There is a new tab on www.bear.org that has been a long time coming. Planned Giving. We have long known that Planned Giving, including Estate Planning, is key to expanded education, especially for young people. Our long-term plan is to have a Legacy Fund for Education and a prominent Legacy Wall recognizing the donors. 
Holiday Bear Trivia Sunday at 2pm CTWe are thankful that there are people who want to support our mission for bears and create their own legacy for future generations. Planned Gifts will be recognized (with your permission) on our Legacy Wall at the Bear Center. Planned gifts are what are needed to take the Bear Center to the next level—to fund more interns and to grow the Bear Center, the Bear Habitat, and provide a platform for long distance learning and education at all levels.
The introduction to the new Planned Giving page says it well under the new Planned Giving tab at bear.org. Click here.
Planned Giving will enable us to reach financially strapped schools that otherwise would not be able to come to the Bear Center. Instead of making them pay for travel, we would subsidize their transportation and costs. Instead of charging big shipping costs for the Black Bear Boxes (about $80 each way), we could subsidize those costs. Instead of being limited to the few interns and volunteer Bear Educators who can afford lodging in Ely, we could provide lodging and have more of these valuable, dedicated people helping to make the visitors’ experience more memorable and educational. Instead of limiting the ambassador bears to the current 2 acres, we could expand the enclosure, add an elevated walkway so people could see the bears in more settings, and have enough interns and volunteer Bear Educators to monitor the walkway. In addition to the educational talent we now have, we could hire an education specialist who knows how to use the latest technology for teaching young people (and older people) in ways we have not yet explored—smartboards, educational computer games, microscopes with large-screen monitors, etc. With more personnel, we could do field trips to old dens and other wildlife destinations, including the Wildlife Research Institute.
A strong financial future is a major key to long-term sustainability, expanding our mission for bears as mentioned above, and extending our mission worldwide.
With the announcement of the new Planned Giving program, two long-term Lily Fans announced that they have each included the North American Bear Center in their wills for a million dollars. Our goal is a Legacy Endowment Fund of at least ten million dollars from which we could draw about 5% per year. A fund of 20-30 million would enable even more.
The Pond Chat Moderators are hosting a Holiday Bear Trivia game for fun this Sunday at 2 pm CT. Folks can join us on Pond Chat via any of the cam links such as on Holly and Lucky's cam linked below.
http://www.bear.org/website/live-cameras/live-cameras/lucky-and-holly-den-cam-live.html
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center