Friends of Saguaro National Park

About Us

Friends of Saguaro National Park is the official nonprofit philanthropic partner of the National Park Service, created to help preserve, protect and enhance the fragile environment and unique cultural heritage of the Sonoran Desert at Saguaro National Park. We help protect natural and cultural resources, preserve native landscapes, promote environmental education, improve recreational trails, enhance visitor experiences, strengthen community partnerships, and build environmental stewardship for Saguaro National Park through philanthropy, education, volunteerism, and public awareness

Since our creation in 1997, Friends of Saguaro has raised about $12 million to help support Saguaro National Park. Philanthropic gifts from our donors allowed us to provide the park with project grants totaling $824,594 in just the last year alone, while 379 volunteers donated 23,734 hours of service to the park, time and talent valued by Independent Sector at $794,852.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors in 2024, Friends of Saguaro provided Saguaro National Park with a record–breaking $824,594 to support; Next Generation Ranger interns, hiking clubs, field trips, youth camps, Junior Rangers, tribal engagement, volunteer appreciation, trail improvements, fence removal, plant and wildlife research, buffelgrass removal, archeological projects, enhanced visitor experiences, conservation studies, and vital saguaro research and protection activities.

The impact of reduced federal appropriations and significantly increased visitation have created many new challenges for Saguaro National Park. It is relying more heavily on Friends of Saguaro, to provide philanthropic support, creative solutions, and engage the public in protecting the park for future generations.

Testimonials

At Friends of Saguaro, we work diligently to earn your trust by being careful stewards of your gifts. We’ve consistently balanced our budget, maintained a prudent operating reserve, and devoted at least 85% of our total expenditures to programs, rather than fundraising or overhead costs. We’ve sustained our GuideStar Exchange Gold Participation recognition, a leading symbol of transparency and accountability provided by GuideStar USA, the nation’s premier source of nonprofit information. In addition to being recognized as a “Top–Rated Nonprofit” for fifteen consecutive years, by GreatNonprofits, a national group that develops tools to help people rate nonprofits, fewer than 1% of all nonprofits nationwide have been able to achieve this important distinction.