2026 Annual Report
A message from Alice:
In this season of thanks, I am deeply grateful to have made my new professional home here at Wild Seed Project. I thank the staff and Board for welcoming me with trusting hearts and open spirits, and I admire the depths of their passion and expertise. I am making lovely new plant friends, and I have spent the last ten months meeting dozens of fantastic new people. Each plant and each person has enriched my world. I appreciate every moment our volunteers dedicate to plant care at the nursery and to packing seeds at the office: these are moments not just of productivity, but also of community, infused with the joy of a shared mission. Every dollar contributed by our members and donors is a dollar that could have gone elsewhere, and I don’t take that lightly in a time of upheaval and uncertainty. My sincere thanks to you for being part of this “project” – connecting people with one another and the web of life around us, in tune with complexity, mutuality, and beauty... restoring biodiversity one seed at a time.
Education Highlights
We installed two new Community Seed Gardens in Greater Portland, Maine in partnership with One City Center and the Portland Public Library.
We hosted 77 educational programs on native plant ecology, ethical seed collection, and ecological gardening practices, in partnership with 36 collaborative partners.
We worked with 600 K-12 students to plant over 5,000 native plants over 5 acres at four different Maine schools.
We published our 2026 guide: Making Habitat at Home, which we distributed to nearly 4,000 readers.
Wild Seed Project by the numbers
Last fiscal year yielded a large deficit ($192k or 23% of revenue) as Wild Seed Project recruited and (in January 2026) onboarded a new Executive Director AND a new Board chair. The year’s expenses came in 10% under budget but revenue was 30% under budget! We’re on the upswing now: we have not yet needed to tap into our reserve fund, and the first three calendar quarters of 2026 saw a 26% increase in total contributions compared to the first three calendar quarters of 2025. We also completed our four-year Future Blooms campaign in support of the Native Seed Center this summer!
Slightly over half of our income came from individual contributions of all sizes. About one-third of our income was earned through sales and services. Organizational partners contributed about one-eighth of our income through grants and corporate sponsorships.
Our expenses are more lopsided. We achieve most of our impact by paying people to do things! We grow seeds and plants that will grow and reproduce for years to come. We teach people how to propagate native plants themselves, skills they can use for a lifetime and pass along to their friends and children. But we can’t “cut corners” readily on the budget without cutting corners on the people who make it all happen, and on their families. Your generosity ensures that our knowledgeable and caring staff can securely and confidently come to work every day to make the Wild Seed Project happen. Thank you for joining us in the effort to repopulate our landscape with native plants for beauty, biodiversity, and resilience.
Expenses
Income
Native Seed Stewardship Highlights
87 volunteers contributed 832 hours
13,000 seed-grown native plants potted at the Native Seed Center
4,000 seed-grown native plants distributed at the 2026 Plant Sale
22,000 packets of hand-collected native seeds distributed
1,000 seed-grown native plants installed in community restoration projects
8 new seed collection sites with diverse habitats and robust populations
Expanded 10 living seed banks for New England Groundsel, Golden Alexander, Swamp Milkweed, and Pearly Everlasting