Spring 2020 Plant Sale

 

The Georgia Native Plant Society hosts a Fall and a Spring plant sale each year providing the public and our members an opportunity to purchase plants native to Georgia.  General information, including details of past sales is at our archived plant sale page. Our Spring 2020 sale has been cancelled. See updates in the blog posts below.

 

 

Plant Sale Updates & News

GNPS Announces New Executive Director

In March, the Georgia Native Plant Society Board announced its search for an Executive Director. This decision was the culmination of our work since 2019 when we restructured the Society to include a State Board of Directors that would focus on strategic governing and direct significant resources toward cultivating a balance of equally strong chapters across the state. The growth of more chapters would focus GNPS resources at the local level, encourage new leaders, and increase membership, while allowing the State Board to focus on key state-level partnerships and strategies that would lead to more meaningful change and progress of our mission.

After an extensive search process led by members of the Board, we are pleased to announce that Nikki Belmonte has been selected as Executive Director, beginning June 1, 2023.

Nikki brings more than a decade of nonprofit leadership experience to the Society. She was previously ED for Atlanta Audubon (now Georgia Audubon), Keep Roswell Beautiful, and, most recently, the American Birding Association. In these roles, she helped to lead these organizations in member growth, conservation initiatives, educational programming, and fundraising.

Nikki is a native of Massachusetts, where her love of nature started on hikes along the Charles River and in state parks. She holds a B.S. in wildlife conservation from University of Massachusetts Amherst and a M.S. in environmental education from Antioch University New England.

As Executive Director of GNPS, Nikki will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for GNPS’s programs and execution of its mission. She will work closely with the State Board and Chapter leadership to continue the implementation of the Society’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.

We thank you all for your continued support as we welcome Nikki into her new role. May we continue to grow a better landscape together! You can reach Nikki at executivedirector@gnps.org.

GNPS Seeks to Hire Executive Director

After years of consideration and much research, the Board of Directors has determined that GNPS will hire an Executive Director in 2023. This decision is the culmination of our work since 2019 when we restructured the Society to include a State Board of Directors that would focus on strategic governing and direct significant resources toward cultivating a balance of equally strong chapters across the state. We believed more chapters would focus GNPS resources at the local level, encourage new leaders, and increase membership, while allowing the State Board to focus on key state-level partnerships and strategies that would lead to more meaningful change and progress of our mission.

That change has been successful: our membership has grown significantly since then and our new chapters have flourished. Yet our all-volunteer approach can only take us so far in our growth. We have watched as other non-profit organizations have invested in leadership positions such as an Executive Director and expanded their reach. Our next phase of growth, both for members and partnerships, depends on this investment.

GNPS is hiring its first Executive Director to drive growth in the organization’s impact, membership, and partnerships. The ED will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for GNPS’s programs and execution of its mission. They will develop deep knowledge of core programs, operations, and operating plans, and lead the implementation of the Society’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan

You can find a link to our job posting on the Work for Good website. Please share this with your conservation networks to help us find the best candidate. We hope to fill the position within the next few months. Send a cover letter and resume to EDSearch@gnps.org.

Cover photo of strategic plan

GNPS Strategic Plan 2022-2025

Refreshing our image

New GNPS Logo

In the past year, inspired by our successful transition to a new statewide structure with eight vibrant chapters, we embarked on a task to update our logo in a way that would reflect our mission and give chapters an opportunity to present a consistent branding. An outside firm was engaged, and an internal committee went through a multistage process, downselecting from eight designs to three designs and to a final selection for a new logo.

GNPS values its traditions and the fact that native plants preceded the colonization of Georgia, so our logo deliberately evokes a traditional, even rustic, feeling. It also was chosen specifically to provide a canvas for signature plants, since all of our chapters have embraced the concept of promoting a plant specific to their region, in some cases a plant of serious conservation concern. The state logo continues to highlight the original oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) adopted by our founders, using the artwork created by one of those early board members, Linda Fraser.

Some chapters are already moving forward with their custom variations, but none are officially ready to unveil. However, if you know the signature plant of a chapter, you have a pretty good idea of how it will appear. Imagine the oakleaf hydrangea replaced with the chapter plant and the state tagline (“Conservation – Education – Stewardship”) replaced with the chapter name, and you are very close. Our legacy chapters (Coastal Plain and West Georgia) may choose to use their current branding for as long as they think it is appropriate. Even at the state level, you will see a gradual transition in our web site, social media, and printed materials, and we may continue to offer “retro” merchandise indefinitely, as long as our members want it.

We hope that all members, new and old, are as excited about our new branding as we are.

Year-End Summary 2022

In 2022, we watched our chapters grow and host activities throughout the state. We also planned for growth at the state level by starting the process to hire an executive director. While GNPS members and volunteers will always be our most important asset, the Board recognizes that an executive director can help us grow further and faster, helping GNPS to spread the message about the importance of native plants and habitat conservation to more people in Georgia.

As the year concludes, here we provide a summary of where GNPS is now and some of what we look forward to next year. You, our members, are the reason we exist. We thank you for your support in 2022 and hope that you will continue to be with us in 2023.

Chapter Status

Chapters are the core of GNPS, and we now have seven fully-chartered chapters and one in the final stages of formation. All are active, and just as an illustration of their impact, note that:

  • All chapters had at least one educational meeting and their annual business meeting
  • 4 chapters held workshops or field trips
  • 6 chapters supported workdays for planting or invasive removal
  • 7 chapters held plant sales or swaps
  • 5 chapters supported plant rescues
  • 2 chapters held garden/habitat tours
  • 3 chapters received grant funding or significant material donations for projects
  • 5 chapters managed restoration sitesor certified educational gardens
  • 2 chapters provided grants or are organizing fund raising for grants
  • 3 chapters held events for the Great Georgia Pollinator Count
  • 3 chapters have at least one member on the state board

Chapters provide newsletters and emails targeted to their members. Most of our members have chosen a chapter affiliation. If you haven’t chosen a chapter, ask us how to do that so that you can get newsletters from your closest chapter.

Membership

  • We end the year with 1,547 memberships, a 20% increase over the beginning of 2022. We saw a lot of gift memberships this year; thank you to those who decided to share your love of native plants with others!
  • We’d love to have chapters in new areas of the state: Rome, Columbus, Albany, and Cumming are just some of the areas that could use folks willing to start a new chapter. We have a fantastic support program for new chapters. If you are interested helping to start a chapter, please email membership@gnps.org.

New Items

  • In February, we published our 2022-2025 Strategic plan. If you didn’t get a chance to read it or you’ve joined since then, you can find the details on our website here.
  • As part of that plan, we created an advocacy committee to research pro-native plant policies for municipalities and we engaged a team of students at Georgia Tech to help us. If you are interested in volunteering for this committee, send an email to advocacy@gnps.org.
  • In our April newsletter, we asked for people to help us put together resources for HOAs. If you’d like to work on developing these valuable resources for our members, please write to us at strategic@gnps.org.
  • In an effort to provide a summary of resources for some of the most common native plant-related questions, our July newsletter had an articlefull of guidance and links.
  • The Chapter Council was created, and members from each chapter have met regularly.
  • The Stone Mountain Propagation Project (SMPP) has shifted focus toward providing plants for GNPS and other habitat restoration projects. In 2022, SMPP grew over 5,000 pollinator plants for Georgia Audubon in support of a prairie restoration project at Panola Mountain State Park.  The Coastal Plain Chapter also continues propagation efforts both to support chapter plant sales and growing species of concern for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Continuing Programs

  • Symposium: The 2022 Symposium was held virtually across two sessions on February 19 and 20 and the attendance a testament to how many more people we can reach with virtual events. GNPS partnered with Georgia Audubon for the event. For 2023, we will have the virtual event on February 18 and 19, again in partnership with Georgia Audubon.
  • The state level newsletter (you’re reading it right now!) will shift to every other month in 2023. All chapters now provide regular communications to their affiliated members, including newsletters. We will continue to include some chapter news in the state newsletter. Thanks to board member Tom Collins for continuing to be the editor for this newsletter.
  • Our online store is available year-round for GNPS swag. You can find plant of the year t-shirts here for the current year (2023 shirt generally not available until February) and the years 2021 and 2022.

Society Financials

As of November 30, GNPS’s total 2022 income was $72,176, with total expenses of $55,313. Membership dues and donations were our primary sources of income. Thank you for your support!

The GNPS Stone Mountain Propagation Project (SMPP) had revenues of $20,053 (including restricted donations) with direct expenses of $9,657. SMPP grows eco-type plants in support of GNPS and its partners’ restoration projects, plus chapter plant sales.

Chapters received $11,684 in direct financial support. GNPS’s insurance premiums increased $3,800 with the expansion of insurance coverage for chapters. $6,100 was invested to enhance our brand through logo designs for GNPS and chapters.

GNPS had cash savings of $213K, which will support planned additional investment in GNPS’s growth, including the hiring of an executive director.

State Board

Thank you to all who voted in our election of the 2023 board of directors. The following new board members are joining in 2023: Chadd Reynolds, Lea Millet, and Les Cane. If you missed the election email, you can read the bio profiles of these new board members by clicking here. We wish to thank departing board members Carling Kirk and Mary Lillian Walker for their service.

Lea Millett has graciously offered to serve as the new board Secretary. We still are on the lookout for a state Treasurer to begin in 2024. Our current Treasurer, Ron Smith, has laid a firm financial foundation crafting policies and procedures that will allow for a seamless transition. Ron wishes to work closely with the incoming Treasurer for a year to ensure this success. If you are interested, please contact us by emailing board@gnps.org.

Thank you for being a member in 2022!

We encourage you to get more active in your chapter; the old adage is still true: many hands make light work. In addition, fresh ideas and perspectives are essential to positive change while the experience of longtime members helps our new ones grow. We need you all.

For those of you with an expiring membership, you should have already received an email reminder; we encourage you to renew. Reach out to the board with any questions or to volunteer: board@gnps.org.

 

GNPS Strategic Plan 2022-2025

The GNPS Board of Directors for 2022 is pleased to share our Strategic Plan for the years 2022-2025. A little background:

A small group of determined native plant devotees formed GNPS in 1994 to advocate the use and preservation of Georgia’s native plants. Although the Society formed in Atlanta, our founders’ goals were higher. They envisioned a statewide organization. Our first chapter formed in 2008, but growth was slow. Meanwhile, urgency to preserve and use more native plants mounted. Our growth was not keeping pace with our members’ desire for knowledge and action.

In 2019, GNPS took a bold step, creating a State Board of Directors that would focus on strategic governing and direct significant resources toward cultivating a balance of equally strong chapters across the state. Our thinking was that more chapters would focus more GNPS resources at the local level, encourage new leaders, and increase membership, while allowing the State Board to focus on key state-level partnerships and strategies that would lead to more meaningful change and progress of our mission.

Our members’ response to this organizational shift has been overwhelmingly positive. GNPS began 2022 with eight geographically widespread chapters and an all-time high of 1,400-plus members. With more members, we were poised to further our mission across Georgia, and we turned toward developing a three-year strategic plan.

As we thought about how to channel the power of our growth, we pondered what does GNPS do that makes us unique?

  • We connect people with native plants.
  • We teach people how to use native plants in landscapes.
  • We inspire people to be good stewards of the land.
  • We empower members to share their knowledge with others.
  • GNPS grows people who love native plants.

That’s it! Growing people who love native plants. In a nutshell, this truly is what GNPS does best. With that settled, we wondered how we can leverage what we do best? How can we best serve our members, grow statewide, and help Georgians grow a better landscape?

We invite you to read our strategic plan and discover the details. If you are as inspired as we are, please volunteer for specific areas to help us reach our goals. Regardless of where you are on your native plant learning journey, each of us can help.

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