Wildlife Conservation Starts With You
Invest in our planet today and help inspire the next generation of conservationists.
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Our Mission
Using the power of science, exploration, education,
and storytelling to illuminate and protect
the wonder of our world
our approach
Investing in a diverse, global community of changemakers
Bold Explorers
We fund a global community of Explorers who investigate, test hypotheses, innovate, stretch their creativity, and push the boundaries of traditional thinking in ways that fundamentally change our world.
Impactful Programs
We support and cultivate a portfolioof diverse, Explorer-led programs within our five focus areas to drive impact and fulfill our mission of illuminating and protecting our world.
We leverage our global expertise, platforms, and unparalleled convening power to inspire educators, youth, and future Explorers and help more people learn about, care for, and protect our world.
Responsible Stewardship
Our innovative business model allows us to invest every philanthropic dollar—100% of donations—directly to our Explorers and programs. Join us to support what matters most to you.
Mind the Water Gap
Understanding freshwater is critical for life on Earth and is an integral part of the National Geographic Society’s mission.
Our Focus
Maximizing impact
in five key areas
Ocean
Land
Wildlife
Histories & Cultures
Human Ingenuity
Revealing and protecting underwater worlds
Our Explorers discover, understand, and conserve marine and coastal systems and inspire and empower local and global audiences to better understand and protect the ocean.
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Preserving and protecting land environments
Our Explorers explore, understand, and conserve terrestrial and freshwater systems and inspire and empower local and global audiences to better understand and protect our lands, lakes, and rivers.
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Protecting and conserving wildlife
Our Explorers inspire and empower local and global audiences to better understand and protect wildlife, including animals, plants and fungi.
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Understanding our past and protecting our future
Our Explorers work to preserve cultural knowledge, better understand human histories, cultures, practices, diversity, and evolution—past and present, center communities, and inform and inspire global audiences with stories or lessons about humanity.
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Supporting innovation
Our Explorers are taking novel and inventive approaches to address critical challenges and produce insights that illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.
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Make a difference
The National Geographic Society is proud to support Explorers in the U.S. and around the world who are working everyday to better understand and protect our planet. When you support the National Geographic Society with a tax-deductible donation, 100 percent of your support will go to the important work of preserving and protecting the wonder of our world.
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changing the world
Your impact begins today!
450 +
Active Explorer-led projects in more than 140 countries
$ 324
Average gift amount donated to the Society
100 %
Amount of donations that go to fund mission-driven work and Explorer programs
Support our Explorersand their research
Your donation today will fund on-the-ground research and other mission programs that illuminate and protect our world through science, exploration, education, and storytelling.
Protect marine lifeand ecosystems
Give a gift today to help explore and protect our planet's threatened ocean ecosystems. Your donation will support Pristine Seas and our other ocean programs.
Stories from the COVID-19 emergency fund
Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to give emergency funding to storytellers around the world who are on the frontlines of COVID-19. Explore some of their projects.
Our promise
Supporting future changemakers
"There are so many challenges that girls and women in Afghanistan face, especially in rural areas, every day. I am not just interested in setting up a school for girls. I’m interested in the lifelong impact that this kind of education can have in not just one girl’s life, but also in that of her family and the generations that come after her."
Shabana Basij-Rasikh
2023 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year and
Co-founder of School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA)
Stories of Impact
Meet Our Explorers
Meet Our Explorers
Our community of Explorers is working to inspire, educate, preserve, and protect the wonder of our world.
GRANTS AND INVESTMENTS
Our Funding Strategy
Our Funding Strategy
We invest in individuals working on projects in science, conservation, storytelling, education, and technology that align with one or more of our focus areas.
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Our commitment to dei
Cultivating an environment of opportunity, mutual respect,
and belonging
Learning from our past, examining our present, and building a more inclusive future.
We believe we can only achieve our mission to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world when people of every race, identity, experience, and ability have a role in our work. Although we have much more work to do, the Society has made strides to achieve and maintain equity.
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our insights
Latest perspectives, news, and stories
Brazil’s mangrove forests represent untapped blue carbon banks, says new study from National Geographic Explorers
National Geographic Explorer’s ‘Unplastify Worldwide’ Program Opens for Registration in Spanish-Speaking Classrooms
National Geographic Society Launches the Wildlife Intelligence Project
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Photo Credits (from top of page): Jason Gulley, Beverly Joubert, Sam Kittner, Joshua Irwandi, Chris Mbanza Schwagga, Manu San Felix, David Gill Below: Michael Nichols, Andy Mann, Paul Nicklen, Ami Vitale, Christian Tryon, Kenneth Garrett, Mark Thiessen
