SUPPORT VILDA
Vilda is a California non-profit organization. It is our hope to make nature-connection education available to all children regardless of financial situation. To reach this goal, we offer tiered pricing, scholarships, and work-trade opportunities. Your donation of any size helps us continue this important work.
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Vilda
2398 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
Fairfax, CA 94930
You are welcome to designate your donation towards a purpose of your choice.
Vilda is a California non-profit organization
501(c)(3) Non Profit ID No. 47-4492852
Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
VIDEO - ABOUT VILDA
To have peace, health and access to nature should be a human right, but is currently a privilege.
Did you know that Vilda is a 501c(3) non-profit with an important mission?
Every time you sign up for one of our programs you are helping us fulfill our mission of getting as many children and families meaningful access to nature as possible. You are participating in a child having real outdoor skills that will empower them to choose time in nature over screens and vices. You are helping future leaders form relationships with the natural world that will motivate them to treat the earth and all life as relatives. It is similar to when you vote with your money by buying organic.
When you choose Vilda you choose a local, grass roots organization with solid values. You support your community and its re-connection to the natural world. This local action has a global impact. A 2024 study by Soga and Gaston shows that "people with more personal contact with nature are more likely to engage in activities or behaviors that support and protect it". We have noted that indeed, many of our students go on to choose environmental careers and state that Vilda has been instrumental in that choice.
And all of that makes us all feel good.
Adventure and environmental activities are associated with a higher level of youth well-being than other types of activities
Park and Wang 2019
This year in numbers:
2000 Registrations in Our Programs
8 Different Locations
$125,000 in scholarships to low income families
96% positive feedback about children growing in their connection to nature
37 staff members wilderness skill level increased
None of this would be possible without your support.
2026 Fundraising Goals:
50% community participation to increase our fundability- any amount counts
$50,000- To help sustain our scholarship fund
$50,000- For staff quality of life fund to keep our beloved staff in the field of nature education
We are committed to helping all children access to our programs regardless of economic status. We give over $100,000+ in scholarships each year to qualifying families.
We are a true non-profit. As in, no one hidden at the top is making a profit. This year we conducted an impartial pay survey from a third party. The findings showed that while our pay for instructors is on par or higher than with other similar organizations, the pay for our top positions is below average. The fees from our programs go to cover staffing costs, site fees and supply costs. There is no one at the top eating the frosting. There is also no big donor behind Vilda. Our programs have grown thanks to many hours of truly committed work.
Our instructor staff are fully trained adults who are often experts in their field. I have had multiple parents comment to me this year about how special our instructors are and how that truly makes us different from other programs. One recently told me- "you really need to make that clear to people." So here it is. We put a lot of effort into training our staff as teachers and as wilderness skills experts. To be an instructor at Vilda you need multiple, solid years of experience with children and in the outdoors.
We have low ratios. We pride ourselves on seeing kids for the amazing individuals that they are. Our instructors are trained to cater the day to the actual group of kids they are with, not just to follow a cookie cutter recipe. This makes a big difference in the quality of our programs and allows us to teach skills that would not work in a bigger group.
Our sites are not free, but they are well worth supporting. Most of our sites are parks or other non-profits like schools or farms. Our site fees to them help support their good work as well. Second to staff pay, our site fees take up a big part of our budget.
We really do what we say we do. We don't just say that we are a nature camp because it sounds good. We really do it. We teach actual naturalist knowledge which necessitates having actual naturalist staff. We are outdoors all day. Not having walls necessitates high safety standards and mindful, mature staff.
You can help:
Give to our scholarship fund.
This will help us keep giving a scholarship to every family that needs one next year. A donation of $500 will help a child go to summer camp.
Become a Vilda Member
New this year! You can now become a member of Vilda to support our work year round. There are gifts for you in return as well. Please see details here.
Give to our staff fund.
Help us give staff holiday bonuses this year. Giving to the fund instead of an individual staff member, ensures that some of the positions that are in support roles, that you may not see as clearly in the field, also benefit. Of course you are welcome to recognize your instructor individually as well if you would like.
This fund also helps us reach our goal of health insurance for all full-time employees and matched retirement benefits.
Not able to give financially? No problem.
Any amount, even $5 helps us reach our participation goals that can make us more likely to attain bigger grants.
Or you can also just tell someone about the membership. It is suitable for grandparents, friends etc as well.
We also need more people on our events/fundraising committee. Please contact info@vildanature.org if interested.
THANK YOU
Gratitude is central to everything we teach at Vilda. This vital practice brings us into the present moment, builds our relationships in community and to the wild world, and even improves our mental health.
We wish to honor our colleagues, teachers, and the teachers of teachers who have paved the way for nature connection education today. Among those who have influenced our work are Jon Young, Penny Livingston and James Stark, Tom Brown Jr., Martin Prechtel, Tony Deis, and Sky Snyder. We have also learned from the work of the Wilderness Youth Project, the Wilderness Awareness School, the International Scouting Movement, and Waldorf Schools.
Additionally, we wish to acknowledge the generous contributions of individuals and local businesses that help us to keep our programs affordable and to grow our scholarship fund.
INDIVIDUALS:
Amy and David Luper
Angel Lance
David and Rachel Levitt
Jay Hamilton-Roth
BUSINESSES & ORGANIZATIONS:
Finally, thank you to all those that attend our programming and spread the word about our work. We quite literally could not do it without you.
Additionally, we wish to acknowledge the generous contributions of individuals and local businesses to benefit our nature programs for kids and grow our scholarship fund.