Support Us

Ways to give

Annual Fund
Our Annual Fund provides critical, general operating support for Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. With the Annual Fund, Sheriff’s Meadow is able to maintain miles of trails, create habitat for wildlife, help rare plants and animals, monitor our conservation restrictions, conserve additional land and more. A strong, consistent Annual Fund gives us the confidence to engage in our conservation work.

Special Appeals
We also encourage and welcome giving to other appeals. From time to time we make an appeal to abutters of our sanctuaries, we write to lapsed donors and invite them to support us again, and we make targeted appeals for specific purposes.

President’s Circle
President’s Circle members are those donors who give $5,000 or more in cash, stocks, or in-kind gifts in a given year for any purposes. We hold picnics, breakfasts, walks and other events to thank and recognize our President’s Circle donors.

Henry Beetle Hough Society
Henry Beetle Hough Society donors contribute $500 or more per year to our Annual Fund or other programs. Henry Beetle Hough Society members are invited annually to exclusive guided walks.

Summer Benefit
A social and enjoyable way of supporting Sheriff’s Meadow is to sponsor or purchase tickets to our Annual Summer Benefit. Attending the summer benefit offers a great opportunity to mingle with other supporters of Sheriff’s Meadow, meet the Board and staff, and learn more about the organization and our work. Sponsorships are available at a variety of giving levels, and each level includes a certain number of complimentary tickets. Sponsors are recognized on the event invitation, in the evening program and poster, in advertisements, and in our publications.

Planned Giving
Planned giving is an excellent way to support Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. Over the years, Sheriff’s Meadow has been the grateful recipient of many bequests. We thank the many people who have cared enough about Sheriff’s Meadow that they chose to include us in their wills. If you are interest in recognizing Sheriff’s Meadow in your will or in making another type of planned gift, we encourage you or your attorney to telephone Executive Director Adam Moore at (508) 693-5207.

Honorary and Memorial Gifts
A donation to Sheriff’s Meadow can be a thoughtful way to honor a birthday or anniversary and can be a touching way to remember a loved one.

Gifts of the land

Donations of land are the true foundation of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. Sheriff’s Meadow gratefully accepts many gifts of land. For more information on this subject, please view the tab entitled “Gifts of Land.”

Gifts of the land
Gifts of land are the “foundation” of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. Most of the land that Sheriff’s Meadow has conserved across Martha’s Vineyard was donated. Sheriff’s Meadow welcomes and encourages gifts of land. All gifts of land are subject to the review of our Land Acquisition Committee and must be approved by vote of our Board of Directors.

Conservation Land
Essentially, there are two types of land donations that one can make. First, one can give land to Sheriff’s Meadow for conservation. Many of our sanctuaries, such as Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary, the Caroline Tuthill Preserve, and Quansoo Farm, are the direct result of such gifts. For these properties, a citizen-conservationist who owned the land desired that the land be conserved, and Sheriff’s Meadow desired to be the land-conserving organization. If you are interested in making such a gift, please contact Executive Director Adam Moore. Please also consult the conservation portion of this website as it describes the many different ways that land can be given and conserved.

Asset Land
Land may also be donated as “asset land.” In these cases, the donor gives land to Sheriff’s Meadow so that the land may be sold, and the proceeds used to support the mission of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. Sheriff’s Meadow also welcomes gifts of asset land. An excellent example of a donor who gave both conservation land and asset land to Sheriff’s Meadow is the late Mrs. Florence “Flipper” Harris. Mrs. Harris donated the 150-acre Quansoo Farm to Sheriff’s Meadow for conservation, and she also donated a 6-acre property on the Tisbury Great Pond that could be sold. Sheriff’s Meadow did indeed sell the six-acre property and created an endowment with the proceeds. Fortunately, these six acres also became conservation land as the purchaser was the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission.

Please contact Executive Director Adam Moore if you are interested in giving land to Sheriff’s Meadow. Thank you.