The Spirit of Big Five Foundation, the 501.c3 nonprofit organization founded by Big Five Tours and Expeditions, is proud to announce the launch of its new website – www.spiritofbigfive.org

The website explains the mission, funding criteria, and goals of the foundation, gives an overview of each project supported, as well as provides news and updates. The foundation’s overhead costs are funded entirely by Big Five Tours and Expeditions as part of the company’s commitment to sustainable tourism practices.

The website has two important features. First, individuals and families can make donations by check or credit card through Paypal to specific projects that the foundation has vetted and supports. One hundred percent of all individual donations go directly to the project selected.

“What spurred us to create the new website was really our guests,” says Mahen Sanghrajka, chairman of the foundation and CEO of Big Five Tours & Expeditions. “Our clients often return home from a great trip with us, having a new-found understanding of a country or region of the world they visited, along with a desire to help support local conservation and community development. The foundation provides them with that opportunity.”

Second, individuals can nominate projects for consideration. The process is easy. Under “How to Apply” on the new website, visitors complete and submit a simple form. The foundation will review and evaluate the request, and then make a decision on whether or not to invite a project proposal from the organization. Only invited project proposals are considered for funding by the foundation.

“The Spirit of Big Five Foundation believes that small grants placed in the hands of hard working and effective community-based organizations around the world can make a huge difference in addressing biodiversity conservation, poverty alleviation, and support for cultural heritage,” says Costas Christ, an internationally recognized sustainable tourism expert, who also serves as the foundation’s Ambassador at Large.

The Spirit of Big Five Foundation is focused on providing grants to projects and organizations that demonstrate successful community development, support nature conservation, promote environmentally sensitive operations, and help to safeguard cultural heritage – all consistent with the principles of sustainable tourism.

While the Spirit of Big Five Foundation will consider support to projects from a range of different countries and regions of the world, it gives special consideration to the following countries where Big Five Tours & Expeditions operates: Belize, Botswana, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Peru, Tanzania, South Africa, and Zambia.

Past and current projects supported by the foundation include Heritage Watch in Cambodia, Fundacion Galapagos in Ecuador, Kenya Self-Help Project/Nyashep Education Trust, and Southern Environmental Alliance in Belize, among others.