Who We Are

 The Power of Your Gift

 Giving to ESOhio

Our History

During the late Summer of 1994, leaders of several dozen Ohio based conservation and environmental not-for-profit organizations began a series of meetings that lead to the birth of our federation in February 1995.

Under the banner "The Ohio Fund for the Environment", during the Fall of 1995, we conduct our first partnership campaigns with Ohio employers, raising $24,000 for the benefit of 17 member organizations.

In 1997, we renamed our federation of 28 organizations "Environmental Fund for Ohio" - with our annual campaign having grown to $111,000.

We have been blessed both by generous grants to support our operational expenses, lead by the George Gund Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation - and by our founding member organizations annually electing to reinvest a portion of their campaign pledges back into their federation to ensure its future growth.

The year 2001 was yet another milestone year - as we began a new partnership with 15 environmental federations across America - becoming Earth Share of Ohio.  We now represent 65 organizations - extending the impact of our supporters' gifts from local and Statewide interest areas to now also encompass regional and national interests.  

Our Fall 2004 campaign pledges grew past $420,000 - setting the stage for our growth past the $500,000 mark in our 2006 campaign.

To date, our federation has successfully served as a bridge between Ohioans and our beneficiaries - garnering more than $2,500,000 in donor pledges for our beneficiary organizations, increasing the number of Ohioans who are aware of our beneficiary organizations and their program services - and increasing the number of Ohioans who are volunteering with our beneficiaries.