Page 23 - i1052-5173-31-10+AR

Geological Society of America Foundation

The mission of the Geological Society of America Foundation (GSAF) is to develop
and provide funds to support the goals and programs of the Geological Society of HOW MEMBERS CAN GET INVOLVED:
America. These funds are distributed according to the needs of the Society and in a - Support students, research, and
manner consistent with the desire of the donors. education through a contribution to
The responsibilities of the Foundation are twofold: (1) to support GSA programs, the GSA Foundation when you
and (2) to preserve the Foundation’s assets for the future. renew your 2022 membership.

2020–2021 HIGHLIGHTS - Help others be part of our GSA
In a unique year of challenging, uncer- member community. The
tain circumstances across the globe, Membership Assistance Program
donors to GSA through the Foundation and Fund enables those who cannot
made an extraordinary showing of sup- afford the cost of membership, or
port: in FY2021, GSAF received annual who experience difficulty in trans-
campaign contributions of nearly ferring funds from their country to
US$1.5M from individual GSA members the USA, to become members.
and corporations. There were 7,643 sepa- Support and spread the word.
rate gifts at all levels, a testament to the
dedication of steadfast supporters.
Surprisingly, 1,500 students humbled us recipient, Tshering Zangmu Lama Sherpa,
with their determination to help in any way Your dollars and impact doubled! GSA’s policy work is one interviewed by GSA Foundation Trustee
possible—an increase of almost 400 stu- example of an area that can benefit from the Greatest Dr. John (Jack) F. Shroder Jr., who has
Needs fund. Science Policy Fellows Ryan Haupt (2019–
dents from the prior year. We recognize the 2020) and Laura Szymanski (2018–2019).} spent much of his life working in the same
awareness in giving back that was demon- region as the recipient. Links to these
strated by this aptly named donor group: amount. These two donors compelled events, as well as extensive Community
Tektonikos—Building the Future. many of you to give, knowing your dollars of Support blog interviews with past GSA
would be doubled; US$74,000 was raised for Science Policy Fellows, Congressional
Greatest Needs. We hope this will inspire Science Fellows, and Field Camp
others to help us put the power of a match- Scholarship recipients conducted through-
ing challenge to work in support of GSA. out the year, can found on GSAF’s News &
While the world was on lockdown, the Events tab of the Foundation website
GSA Foundation sought creative ways to (https://gsa-foundation.org).
maintain contact and engagement with
our donors, particularly in thanks for
their continued generosity. We found vir-
tual gatherings to be a welcomed, tempo-
We are deeply appreciative of those who rary substitute for our usually in-person
include the Foundation in their estate visits, and early in FY21 we began a series
plans; Legacy Circle gifts are vital to unre- of virtual chats and events that covered
stricted funding. More than US$400,000 in topics including research grants; diversity,
bequests were part of the year’s contribu- equity, and inclusion; field camps;
tions. It is inspiring that we continue hear- Greatest Needs; and policy.
ing from donors making new legacy gift We held a virtual conversation with Our Giving Tuesday campaign coin-
commitments. You may have read testimo- the first GSA-Zeiss Research Award cided with year-end giving and included a
nials from some of them in our articles and virtual chat series discussing the chang-
updates divulging why this is such an ing landscapes of field camps. The direc-
important personal commitment. tor of the country’s longest-running field
Our spring mini-campaign focused on camp, which received the GSA Field Camp
GSA’s Greatest Needs, a vital fund to sus- Excellence Award years ago, helped bring
tain the very programs that define GSA. the dialogue full-circle from early history
We were delighted when a longtime donor to current-day issues.
offered a matching challenge to help raise GSAF board vice-chair Jeff Oslund led
more for this important source of fund- the initial conversation with GSA past-
ing—and even more surprised to see the president George Davis on GSA’s commit-
friendly challenge raised a notch when a John (Jack) F. Shroder Jr. and Tshering Zangmu Lama ment to supporting fieldwork. Miriam
second donor added to the original match Sherpa. Barquero-Molina, director of University of

www.geosociety.org 23