by the end of this year.
This fall, we must redesign our website and finally make it mobile-friendly! Viewers like you will benefit in many ways.
- Whether you are at home or on the go, more people than ever are accessing our website on your hand-held devices.
- You have asked us to make it easier and quicker to report rare species, to access wildlife lesson plans, to register for events, to enter our contests, and to easily access our timely updates.
- People of all ages can be inspired and educated by our compelling new videos, thought-provoking podcasts, vibrant photography, and insightful blog stories.
Generous supporters have offered to match the first $10,000 in gifts received, dollar for dollar, which means we need to raise $10,000 to reach our $20,000 goal.
Any amount you can give will help!
Our new custom-designed website is a major, long-term investment, and one we don’t take lightly. Even though $20,000 is a very fair market price, it’s still a huge outlay for a nonprofit like ours! But it’s a step we need to take.
Our website offers a great wealth of information to visitors like you – webcams, videos, podcasts, photos, field guides, and blog posts. But those expansive contents also demand an ample “back end” – the portion of the website that programmers code and manage. These thousands of files and countless lines of code make transforming our website especially challenging.
We can’t wait to better showcase our incredible wildlife photography and video to tell the stories of our work protecting species like bald eagles, diamondback terrapins, ospreys, bobcats, pollinators, and beach nesting birds.
Thank you for all you do to help protect at-risk wildlife and spread the word about our natural world. I hope you will support our matching gift campaign to build a new website before time runs out.
Stay safe and healthy, and be sure to make time to enjoy nature this fall!