Give to What Matters Most to You
Membership dues help keep the association running, but gifts beyond dues allow us to do even more for Pelican Lake — from funding a harvesting season and replacing buoys to supporting research and projects that help protect the lake for years to come.
Payments are processed securely by Stripe. The Pelican Lake Association does not see or store your card details.
You can direct your gift to the General Fund or to a specific program: Eurasian watermilfoil control, fish and wildlife, or buoy maintenance. You choose the designation and the amount when you give.
Choose What Your Gift Funds
The General Fund
Unrestricted gifts go into the general fund, giving the association the flexibility to respond to whatever Pelican Lake needs throughout the year. Whether it’s an unexpected project, equipment, lake maintenance, or an opportunity we didn’t anticipate, your gift can help where it will have the greatest impact.
Education
Your gift helps provide the information and resources that keep our lake community informed. It supports signs at the landings, our newsletter, guest speakers, and educational materials that help members and visitors understand what it takes to protect and care for Pelican Lake.
An informed lake community is one of our best tools for protecting the lake.
Hazard Buoys
Your gift helps keep Pelican Lake’s hazard buoys in place and in good condition. The fund covers placing buoys each spring, maintaining and replacing them as needed, and removing them each fall.
The Hazard Buoy Fund is capped at $30,000. If the fund exceeds that amount, the membership has approved allowing the board to use the excess for other association purposes.
Fish and Wildlife
Your gift supports fish habitat improvements, stocking, and the surveys and tagging programs that help us better understand and protect Pelican Lake’s fishery. This work is carried out in partnership with DNR biologists and the Mole Lake Tribe.
Invasive Species Control
Your gift helps fund the harvesting crews and divers who work each summer to control Eurasian watermilfoil, as well as trained inspectors who check boats at the landings and help prevent new invasive species from entering Pelican Lake.
Shoreline & Land
Your gift supports the Shoreland Restoration Garden and our roadside clean-up program—projects that help keep the areas around Pelican Lake beautiful, healthy, and cared for.
Protecting a lake means caring for more than just the water.
Giving in Memory of Someone
Many gifts to the association are made in memory of someone who loved Pelican Lake. Families sometimes choose to honor a loved one by supporting the lake they enjoyed, while members make memorial gifts in memory of neighbors, friends, and fellow lake lovers. We are especially grateful for these meaningful gifts.
To make a memorial gift, simply write “in memory of” followed by the person’s name on your check or on the note that accompanies your gift. If you would like your gift directed to a particular fund, such as the Hazard Buoy Fund, please let us know and we will honor your wishes.
Memorial gifts are not published on this website. The association acknowledges memorial gifts privately to the family and, when the family wishes, in the annual newsletter sent to members. We do not post the names of donors or those being remembered online.
How to Give
The easiest way to give is by check:
Make your check payable to Pelican Lake Association and mail it to:
Pelican Lake Association
PO Box 96
Pelican Lake, WI 54463
If you would like your gift to support a specific area, please note it on the memo line: buoys, invasive species, fish, education, shoreline, or in memory of followed by the person’s name.
Gifts without a designation will go to the general fund, where they can be used wherever they are needed most.
If you would like a written acknowledgment for your records, please include your mailing address or email address with your gift, and we’ll be happy to send one.
Questions about giving? Please use our contact form and choose “Events and fundraising.” For questions specifically about your membership or dues, choose “Membership and dues.”
Tax-Smart Ways to Give
There are ways to support the lake that may also work well for your taxes. Each one depends entirely on your own circumstances, so please discuss them with your tax and investment advisors before acting.
Donor-Advised Funds
Contribute cash or assets to a fund through your investment advisor, take the deduction in the year you contribute, then recommend grants to charities like the Pelican Lake Association over time.
Often useful in a high-income year or as you approach retirement. Opening an account takes a few weeks, so this is not a last-minute strategy.
Appreciated Assets
Giving stocks, mutual fund shares or real estate directly, rather than selling them first, can avoid capital gains tax while allowing a deduction for the full fair market value.
The asset generally must have been held more than one year, and deduction limits apply. Please contact us before transferring anything so we can arrange it with you.
IRA Transfers
If you are 70½ or older, a Qualified Charitable Distribution lets you transfer funds directly from an IRA to a qualified charity. The amount is excluded from your taxable income.
Once you reach the age for required minimum distributions, a qualified transfer can also count toward that year’s required amount.
The association cannot give tax or investment advice, and the rules and limits above change from time to time. To discuss a gift of stock or a transfer from an IRA, please get in touch and choose “Events and fundraising” so we can send your advisor the details they need.
Other Ways to Help
There are plenty of ways to support Pelican Lake beyond making a donation:
- Support through your business. Local businesses help in so many ways—sponsoring the newsletter, donating raffle prizes, hosting association events, and more. If you own or run a business around the lake, get in touch.
- Join the fun. Raffles and events raise an important share of the association’s income each year—and they’re a great way to support the lake while spending time with friends and neighbors. See what’s coming up.
- Give your time. Your time and skills can be just as valuable as a financial gift. Much of what the association accomplishes is made possible by members volunteering their time, from helping at events to serving on committees. Volunteer with a committee.
The Pelican Lake Association is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, Tax ID 90-0587454. Donations may be tax-deductible to the extent the law allows; raffle tickets are not deductible. Please consult your own tax adviser. If you give in error, our Refund Policy explains what happens next.