To Our Ojai Community:

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we recover from the damage from the Thomas Fire on our trails. In the coming months trails will likely open and close depending on rain and changing trail conditions. Click here for current information and trail notifications »
Photo By: Chad Ress

How To Participate

For Customers

To participate in Wild About Ojai, simply visit one of the participating businesses. Patronizing these businesses gives you the opportunity to donate and give back to local open space.

Participating Wild About Ojai businesses also have signs posted in their windows so you can easily identify them.
Click here for a full list of participating businesses »

For Businesses

Signing up to participate in Wild About Ojai is free and easy! Once you have set up your business, participation takes no more time than writing a check. Click here to see the benefits of participating »

How You May Participate

Once enrolled in the program, all participating businesses complete an agreement which clarifies the logistics of the program and specifies how we can best support you. Participating businesses then add a 1% voluntary donation from customers on each sale or invoice. Customers can choose to opt out of this voluntary donation. In the program agreement you will select how often you want to remit the customer donations. Monthly is often the easiest and best schedule for most businesses, but others may choose quarterly.

Set Up

We will provide you as much help as possible to set up your business in the Wild About Ojai program. The below actions will prepare a business to participate in the program. The OVLC can provide assistance where needed.

  • To communicate with customers about their voluntary donation, a line on their receipt should appear indicating that a voluntary 1% donation has been added to their bill.
  • If you are a business that sends invoices, we can provide you with a sample invoice as a template.
  • OVLC will be available to give input on modifications to your website, flyers, brochures, invoices, and other media representing your business’ association and participation with the Wild About Ojai program.
  • A local Certified Public Accountant has volunteered to answer your questions about the accounting aspects of the program.
  • When possible, the OVLC will provide contact information of other participating businesses who can share their experience with the program and answer any questions you may have.
  • Participating businesses are required to notify customers of their participation in the program with posted signs at your location. We provide a variety of sign styles and sizes for this purpose.

Working With Customers

  • An explanation of the Wild About Ojai program and a business’ participation will be described on signs at the business so employees will not be required to explain the program with every sale.
  • Signs will clearly represent that donations to the program are completely voluntary and the customer/client can choose to opt out.
  • If a customer/client chooses to opt out of the Wild About Ojai program, the business must take the amount off customer’s bill. This rarely happens.
  • No sales tax is due on the 1% amount because it is a donation.
  • If a customer has a question on the Wild About Ojai program that cannot be answered, please encourage them to contact OVLC directly or visit our website.
  • We also provide a handy FAQ for customers and employees to assist with the most common questions.

Tax Deductions

  • Customer donations are tax deductible for them and they can retain their receipt as proof of donation.
  • If the participating business makes a donation in addition to the customer’s 1%, the business would be eligible for a deduction.

Sending Collections

  • Wild About Ojai does not provide notifications when donations are due but remittance envelopes may be sent at request as marked in your contract.
  • If donations are late in accordance with the payment schedule in your agreement, your business will be notified by the OVLC.
  • Promotion of your business will be discontinued if donations continue to be late. Once the donations are sent again, your business will be reinstated in program promotions.
  • Donation amounts will be kept strictly confidential.

If you would like to set up an appointment to speak with Director of Advancement Tania Parker about your business’ participation in Wild About Ojai, please contact us at (805) 649-6852 or email tania@ovlc.org.

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