General FAQs
Whatcom Million Trees Project is a 501c3 non-profit organization in Bellingham. Our mission is to plant and protect one-million trees in Whatcom County — to urgently address climate and biodiversity crises and to enhance the health and resilience of our local communities..
Yes. As a 501c3 non-profit, tax-deductible benefits may be available to you within the guidelines of U.S. law. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, please keep our email donation receipt as your official record. We’ll send it to you upon successful completion of your donation.
Our focus is to think innovatively and BIG to form unique partnerships and/or funding approaches to plant and protect more trees in non-wetlands within the lowlands of Whatcom County. (Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association has long worked at restoring local streams/tributaries/wetlands.) Virtually all funds raised will support local tree planting and protection efforts. Another big part of our focus will be to hold compelling community events to raise community awareness about the multi-faceted benefits of trees and forests.
We have our own team of tree-planting/work crew volunteers for smaller projects. (Join them!) For our larger tree-planting projects, we usually work with one or more of our partners below who have decades of successful tree-planting experience locally.
— Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association
— Whatcom Land Trust
— Whatcom Conservation District
— City of Bellingham Parks & Recreation Dept.
— Washington Conservation Corps
Yes. Keep in mind our million-trees goal includes protecting existing mature trees, not just planting trees. After all, protecting existing mature forests gives immediate carbon capture and biodiversity benefits. Tree seedlings planted won’t start to provide those benefits significantly until they exceed 20 years of age.
Many of us are deeply concerned (and already affected) by the climate crisis. But here’s the reality: there are no easy solutions. Systemic changes in government policies, corporate/industry practices, lifestyle changes, and more are all needed to greatly reduce our carbon emissions. Planting new trees plus protecting hundreds of thousands of large, mature forest tree canopy to increase carbon sequestration is simply one piece of a multi-faceted approach. But it’s an important piece. And when well-conceived and ecologically-sound, it also provides numerous health and well-being benefits to all life.
Tree costs vary depending on land accessibility, extent of volunteer help, and other variables. Steps include site preparation (such as removing invasive blackberry and reed canary grass, big issues in our region), tree seedling purchase, interim storage (usually refrigerated), site delivery, planting team coordination costs, and maintenance and monitoring for a few years. Elsewhere in the world these steps sometimes total to ~$1/tree. Here in Whatcom County they tend to add up to $7-$12 per tree, depending on the site. Thus we budget $10/tree on average. That’s why we’re focused on innovative co-funding to cover the full costs of such projects.
Yes! There are many awesome and affordable ways businesses can partner with us. << Please click this link!
Carbon offsets/credits cannot be purchased from us. However, if you’re a business seeking estimates of how many trees to plant based on your sustainability or carbon neutrality goals, we can help you estimate this. We have already done this for a local contractor — A1DesignBuild. Please contact us.
Yes, absolutely! We have been holding fun work parties in local parks and public lands. Please get on our contact list to be notified of upcoming work parties. All are well-run, safe, fun, full of fresh air, and for a very good cause!
Awesome! Check out our volunteering page for how you can get more involved. Thanks!
Donation FAQs
Definitely! In our cool donation app and other donation options we provide, the amount you give in USD will be automatically converted from your local currency.
Yes. Although our donation page can process bank fund transfers, if you prefer to mail in a donation, please make the check to “Whatcom Million Trees Project” and mail it to: Whatcom Million Trees Project, 4107 Harrison St., Bellingham, WA 98229. Please remember to include your email address so we can email a receipt to you that you can use in your year-end tax return.
Yes! Simply choose the Recurring Donation Amount option in our donation app. Then you will be able to enter an amount and month, quarter or yearly repeat rate. You can also set a date for the payments to stop. (Or you can always contact us anytime you want to stop.)
Yes! Please click the Dedicate This Gift button in our donation app. You can optionally notify someone of this gift by email.
Yes. For a donation under $250, you will receive a personalized email thank you letter from us. You can forward that to who you desire, or print and mail it to the person. For a donation $250 or greater, you (or whoever you specify) will receive a beautiful thank you card by mail from us.
Yes! Simply choose that option during the donation check-out process.
Yes! A contribution of appreciated securities may create significant tax savings* for you and help you to be more philanthropic than you imagined possible. For details, please contact us. *Please consult your own tax advisor/CPA for your unique situation.
We’re an all-volunteer non-profit that works remotely, even post-covid. So our overhead/operational costs are relatively low. That’s how we can guarantee that 90% or more of all donations will go locally towards healthy and thriving forests and parks.
It will depend on the time of year you donate and how long it takes for us to raise additional funds for the planting project site. In general, tree plantings usually will occur during colder/wetter months (November-April) to give tree seedlings optimal conditions for survival.
We will work hard to keep you in the loop on how your donation is being used. When your planting session takes place, you’ll receive an update with photos and information provided by our partners.