On Friday, April 4, Bringing Nature Home Program Manager Andrew Tufts and the program’s founder and Maine Audubon board member Jim Hancock won the grand prize and $10,000 in a pitch competition! Last fall, Maine Audubon was invited to participate in the Intrapreneurship for Nonprofits program at the Roux Institute, designed to help Maine nonprofits develop and pitch (think “Shark Tank,” the TV show) new/improved mission-based earned revenue streams.
Over the course of many months and lots of work, Andrew and Jim honed their pitch to focus on seeking outside investment in a new website to dramatically increase our capacity for selling native plants. At the showcase on April 4, their presentation captured first prize as the judges, in their remarks, said they thought the plan to expand the native plants website was both supplemental and complementary to the core organization, and that it had great potential and will build an even bigger native plants program.
Many thanks go to the Roux Institute and the Onion Foundation for their support. Look for more news on this in the coming months!
Pictured above (from left to right): Rich Cantz , Andrew Tufts, Jim Hancock, Fritz Onion, Sarah Guerette
