As the calendar speeds quickly towards Thanksgiving, there are so many things for which we are grateful! This time of the year connects us with so many members through year-end contributions.

As you consider a year-end gift to support the protection, restoration, education, and science research work of the Mono Lake Committee, I wanted to share some different ways people use to support the work of the Committee that might be helpful for you to consider.

Donor Advised Fund
A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a type of giving program that lets you combine the most favorable tax benefits with the flexibility to easily support the Mono Lake Committee. (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee’s intern program is a bridge that connects passionate people to the Mono Lake story.

2019 Ruth Borun Intern AnnaLisa Mayer, right, on a field trip with members of the Committee’s staff and Board of Directors. Photo by Andrew Youssef.

Internships allow individuals (young and old) the opportunity to be paid to work for a successful environmental organization and launch their own careers or propel them in new directions. Past interns fondly remember leading walking tours at South Tufa, answering challenging questions in the bookstore, guiding canoe trips with unbelievable scenic views, and recruiting new members to join the Committee.

In 2019, two families chose to honor family members with special contributions to support internships over the summer. This marks the first year the Committee made available the opportunity for memorial gifts in this manner. (more…)

Mark Arax’s new book The Dreamt Land is making literary, political, and social waves, and our friends at Bay.org are hosting a lecture and Q&A with the author! A group of Mono Lake Committee friends and members will be there, and we’d love to see you for this evening of lively conversation. Mono Lakers at the event include Greg Reis, Information & Restoration Specialist; Anna Christensen, Philanthropy Director; Martha Davis, Mono Lake Committee Board Member; and Peter Vorster, expert hydrologist and hydrogeographer.

Event details: (more…)

Community members, friends, and family of Andrea Mead Lawrence gathered at Mammoth Mountain’s Parallax Restaurant on May 3 to present Los Angeles community leader Elsa Lopez with the 2019 Andrea Lawrence Award.

Current and former Mono Lake Committee staff with Quentin Lawrence and 2019 award recipient Elsa Lopez (second and third from left). Photo by Andrew Youssef.

Elsa is a pioneering educator and activist committed to strengthening the link between Los Angeles and Mono Lake. Beginning in the 1980s, Elsa engaged her organization, Mothers of East Los Angeles–Santa Isabel, in the successful implementation of LA’s ultra-low-flush toilet retrofit program, creating effective water conservation solutions in her community. (more…)

If these acronyms don’t look like a jumble of alphabet soup, then this post is for you! We have recently had several members call with questions about making donations directly from an IRA to support the Mono Lake Committee. Here is a little more information if this is something that interests you.

The charitable IRA rollover, or qualified charitable distribution (QCD), is a special provision allowing particular donors of age 70½ or older to exclude from taxable income—and count toward their required minimum distribution (RMD)—certain transfers of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) assets that are made directly to public charities, including the Mono Lake Committee.

Since it was first made available in the tax year 2006, many donors have used this option to support charities of their choice with tax-wise gifts ranging from $100 to $100,000.

If you would like more information about making a gift to the Mono Lake Committee from your IRA, please email me or give me a call at (760) 647-6595 x112.