Announcing the Tom Bell 21st Century WOC Endowment

by Christine Lichtenfels

At age 34, many of us start looking into the future. For humans it's often a matter of looking 30 years forward and beginning to save for retirement. For organizations such as WOC, it's more often a matter of realizing that we're here to stay - we're grown-ups after all - and that we can invest in the future to ensure that WOC will always be a force protecting Wyoming's wildlands and environmental quality.

Several years ago, WOC's board of directors set aside $10,000 for an endowment. Recently, a WOC member pledged $100,000 to jump-start this fledgling effort.

We have carefully researched and established policies to guide the management of endowment funds and provide clarity to donors about how assets entrusted to WOC for perpetuity will be handled. After investigating options for managing endowment funds, we have selected a professional to oversee assets.

We are proud to announce that the Tom Bell 21st Century WOC Endowment is now up and running. WOC's founder, tireless conservation activist and board member emeritus Tom Bell has provided unparalleled drive, commitment and vision to the organization since 1967, and we are proud that our endowment bears his name.

Ultimately, we hope that revenues from the endowment will provide about 20% of our operating expenses. Clearly, we have a long way to go and we'll need help from many people. But we're already making progress toward WOC's financial security and long-range staying power.

More information will follow in future Frontline issues. In the meantime, I encourage you to contact me by phone, mail or email about contributing cash or appreciated securities to the endowment, working with your estate planner to include the endowment in your will, our investment criteria and spending policies or any other questions you have about this exciting new giving opportunity for all of us who love Wyoming and want to protect it forever.