Success Stories
Thank you for making a big difference.
“At its heightened moments, birdwatching can encourage a state of being close to rapture. It is an ecstasy that is said to accompany the writing of poetry.”
— Graeme Gibson the Elder
Project Profile
Our organization's goal to study and protect the birds of Pelee Island depends on our success in ensuring that Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) is a healthy and vibrant organization. The most successful organizations have a strong strategic (business) plan that engages their staff and Board, and thanks to the support of Small Change Fund donors we have been able to invest in this process.
Our strategic plan will establish milestones with which to monitor achievements and assess results, while at the same time generating information that can be used to market our organization to the public and potential funders. Our strategic plan will now provide us with the framework to help us manage and take advantage of our recent growth. It will help us develop effective mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the plan to determine best practices for future planning. Strengthening internal management and leadership development are critical activities for growing organizations and we are overwhelmed by your support.
Pelee Island and its coastal areas provide critical stopover habitat for migratory land and water birds, and breeding sites for colonial nesting waterbirds. While the island and surrounding waters provide some of the most biologically diverse natural habitats in the country, and the most productive aquatic habitat in the Great Lakes, we also see one of the highest densities of species at risk, 11 of which are globally rare. Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) has been very outward-focused for the last two years, extending ourselves as much as we can to study and protect the many species of birds that live here. We have demonstrated our innovation and capacity in meeting ever-changing and challenging conservation projects. We now need to re-focus internally and further build our capacity to be able to continue to fulfill our conservation mandate. By developing a strategic plan, we are now able to manage the change necessary to ensure we are able to deliver effective programs and services at a local and provincial level. Thank you.
