Donations

Membership | Volunteer | Stewardship | Donations | Partners

We Need Your Support

Donations are an important way to show your support of our efforts. Wintonbury Land Trust is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 corporation. All gifts made to the Trust are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Online donations are securely processed by Stripe. Or print our donation form (PDF), and mail with a personal check to Wintonbury Land Trust, P.O. Box 734, Bloomfield, CT 06002. There are many ways to give:

• Cash Gifts: May be treated as a charitable deduction for income tax purposes.
• Gifts of Stock: The value of the securities is deductible as a charitable gift for tax purposes, and capital gains tax may be avoided.
• Celebration or Memorial Gifts: A gift of cash or stock in memory of a loved one or in celebration of a special event is a wonderful way to honor someone and support your commitment to the environment. We will be glad to provide special recognition for these gifts if desired.
• Matching Gifts: If you work for a company which has a matching gifts program, please apply for those benefits and your gift to the Land Trust will be doubled.
• Gifts of Land/Property: Donations of land/property fall into two broad classifications: property that meets the Trust’s criteria for permanent conservation, or property that can be sold or traded to benefit the overall mission of the Trust. Please make a contribution now to preserve your land for future generations! 

Planned Giving

Planned giving for the future creates a legacy for you and your family, and notes your commitment to preserving Bloomfield’s natural resources. If this interests you, please consult your attorney about the tax benefits you and/or your heirs could realize. Some options are:

• Will or Living Trust: Name the Bloomfield Land Trust in your will or living trust to be distributed after your lifetime. Please notify us if you have established a provision in your will, so we can give you proper recognition.
• Individual Retirement Accounts: Name the Trust as the beneficiary of your individual retirement account or deferred benefit plan.
• Life Insurance: Consider naming the Wintonbury Land Trust as beneficiary for a policy no longer needed for your family, or purchase one directly to benefit the Wintonbury Land Trust.
• Life-Income Funds: By investing funds into a charitable remainder trust or annuity, you or a family member is provided with income during your lifetime and the Wintonbury Land Trust will receive a delayed gift of principal.

For additional information, consult with your attorney, and contact us. A Land Trust representative will contact you.

Donor Spotlight:  Sten Caspersson

If you visit the Land Trust’s Stout Family Fields, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter Sten Caspersson and his Miniature Schnauzers enjoying a walk. Or if you cycle past the Land Trust’s Hawk Hill Farm on scenic Duncaster Road. Or if you run in Bloomfield’s Farmington River Park. Years ago, outings like these during his lunch breaks at ABB Combustion Engineering in Windsor were part of why he and his wife, Marti, moved to Bloomfield. His work as a Senior Nuclear Project Manager sent him around the country and the world, followed by vacations to National Parks, Europe, and South Africa. Yet he always liked how easy it was to access beautiful natural spaces in Connecticut, and right here in Bloomfield.

Sten began working at ABB Combustion Engineering in 1968 after earning a Masters degree in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In later years he served as an executive scientist for the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and an advisor for the Presidents’ College continuing learning program at the University of Hartford. Recently he served on Bloomfield’s Human Services Facility Building Committee.

Ultimately, it was those dog walks around the neighborhood where he met many neighbors who were members of the Land Trust. Over time joining them for the occasional stewardship work party evolved into him volunteering on the Finance Committee and more recently the Board of Directors. Observing board meetings as an interested member and seeing the progress on nearby projects such as Hawk Hill Farm resulted in his becoming a regular donor to the Land Trust’s annual campaign and special appeals. His donations often provided the first contribution received!

Sten explained that he appreciates how the Land Trust’s work is transparent, with results that benefit the community at large. Donors can specify that their contributions support specific Land Trust projects and attend meetings to understand how funds are spent. The results – an historic barn restored to use, hiking trails open to the public, wetlands protected from development, and more – are concrete and readily visible to donors and the community alike. He encourages anyone considering a donation to view the Land Trust’s website for upcoming meetings and current project descriptions to learn more. We sincerely thank Sten for his many contributions both as a volunteer and a donor!

Donor Spotlight: Cheryl Fox & Phil Douville

Update: We are saddened to share Phil Douville passed in August 2020 (obituary). We will miss his gentle kindness and wry sense of humor. Our condolences go out to Cheryl and Phil’s family.

If you try to call Cheryl or Phil when the temperature is over 40°, you aren’t likely to get through. They’ll be in the garden, Cheryl tending to nearly 400 different cultivars of daylilies among many other plants, and Phil constructing a patio or arbor. Retired from careers in library science and teaching chemistry at CCSU, they now are connected to the land … and the Land Trust.

Not surprisingly, it started with our Garden Tour in 2011. Cheryl’s garden was one of the five featured in our first big fund-raising and community-building event. Later Cheryl made one of the substantial donations to conserve the Stout Family Fields. Phil jumped in during the campaign to restore Hawk Hill Farm’s barn in 2015. When the project was described to him, he said, “I like barns,” and promptly walked inside to write a $1,000 check. Cheryl matched him.

They have been regular donors and dues-paying members ever since, but with completely different approaches. Cheryl joins year by year. Phil became a lifetime member. Cheryl makes a year-end donation. So does Phil, but he budgets for it on a monthly basis. Each supports five to ten other non-profits, mainly in the environmental arena, but we are number one for both of them.

Why? Cheryl recalls when she first drove to Bloomfield, before even considering moving here, she was amazed by all the openness. “Then while I was working on the house I’d drive back to Newington and feel claustrophobic. It’s like a miracle that I’m here. I’m so impressed with all the work the Land Trust does that I’m happy to support them in the way that I can: with money.”

Phil mentioned their enjoyment of “meeting new people and learning new things about wildlife” at our annual meetings and noted “it’s better for our mental health not to be surrounded by concrete.” Both strongly support “giving locally to make our lives better locally” and think it is “really cool” that we’re not only purchasing land but also restoring barns and using it for farming.