Ernest Thompson Seton Institute, Inc
Valuing nature for a better society
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
“I believe that natural history has lost much by the vague treatment that is so common”, wrote Ernest Thompson Seton in 1898. More than a century later, communities continue to struggle with the consequences borne from disrespect of nature and human rights. The digital age provides unprecedented opportunities to promote Seton’s philosophies of actionable natural resources conservation and respect for human rights. The multi-media platforms available today – not even imagined during Seton’s life – afford opportunities to reach with youth and adults through creative expressions of Seton-values in art, literature, and his Woodcraft program. Seton’s legacy of values resonates more urgently now than during his lifetime. Ernest Thompson Seton Institute addresses Seton’s prediction of the consequences of “vague treatment”, bringing renewed urgency to address our shrinking natural resources, threatened wildlife, human rights challenges and unrestrained global consumerism.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Oral History Project
We conduct oral history interviews of people who knew E. T. Seton personally or have purposefully visited locations where he lived/worked, or who attest to abiding by Seton's philosophy/teaching, or who belong to organizations Seton helped establish.
Seton collections and research
Identifying locations of Seton works holdings and responding to specific questions about Seton and his work.
Book Club
Meeting every six weeks, participants from across the globe discuss selected Seton titles.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Academics, Retired people, Adolescents, Activists
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2023, we presented information to groups in NY, NM, TX, CA, CT, CO, and to a youth group in Poland.
Hours of volunteer service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Researchers, Retired people, Self-employed people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Includes regular and special focus meetings, oral history preparation, interviews, and processing, archiving and digitization, inquiry responses, administration, and planning.
Average number of dollars received per donor
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
6 donors in 2020; 22 donors in 2021; 46 donors in 2022; 65 donors in 2023
Number of donors retained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Started tracking in 2020 with 14 donors.
Number of new advocates recruited
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Started tracking in 2020
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Ernest Thompson Seton Institute [The Institute] provides engaging opportunities for people to develop and deepen respect for our environment and one another through appreciation and assimilation of Ernest Thompson Seton’s ideals and philosophies. The Institute focuses on interactive activities that draw people to seek out deeper understanding and appreciation of nature, conservation, and ethical co-existence. The Institute’s goals are to provide forum for (1) developing an understanding of Ernest Thompson Seton’s ideals and philosophies; (2) gaining appreciation of the modern age importance of those ideals and philosophies; (3) developing curiosity for modern interpretation and application of Seton’s ideals, values and artistic expression, and; (4) developing actionable self-awareness and interpretative expression in the form of conservation, education, art, literature, and human rights activities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Institute is pursuing four (4) interconnected strategic tracks, building upon milestones and performance benchmarks.
Preservation of Ernest Thompson Seton’s literature and art is an important priority. There are many well documented Seton collections in museums and private hands. However, there are lost works as well. The Institute is working to identify and catalog collections for further study and awareness of his works. A significant aspect of Seton’s legacy that is vanishing is the recollections of people who had first-hand experiences with him. The Institute is seeking out these people to preserve their memories through recording their oral histories. Capturing oral histories in media form is an important way for the Institute to relate Seton’s ideals and philosophies to new generations.
Enhancing the Institute’s web presence is critical to our communications strategy. We are reformatting our website for easy navigation and continually updating Seton references. Virtual visits to Seton’s homes and sites of special interest brings his literature alive. His extensive travel, now documented for the first time on the Institute’s website, provides people with the opportunity to physically visit locations nearby, thereby developing closer personal connection and deeper interpretative meaning in his works. We are also using a select number of social media venues to expand awareness of Seton’s ideals and philosophies.
The Institute’s educational programs constitute an important strategic track. We leverage our network of organizational and professional relationships in developing and delivering presentations and workshops on several Seton-centric topics such as conservation, cultural heritage, and natural history. We have working relationships with Woodcraft, conservation, and Scouting organizations across the world.
Youth engagement through promotion of arts and literature is an important outreach strategy. These programs build self-esteem, creative confidence, and deeper appreciation of nature and humanity.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Ernest Thompson Seton Institute has identified, located, and acquired an impressive amount of Seton works. The Institute has also identified Seton works and collections at risk with success in preserving those works. The Institute has and continues to develop an impressive oral histories database. Through our extensive networks and growing global presence, we continue locating works and recording oral histories from sources abroad. Based upon our past success, current positioning, and forecast growth, our Ernest Thompson Seton preservation capabilities continue to expand.
The Institute has a well-established web presence. Over twenty ago, we developed, and recently reformatted, an easy to navigate, informative webpage at http://etsetoninstitute.org/. Our site draws regular and growing traffic. The Institute and our network of contributors keep the content fresh and relevant. We also moderate and contribute to our blog, accessible within the website. Our blog is also kept current and relevant. The Institute has created a presence on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Charity-Organization/Ernest-Thompson-Seton-Institute-101804444801812/. With 289 followers this year, we are strategically managing the implementation of communications strategy to ensure that we place content quality and relevance over unmoderated exposure. Through our digital presence, people are able to enjoy and pursue the Ernest Thompson Seton experience today.
In 2017 the Institute began and continues to deliver presentations and workshops on topics related to Mr. Seton's work both nationally and internationally. Our network of speakers and subject matter experts, while currently robust, continues to grow. Many of our virtual workshops are available to broader audiences through our organizational partnerships, our professional relationships, and our virtual engagement infrastructure.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Building upon our accomplishments and relationships, the Ernest Thompson Seton Institute is focusing on several key areas in progressive enhancement. Given the perishable nature of our oral history sources, we are concentrating on capturing as many oral histories and recollections of Ernest Thompson Seton as possible. This is an important initiative in preserving Setons legacy that requires timely action. Our oral history preservation project is a priority for as long as we are blessed with people willing to share their experiences. We are looking to migrate the oral history approach into oral interpretative history over the coming years as those people with direct, first-hand experience become less available. In 2021 we collected five oral history interviews and published two as a webcast.
We are expanding and deepening our selective organizational partnerships. We are strengthening our collaboration with the Woodcraft Rangers [https://woodcraftrangers.org], a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit educational organization with a century of service to urban youth. Emerging out of Ernest Thompson Setons Woodcraft League as a means for instilling values of inclusion and access for young people, Woodcraft Rangers now serves over 14,000 youth at over 73 sites in the greater LA area carrying on Setons legacy value-based youth education. We have located other youth outdoor summer camp programs that follow Seton's basic Woodcraft program. We are strengthening our partnerships with other select organizations domestically and abroad in further our vision and mission.
We are expanding our networks and organizational certifications to participate in grant funded initiatives. As a 501(c)3, non-profit educational organization, we are registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) and other systems to qualify eligibility for grant funding.
The Institute continues developing and refining our digital presence and marketing materials to promote our capabilities and service offerings. In 2023, we started a book club for members and non-members who are passionate about reading Seton's books and stories. We have revised our five informational "Curious about..." videos, revised our You Tube channel, and continue to upgrade our website.
We are actively, strategically seeking non-profit funding sources for general financial and special projects fiscal support. We are working for sustainable, consistent revenue sources inclusive of but not limited to donor contributions. To this end, we launched a membership campaign and a student intern scholarship campaign.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Ernest Thompson Seton Institute, Inc
Board of directorsas of 02/05/2024
Mr. Joseph Trindal
DARI
Term: 2022 - 2025
Ronald Edmonds
Principium Group, Inc
Julie A Seton
Indelible Enterprises, LLC
Ellen A Shelby
Retired
Ben Benally
Retired
Luis Alvarez
Eagle Claw
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/04/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.