A New Partnership Puts the St. Croix Riverway 'First'

In a tough economy charitable organizations are seeing increased competition for support, but a new innovative partnership between three local organizations is making it easier for donors to preserve the St. Croix River and its tributaries.

The St. Croix River Association, the National Park Service-St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and the St. Croix Valley Foundation have come together to form a new fundraising partnership called The St. Croix River Fund—making it easier for supporters to join the fight to preserve the riverway, while eliminating the need for donors to choose among organizations.

This partnership—one of the first in the country—puts the needs of the St. Croix River, and all its tributaries first, said Tracy Maki, the fund’s first development director. The St. Croix River Fund is designed to support the river or simply put: One river, one fund.

“Donors are better served by a coordinated effort, we can do more together than we can alone, Maki said. “There are numerous projects to fund from simple things like monitoring flow and temperature on rivers by maintaining gauges to broader initiatives like providing opportunities for school kids throughout the watershed to come to a river for educational programs.”

With shrinking resources—both in terms of people’s money and their time—this was the right moment to build makes-sense partnerships, said Deb Ryun, the executive director of The St. Croix River Association.

“It is imperative to be as focused as possible in raising dollars to support critical programs that benefit our rivers,” Ryun said. “We encourage people to swim, paddle, boat and hike through this historic and scenic area. But they aren’t going to enjoy polluted rivers or fish in waters where native species are pushed out by invasives like Asian Carp.” 

There is a lot of private support in the National Park System, which makes it possible for national parks to be protected for future use, said Chris Stein, the superintendent of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

“Our new partnership extends this tradition to the Riverway,” he said. “With fewer dollars available, we have to be smart, efficient and original in our approach.  Working together through the St. Croix River Fund allows us to leverage what we can for the greater good.”

By giving to one fund, donors can support projects that impact hundreds of miles of water and thousands of acres of land, Maki said. As the cleanest tributary to the Mississippi River, the St. Croix deserves to be protected—it is the second most popular attraction in the Twin Cities metro area behind the Mall of America.

“The people we work with are demanding, as they should, that we continually assess how money is spent and how fundraising takes place,” said Jane Hetland Stevenson, president of The St. Croix Valley Foundation. “We value donor intent and take our role very seriously. Being able to showcase an innovative partnership like that of the St. Croix River Fund is not only good for business, it’s good for the river.”