Resort Partnership Funds
TOF's Resort Partnership
Funds highlighted in Green Lodging News!
The Christophe Harbor resort, St. Kitts, West Indies, and Loreto Bay, Loreto, Mexico, outsource their philanthropy to The Ocean Foundation (TOF). TOF is working on a set of coastal sustainable development standards. In addition, it is acting as a grant maker, facilitator, advisor to and observer of the partnership's sustainable development efforts. Among other tasks, TOF is doing the following for the resorts: working to create a visible, friendly presence within the local community so that the development is responsive to community concerns and requests; conducting an initial survey of existing natural resources and an analysis of the threats to those resources; and developing a plan for restoring, conserving and/or protecting those resources along with meeting the needs of the people who rely upon them. (Green Lodging News, Glenn Hasek, 12/07/07)
Our resort partnership model supports local conservation, sustainability, and long-term positive community development with 1% of the proceeds from coastal and island developments. We will only work with developers who incorporate best practices into their developments for the highest levels of social, economic and ecological sustainability during planning, construction, and operation. Public-private partnerships like these to promote sustainability and conservation are more than just a market trend and a PR strategy—this model helps to ensure the long-term success of the project by proactively addressing the social, ecological and economic impacts of the development.
Adding
a foundation to your resort partnership is not
a reduction in your
profit margin. We believe it is the 1% that
will be added to all sales
and stands alone outside of the cost
calculations in your business
analysis. It should be presented transparently
to homebuyers and resort
guests as an addition that gives back to the
community and culture they
have come to visit, as well as for the
protection of the beautiful
natural environment they came to enjoy. We are
confident that not only
will no one balk at such a mechanism, we in
fact believe that the story
of an independent, strategically-managed
foundation provides a "feel
good" moment that can help close a sale or
enhance a vacation.
The
resort partnership model developed by The Ocean
Foundation and used as
the framework for the establishment of the
Loreto Bay Foundation and
the St. Kitts Foundation rests on seven
principles:
1) In an
ideal world, from a pure conservation point of
view, many pristine
coastal properties identified for resort
developments would not be
developed. Understanding that government
approval for strategic tourism
development has occurred, it is our goal to
ensure that the development
of beautiful natural places provides lasting
benefit to the local
community and to the natural resources on which
both the short and long
term success of the development
depends;
2) That
the design of
the resort partnership fund provide a
predictable revenue stream over a
long term that enables both grant planning and
independence from
transitions in leadership, point of view, and
priorities of the
developer;
3) That
the design provide equal insulation from
changes in political leadership that might
otherwise seek to use the
funds for political purposes, rather than for
the general good of the
people and the resources on which the country
depends;
4) That
the foundation entity fully retain its
independence as required by the
laws of the United States and other countries
so that it also retains
transparency, credibility, and value as a
partner for the developer,
for the developer's clients, for the local
community, for the
government, and for the natural resources of
the area in
question;
5)
That all of the parties understand that the
highest and best use of
grant funds is determined by a process that is
as independent from
political and economic pressures as possible,
so that the true value of
a dedicated philanthropic entity is realized by
all beneficiaries;
6)
That all of the parties operate in the
understanding that everyone is
interested in the health of the development,
the community, and the
resources on which both depend for
success;
7) And
finally, and
most important, that all parties agree that
where development occurs,
the fundamental principles of
sustainability—economic, socio-cultural,
ecological, and aesthetic health now and in the
future—are incorporated
into every aspect of the process, an inherent
benefit to both the
financial success of the development and, of
course, to the people of
the region.
We
will set up a named fund at The Ocean
Foundation to receive 1% from all
sales and revenues from your resort development
for a minimum term of
25 years. For our part, we provide four core
services:
•
Grantmaker—distributing grants to support
local charitable activities
focused on protecting the natural environment
and enhancing the quality
of life for residents.
•
Facilitator—acting as an independent 3rd
party that can convene stakeholders to ensure
transparency and
credibility to assist the developer in
achieving its sustainability
commitments.
•
Advisor—providing, as needed, advice on how
the
developer can meet its sustainability
commitments and become more
involved in conservation on a regional
basis.
•
Observer—serving as
an unofficial independent 3rd party to inspect,
evaluate, verify and
provide assurance of conformity to homebuyers
and other members of the
public that the development is meeting the
principles on which it was
founded.
A
successful example of our resort partnership
model is The Loreto Bay
Foundation Fund, which is housed at The Ocean
Foundation, has its own
funding, grantmaking, board of advisors, and
identity. The fund was
established by the Loreto Bay Company to
provide community-building and
environment-enhancement grants to the town of
Loreto and the nearby
Loreto Bay National Marine Park. Since the
first grants in late 2004,
the Loreto Bay Foundation Fund's grantmaking
has provided more than
$1,000,000 to Loreto and nearby communities.
Grants have supported
school programs, personnel at the National
Marine Park, the moving of
mature trees to create shade in schoolyards,
fuel purchases to enable
transshipment of critical relief supplies to
nearby towns in the
aftermath of Hurricane John, as well as
construction projects to
establish a hospital, a spaying and neutering
clinic, and a community
environmental center.
For more
information on our resort partnership funds,
please check out our Resort
Partnerships Memo or contact Mark J.
Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation, at
mspalding@oceanfdn.org
or, 202-887-8992.