My Nonprofit Reviews
ecologist
Review for California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA
This organization is composed of people passionate about protecting native plants and their habitats and promoting their use in horticulture. Each chapter has their legends about the vitality and eccentricities of their core volunteers who accomplish an incredible amount of productive and scientific work to fulfill the goals of the society. The staff (few as they are) are amazingly resourceful and attentive to the needs of their members as well as to the future of the society. Native plants, unlike wildlife, have few legal protections from destruction, but CNPS does its best to give them status, including developing and updating the comprehensive rare plant inventory that is universally used by botanists and ecologists to assess species rareity. I'm always amazed that so few active CNPS people can do so much! My one complaint is that the society is not well known by the general public.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the recent conservation conference in Sacramento, which generated so many diverse sets of data, questions on the future and next steps, and good will among the participants and others who happened to be in the building.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
concentrate on name recognition in more ethnically and age-related diverse sectors of the population
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
the energy others bring to meetings that prove that the whole is greater than the individual parts. All our opinions are generally given careful thought that feed into the group decision making process within this community of mutual respect.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
outstanding and all quite unique in their interests and ways of accomplishing tasks.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
(1) donate much of this money toward conservation goals and to other non-profit groups to network more effectively in accomplishing mutual long-term or short-term tasks (2) buy a building of its own to house its diverse activities (3) hire perm. staff
Ways to make it better...
I had learned about the society much earlier in life and had not had preconceived notions about it that kept me at a distance.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
(1) financial: not having sufficient funds to accomplish its goals and (2) critical need for younger volunteers to replace aging or burned-out members in some chapters
One thing I'd also say is that...
This group works hard!
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009
