A small foundation with a long memory.
The Milnel Foundation was created to support the people doing conservation work the long, quiet way: not from a podium, but from a tent at the edge of a forest, or a boat in the wind off a North Atlantic reef.
In the field Built around the work, not the brand.
The foundation grew out of a long-standing relationship with field veterinarians caring for endangered great apes, and a belief that the best way to help that work was to fund it directly and stay out of its way. Today we apply the same principle to every program in our portfolio.
We are deliberately small. We do not run our own field operations. We back the scientists, vets, rangers, and community organizations who already have the trust of the places they protect.
Three principles guide every program we fund.
Trust the field
Decisions about the work belong to the people doing it. Our job is to remove obstacles, not to add them.
Stay for the long run
Conservation outcomes are measured in decades. We commit to programs accordingly, not project by project.
Keep overhead small
We run lean by design so that public donations go directly to the programs they were given to support.
Public donations are directed to active field programs.
Operating costs are underwritten separately so that contributions from the public flow to the programs they were given to. Each program receives funds against a defined annual scope, reviewed yearly with the team in the field.
- Field programs
- 85%
- Science & monitoring
- 10%
- Operations
- 5%
Become part of the work.
A donation, large or small, is the most direct way to support the programs on this page.
Donate