Program:
Land Preservation
- Budget:
-
$7,585,558
- Category:
-
Environment, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Program Description:
<div>The Civil War Trust's main program is land preservation: our mission is to save endangered Civil War Battlefields from development by buying the land and protecting it through easements. Much of the land that the Civil War was fought on is endangered due to development pressures. We only purchase land at fair market value from landowners who are willing sellers; by purchasing the land outright we can ensure that it is preserved and will never be developed.</div>
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<div>We have already saved 32,000 acres of battlefield land, and we aim to save many more acres before it is too late. We have launched a Capital Campaign to coincide with the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War with a goal of saving an additional 20,000 acres over the Sesquicentennial. In 2011 the Civil War Trust made great strides in saving this land by preserving 2,042 acres at twenty five battlefields in twelve states. These tracts of land are part of great battlefields such as Chancellorsville, Manassas, Gettysburg, and Shiloh. </div>
Program Long-Term Success:
Our long-term goals are to continue to preserve thousand of acres of Civil war battlefield land. Over the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, we aim to save 20,000 acres of hallowed ground.
Program Short-Term Success:
Each year during the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, we aim to save 4,000 acres of significant land. Some tracts may be small in acreage, yet very significant in the war.
Program Success Monitored by:
We can easily determine how many acres we have saved because we are actually buying the land. Our results are tangible- we can go and walk the actual land that we save, and know that it will be safe from development pressures.
Program Success Examples:
We have saved 32,000 acres of Civil War battlefield land, and we are well on our way to saving thousands of acres more. This land has either been incorporated into a National or State Military park, or we own the land and have creating walking trails and interpretive signage.
Program:
Education
- Budget:
-
$1,218,862
- Category:
-
Education, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Adults
-
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Program Description:
<div>In addition to saving hallowed ground, we also believe that there is a great need to educate the public about the importance of the Civil War. We are dedicated to interpreting the War and its significant battles, and do so for teachers, students, and the public through technological resources and innovative methods such as our state-of-the-art website and Battle Apps.</div>
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<div>The Civil War Trust is the premier organization working to educate the public about the Civil War and its battlefields. Major recent advances in the Trust's education programs include the release of the Civil War Curriculum, the expansion of the Teacher Institute series, and continuing work on interpretation and content for the Trust's new Battle Apps for smart phones. The Trust focuses its educational efforts on five major areas: battlefield interpretation, in classrooms, on the web, at events, and in print.</div>
Program Long-Term Success:
We hope to continue to reach hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the country with our education programs. Our Civil War curriculum, Battle Apps for Smart Phones, Traveling Trunk program, and Teachers Institutes will continue to help teach many people about the importance of the Civil War.
Program Short-Term Success:
The Civil War Trust education department has had a number of recent successes in the past year, and we look forward to continuing those successes while expanding our program to reach more students. We are creating new and exciting ways to engage both students and adults to teach them about the Civil War. We have expanded our Traveling Trunk program to four trunks, we are continuing to produce more Battle Apps, and we are working on some new educational opportunities that use new technology.
Program Success Monitored by:
We have a variety of ways to measure success in our education department. For example, we can count how many teachers register for our institutes, and how many students on average they will teach over the course of their career. We can also look at how many classrooms the Traveling Trunk travels to, and how many students are in those classrooms. We can also count how many downloads we have had for our Battle Apps.
Program Success Examples:
In 2011, the Civil War Trust Education Department hosted its 10th annual Teacher Institute. More than 140 teachers from across the country participated in this 3-day professional development experience, offered free of charge. The department also held smaller regional Teacher Institutes to reach those teachers who may be in areas that are not near Civil War battlefields. The Education Department created a new Civil War curriculum for Elementary, Middle, and High School students, and made it available to teachers free of charge on our website. Our Traveling Trunk program made available three trunks of Civil War teaching tools and activities that traveled the country throughout the School Year. In 2011 we launched a number of new Battle Apps for smart phones- these are like a personal tour guide for those who download the App for free.
Program:
Membership
- Budget:
-
$2,689,045
- Category:
-
Mutual, Membership Benefit, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Adults
-
Other Named Groups
Program Description:
The Civil War Trust is a membership-based organization. Each quarter, every member receives our 48-page magazine Hallowed Ground, as a free educational membership benefit. The magazine highlights how their direct support helps preserve endangered Civil War battlefield land, advances the cause of education about the key period in our nation's history, and educates them directly on historical elements of importance about the Civil War and land preservation. We depend on our members to raise the money we need to preserve the battlefield land.
Program Long-Term Success:
Our goal is to maintain the number of members we currently have, with the hope that this number will increase with time. Because we rely on our members to donate funds needed to preserve Civil War Battlefield land, it is essential that we have a large pool of members to assist us with this.
Program Short-Term Success:
During the course of the past few years, while many non-profit organizations continued to experience declining membership, the Civil War Trust was able to recruit enough new members and reactivate lapsed members to maintain approximately 53,000 active members.
Program Success Monitored by:
We count the number of members based on how many individuals, couples, and groups have paid the membership fee for the year.
Program Success Examples: