Indiegogo Project: Brant Tours & Research

20141031065645-Banner_2When I was in Texas a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of finally meeting the BRANT Tours crew, a bird tour company that is trying to do things differently. BRANT isn’t just a birds name, but also the acronym for Birding Research And Nature Tours.

This group is passionate about birding, and leading great tours, but what really sets them apart is their focus on conservation, research and education. Their mission is to work hard to ensure their tours are minimum impact, support the local economies of the areas they are birding in, and partnering with local nonprofits to support projects relating to conservation, restoration, education and community empowerment.

They are currently in the final stretch of an Indiegogo campaign, trying to raise some money to take their mission to the next level. I’ll let them explain it in their own words.

Just over 2 years have gone by since the conception of BRANT and we’ve grown quite a bit. We work with over a dozen guides all over the world and have successfully run dozens of tours. In fact, we’ve grown faster than we anticipated! But, to have a serious impact on the ecotourism industry and on the lives of people and wildlife, we need to take it to the next level and that’s where you come in! We’re hoping to raise at least $25,000 to help get us fledge BRANT from a start-up to a serious industry competitor. That figure is the base amount that we need to bring BRANT into the next stage. The money will be used for a number of improvements and business necessities including a remodel of the website to accommodate high traffic and reach a bigger audience, marketing and branding literature, and to pay some cost of living for us so we can devote ourselves full time to developing tours and conservation partnerships!
Of course $25,000 is just the minimum amount that we need to get the basics done. We have a long list of improvements, upgrades and additions to our business that would greatly increase our efficiency, broaden our client base, and therefore increase our impact! And so we’ve decided to add extra incentive to not only reach but to surpass our goal.

As can be expected from most Indiegogo campaigns, there are some nice perks to be had for your contributions. You will receive anything from shirts and hats to entries in a drawing for a Zeiss Terra binocular, or a day of guiding with a BRANT guide.

But what if you aren’t in a position to donate your money to this cause, but feel its worthy (it really is!)? You can still help out by sharing this link on Facebook, Twitter, or directly with your friends who might be interested in supporting such an innovative idea.

Share this link: http://igg.me/at/brant/x/3590520