How to Support Us

This page is meant to consolidate all the info on how you can support our projects, and what your financial support goes towards.

Colorado Local Sustainability – Who We are, what we do
Our Current Projects
Non-profit information
Membership
Advertising
Web Statistics and Demographics
Printed Directory Statistics

Colorado Local Sustainability was founded in 2007 to support the protection of farm and ranch land, increase the availability of fresh local food to our communities, keep the land and your life healthy by advocating sustainable agriculture methods, and to help support our local economies across Colorado. The items below are represent goals of our projects and program—your Financial support will be used where it is most needed.

What your support today could help us achieve:
• Promote the protection of Colorado’s farmland.
• Help to easily connect consumers with local farms and ranches.
• Help market Colorado’s sustainable growers.
• Help educate consumers on the need to support local food.
• Provide educational resources on sustainable agriculture for growers.
• Help farmers & ranchers obtain grants.
• Make it easier for chefs and schools to purchase local food.
• Encourage the start-up of new farms and urban CSA’s.
• Help growers find land to farm or garden.
• Help create jobs.

The Rocky Mountain Growers Directory
The 2008 and 2009 print version of the rocky mountain growers directory have been very popular items, and reach over 45,000 consumers around colorado with each edition. The printed directory contains farm and ranch listings, articles on local food, recipes and more. Moving forward, We are focusing our efforts on our online presence by improving our content, adding more growers and businesses to the directory, and bringing in more readers. Since the printed directory is also also of great value in reaching consumers the website may not, we are looking to our advertisers and sponsors to help underwrite the 2010 Rocky Mountain Growers Directory.

Fresh Connections www.freshconnections.org
A farm to chef program which makes it easy for chefs and other food buyers to purchase from small, local farms and ranches.

Grants for Growers
A service to help farmers and ranchers apply for grants which could help them start or expand their operations, or move towards organic or sustainable agriculture methods.

LandShare Colorado www.landshareco.org
A free service to help connect growers in search of land, with landowners who have cultivatable land. LandShare Colorado is also working on the “Grow Your Own CSA” program which helps educate new farmers on how to start their own urban CSA, or micro-farm CSA.

Benefactor – $10,000
Visionary – $7,500
Patron – $5,000
Community Builder – $2,500
Sustainer – $1,000
Steward – $250

Sponsor benefits:

• Your company logo feature on all pages of our this website as well as our LandShare Colorado site, www.landshareco.org, in any versions of the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory we may print, and all printed and electronic marketing materials.
• Business membership on our website, and in any printed directories we may do.
• Mentions in our newsletters, interviews and social media venues.
• The opportunity to provide articles to our website, and printed directory.
• The opportunity to attend and present at any events we produce.
• Ad on our website, if desired. (ad size commensurate with level of giving)

The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Educational and Charitable Foundation, (a 501(c)(3) non-profit) is serving as our fiscal sponsor to allow donors to make tax deductible donations to our project. We thank you in advance for your support!

Donations by credit card can be made on our site: http://www.localsustainability.net/join/donate/

To make a tax deductible donation, please make your check out to “RMFU Foundation”, and write “Co. Local Sustainability” in the memo field. You can mail your check to Colorado Local Sustainability, LLC, 902A Klondike Ave., Nederland, CO 80466.

Paid membership is only $35 a year. With that you get your own web page for your business listing, where you can say as much as you’d like about your business, include a logo for brand recognition, and include up to five photos. We also include custom meta tags for your page to help consumers find you. Paid members will also be guaranteed a listing in any printed directories that are published during the year period you are signed up for.

Paid listings help us to offset the expenses associated with running, maintaining, and improving this website, as well as the costs associate with printing and distributing the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory.

Our project is currently supported solely by our advertisers, sponsors, members, individual donors, and a lot of “sweat-equity”.

For 2009/2010 we are focusing on both web advertising and print advertising. Print ads reach at least 45,000 consumers around Colorado, and web ads reach over 72,000 unique visitors a year, and growing! If you advertise in the printed directory and our website for a year, you can reach over 100,000 potential customers!

Our rates are below, and additional info can be found on the Advertise page. Web stats follow the pricing.

Print Ad Rates

Update:  1/5/10: Please note that we are not accepting print ads at this time.  Please consider supporting our project with a web ad, sponsorship, or donation.

Web Ads

Lead Banner - Three available in rotation on every page
One Month - $250 per month
One Year – $2500/yr (a $1000 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

Footer Banner - Rotating Ad
One Month – $180 per month
One Year – $1660/yr (a $500 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

In-blog Banner - Rotating ad (banner ad included in all blog posts)
One Month – $150 per month
One Year – $1400/yr (a $400 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

125 x 125 pixel ad – Prime Placement (six available)
One Month – $85 per month
One Year – $950/yr (a $100 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

125 x 125 pixel ad – Rotating Ad
One Month – $45 per month
One Year – $440/yr (a $100 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

200 x 125 pixel ad - Maximum Views
One Month – $120 per month
One Year – $1200/yr (a $240 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

200 x 125 pixel ad – Rotating Ad
One Month – $100 per month
One Year – $1000/yr (a $200 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

200 x 75 pixel ad – Rotating Ad
One Month – $25 per month
One Year - $175/yr (a $125 savings when you pre-pay for 1 year)

Web Traffic: (stats from January 2010)

• 7,774 unique visits
• 101,784 page views
• 83% added to their favorites
• 26% are regular visitors
• Average visitors age range: 35-49
• Average visitors education: College or higher
• Average visitors income $100,000 +

Yearly Traffic Trends
2007 – 6,681 unique visits, 44,160 page views (we began the site in April 2007)
2008 – 41,069 unique visits, 166,940 page views
2009 – 70,704 unique visits, 423,792 page views

Demographics

2008 Rocky Mountain Growers Directory

• 45,000 printed copies
• 120 distributors state-wide

2009 Rocky Mountain Growers Directory

• 45,000 printed copies
• over 130 distributors state-wide

Distributors include: cafe’s, restaurants (both mid range and high end), garden centers, spas, health & wellness centers, feed stores, grocery stores, farms, farmers markets, Denver Botanic Gardens, and other business locations.  In addition, the directory is distributed through events including the Sustainable Living Fair, Botanic Gardens Green Fair, farm & food related Getting Connected events, Women’s League of Democratic Voters events, Lakewood Green Living Fair, Denver Health & Wellness Commission, permaculture and gardening classes, food related movie screenings and talks, and through other sustainability related projects.