Stewardship & Scholarships
The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival is proud to announce the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival Stewardship Fund. This new dedicated grant based fund will be set aside for research, conservation, and education related activities occurring both locally, regionally, and worldwide. Individuals and organizations wishing to apply should be doing projects that are in line with the mission of the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, to celebrate the dunes area’s various birding habitats and bird watching opportunities to create a positive impact on the economic, conservation, and environmental education for visitors and residents. Continued funding for the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival Stewardship Fund comes from the annual silent auction event and participants like you. To donate to the Stewardship Fund or annual IDBF Silent Auction, email us!
Need-based Scholarships
The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival Stewardship Fund offers need-based scholarships for people to attend the festival. Applications are open year round and are reviewed on a rolling basis after January 1 of each festival year.
Apply Now for a 2024 Scholarship!
Mumford & Keller Grants and Scholarships Program
2023 general applications will be accepted beginning June 1, 2023. Application from the Stewardship Fund is made by applying through the Indiana Audubon Mumford and Keller Program. Deadline to apply each year is September 1. Ready to apply, visit here!
The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival silent auction has provided funding for the following organizations and projects since the event's inception in 2015:
Indiana Young Birder's Club
Westchester Bird Sanctuary
Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehab Center
International Crane Foundation
Taking Flight Raptor Education Taking Flight into the Classroom
Lifer Nature Tours Interpretive Sign Project
Indiana DNR Field Guides to Farm Kids
Jenna McElroy Raptor Handling Education
Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary MOTUS Tower tags
IYBC North Chapter booth exhibit supplies
Songbirds of N Indiana education project
Outdoor Birding Station at Knightstown Intermediate School
Feather Fest with Fort Wayne Parks
Bluebird Nest Box Project with Carmel Clay Parks
Wildlife Ed at Community Christian School, Fayette County.
Pollinator Habitat at Reynold's Creek GHA, Porter County, IN
Wabash City Schools Pollinator Project
Sassafras Audubon Motus Tower Project at Goose Pond FWA
Humane Indiana Wildlife Lead Testing Project
Autonomous Recording of Marsh Birds with Dustin Brewer