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Support interdisciplinary, ecology-based landscape practice & gardening.

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NDAL Sponsorship Opportunities

Is your company interested in connecting with NDAL’s audience of landscape professionals, home gardeners, students, and educators? Join us as a Sponsor to share your organization’s identity, mission, and services with this active and diverse group of ecology-minded folks. Sponsoring NDAL means supporting the growth of educational opportunities in the field of ecological stewardship, with great benefits to our ecosystem and society!

Why sponsor NDAL?

Since 1990, we’ve cultivated a dynamic and mighty educational community, and in recent years have expanded our audience reach and curricular offerings.

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Please Note:

New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL) is not a 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofit, and therefore sponsorships offer no tax-deductibility benefits and are exclusively an exchange for goods & services.

  • The majority of our audience is made up of landscape professionals (including but not limited to landscape designers, landscape architects, restoration ecologists, and horticulturists); and in recent years it has grown to include many non-professionals such as home gardeners, educators, community activists, and students. We draw from a national and international community, and sponsors can curate their exposure to a specific audience demographic or choose a broad mix of audience members across NDAL’s programming.

  • Over the course of 34 years, NDAL has developed a devoted and trusting relationship with its audience members. Our sponsors’ association with us benefits from our deep relationships with our community of professionals, home gardeners, and students.

  • Something particularly special about NDAL’s audience members is how incredibly accomplished and knowledgeable many of them are about landscape design, restoration, native plants, and/or garden ecology. While many have attended undergraduate and postgraduate school in these or related fields, most learn by doing. Consequently, our programs are enhanced by greatly informed attendee questions and knowledge sharing. If you want to reach individuals with intimate ecological proficiency, promoting your brand to NDAL’s audience is a great way to reach these individuals.

  • Our audience members have shown such strong support for NDAL over the years with warm testimonials and inquiries for collaboration. This collaborative energy drives the appetite for continuous learning and experimentation with new organizations, products, and resources.

  • Another unique aspect of NDAL’s programming is its interdisciplinary content. We bring together speakers from diverse fields to create the most synergistic educational experience possible. This type of programming draws those who are open-minded and curious to learn new approaches and test new methods. Therefore, when you sponsor NDAL’s programming, you are supporting a learning community that is open to different ways of participating in ecology & design.

  • Some educational resources are heavy on the theoretical, while others solely explore on-the-ground methods without recognizing the rationale. NDAL’s courses and events strike the balance between practicality and theory. As a sponsor, sharing your brand with our audience will feel aligned whether your content skews hands-on or academic.

  • We’ve heard numerous attendees over the years refer to our educational content as filling a niche that otherwise doesn’t exist in the landscape and gardening field. The information that NDAL provides will grow increasingly popular as more practitioners, home owners, and municipalities embrace an ecology-based approach to landscape design. Thus sponsoring NDAL means supporting the growth of educational opportunities with great benefits to our ecosystem and society!

NDAL Recognition

Interested in an exploratory call about sponsorships? Call us at 510-518-0430 or email info@ndal.org

NDAL’s educational programming has been recognized nationwide across the industry.

In 2024, the American Horticultural Society (AHS) awarded NDAL with its annual Great American Gardeners Award in Horticultural Innovation.

Also in 2024, NDAL was recognized in The New York Times article by Margaret Roach, Can You Get Rid of Your Front Lawn Without Offending the Neighbors? Sara Weaner Cooper and Evan Cooper share their educational journey of transitioning organically from lawn to meadow.

In 2016, NDAL received the first Regional Impact Award from the Native Plant Trust (formerly the New England Wildflower Society).

Sponsorship Types


  • Promote your brand to NDAL’s audience all year across all NDAL programming (excluding Symposium; Symposium sponsored separately); thus creating a consistent, direct connection with those who may become your company’s new customers. Limited to 4 Yearly Sponsors, a maximum of 1 per field/industry. For example, one nursery, one landscape supplies company, etc. This ensures that your brand’s promotion will not be competing with another Yearly Sponsor that provides the same services as you.

  • Reach the audience (~500 annual attendees) of our Annual Design Symposium, Landscape, Ecology & Culture which includes landscape designers, landscape architects, horticulturists, restoration professionals, and others. This program was founded in 1990 by Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and draws practitioners from the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. The Symposium is produced with long-time partners Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania and Connecticut College Arboretum.

    Please note: The Symposium sponsorship program is solely administered and associated with New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL). Sponsorship of the symposium is exclusively an exchange for goods and services and does not impart any tax-deductible benefits. Neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Connecticut College Arboretum are accepting donations for this sponsorship.

  • Choose one program from our diverse events list to promote your organization. Whether you’re hoping to reach a target audience of landscape designers, landscape contractors, garden enthusiasts, or environmental educators (among others!), you’ll likely find a program that will fit your needs. This Sponsorship type does not include the Symposium. Sponsor four or more single programs of your choosing for a reduced bundle rate. This Sponsorship type offers a non-profit rate.

  • Reach landscape professionals including landscape designers, landscape architects, horticulturists, and restoration ecologists by sponsoring our 7-part Intensive Virtual Course. Sessions are held weekly over the course of two months - February through March or July through August. Your company will be featured in the ~2 months leading up to the event, during the 2-month live sessions, while the recordings are available for 3-months (that’s 7 months of active brand promotion!), and in course materials that participants use in their practice indefinitely.

Let’s get into detail…

Yearly Sponsorships

Promote your brand to NDAL’s audience all year across all NDAL programming (Symposium excluded; Symposium sponsored separately); thus creating a consistent, direct connection with those who may become your company’s new customers. Limited to 4 Yearly Sponsors, a maximum of 1 per field/industry. For example, one grower/nursery, one landscape supplies company, etc. This ensures that your brand’s promotion will not be competing with another Yearly Sponsor that provides the same services as you.

Yearly Sponsor: $25,000

Payment plans available - options on Sponsor Interest Form

Maximum: 4 Yearly Sponsors

One Yearly Sponsor per category
Category examples (you may still apply even if your organization does not fall within one of the following categories):
-Grower/nursery
-Landscape supplies company
-Restoration ecology organization

As a Yearly Sponsor, your $25,000 payment is equivalent to $2,083 per month. This payment allows NDAL to regularly promote your brand.

Annual Symposium Sponsorships

Reach the audience (~500 annual attendees, and growing) of our Annual Design Symposium, Landscape, Ecology & Culture which includes landscape designers, landscape architects, horticulturists, restoration professionals, and others. This program was founded in 1990 by Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and draws practitioners from the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. The Symposium is produced with long-time partners Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania and Connecticut College Arboretum.*

*Please note: The Symposium sponsorship program is solely administered and associated with New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL). Sponsorship of the symposium is exclusively an exchange for goods and services and does not impart any tax-deductible benefits. Neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Connecticut College Arboretum are accepting donations for this sponsorship.

Speakers Sponsor | $10,000 | Maximum: 4

Hospitality Sponsor | $6,000 | Maximum: 4

Scholarships Sponsor | $3,500 | Maximum: 6

Please note: The Annual Symposium is not included for this Sponsor type.

Individual Program Sponsorships

Choose one program from our diverse events list to promote your organization. Whether you’re hoping to reach a target audience of landscape designers, landscape contractors, garden enthusiasts, or environmental educators (among others!), you’ll likely find a program that will fit your needs. Sponsor four or more individual programs of your choosing for the reduced Multi-Program Rate. 
(Does not include Annual Symposium or 7-Part Intensive Course)

  • Individual Program Sponsor: $800 per program

  • Non-profit Individual Program Sponsor: $500 per program

  • Multi-Program (4+ programs): $600 per program

  • Non-profit Multi-Program (4+ programs): $400 per program

Maximum: 4 Single/Multi-Program Sponsors per program

Intensive Course Sponsorships

Reach landscape professionals including landscape designers, landscape architects, horticulturists, and restoration ecologists by sponsoring our 7-part Intensive Virtual Course. Sessions are held weekly over the course of two months - February through March or July through August. Your company will be featured in the ~2 months leading up to the event, during the 2-month live sessions, while the recordings are available for 3-months (that’s 7 months of active brand promotion!), and in course materials that participants use in their practice indefinitely.

Intensive Course Sponsor: $7,000

Maximum: 4 Intensive Course Sponsors

NDAL’s Reach:
Ongoing Relationships

  • NDAL’s Advisory Committee consists of accomplished individuals forging innovative paths in various disciplines. The Committee meets biannually and helps brainstorm new programming, as well as fosters connections between their own professional & academic communities with NDAL.

    NDAL Advisory Committee members:

    Charles Birnbaum, FASLA, Founding Director, The Cultural Landscape Foundation

    Roy Diblik, Designer & Co-Owner, Northwind Perennial Farm

    Michael Gaige, Consulting Ecologist; Lecturer, Department of Environmental Studies, Skidmore College

    Wambui Ippolito, Landscape Designer and Horticulturist, Jane Gil Design

    Abra Lee, Horticulturist & Founder, Conquer the Soil

    Daniela Shebitz, Ph.D, Executive Director & Professor, School of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, Kean University, Union NJ

    Douglas Tallamy, Ph.D, Professor & Chair, University of Delaware Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology

    Tom Wessels, Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Antioch University New England

    Gerould Wilhelm, Ph.D, Principal Botanist & Ecologist, Conservation Design Forum

  • American Horticultural Society (Alexandria, VA)

    Brandywine Conservancy (Chadds Ford, PA)

    Connecticut College Arboretum (New London, CT)

    County of Westchester (White Plains, NY)

    Ecological Landscape Alliance (Sandown, NH)

    Holden Forests & Gardens (Kirtland, OH)

    Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Austin, TX)

    Manitoga / The Russel Wright Design Center (Garrison, NY)

    Morris Arboretum & Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)

    National Wildlife Federation (Vienna, VA)

    The Native Plant Center (Westchester, NY)

    Native Plant Trust (formerly New England Wildflower Society) (Framingham, MA)

    The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (Philadelphia, PA)

    Southeastern Grasslands Institute (Clarksville, TN)

    Wild Ones - Native Plants, Natural Landscapes (Neenah, WI)

    View more collaborators

Click here for a Sponsorships Overview one-sheet


Or have an exploratory discussion:
info@ndal.org | 510-518-0430

General Sponsor Terms

Upon receiving your Interest Form submission, NDAL will send a Sponsor Letter of Agreement for your review. These terms are a continuation of the terms listed in that Letter of Agreement.