Established the same year as the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation exists to bring individual and private sector support to the Garden’s mission of education and conservation. The Foundation raises money through its membership program, the generosity of its board, fundraising events and more. Equally important, the Foundation serves as a land trust to protect ecologically important lands near the Garden and beyond. It owns and holds conservation easements on over 300 acres of land adjacent to lands already protected by the Garden and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.