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We need your help.

Donating to MTBC means that you have made a special commitment to help:

  • Protect bats and secure their environments
  • Teach others about bat values and why we need them
  • Combat needlessly negative claims
  • Preserve and share Merlin’s 60+ year legacy

We welcome one-time donations and offer special benefits through our annual membership program.

We need your help.

Donating to MTBC means that you have made a special commitment to help:

  • Protect bats and secure their environments
  • Teach others about bat values and why we need them
  • Combat needlessly negative claims
  • Preserve and share Merlin’s 60+ year legacy

We welcome one-time donations and offer special benefits through our annual membership program. We are also pleased to offer planned giving options for those who wish to make a bequest.

Why Bats?

Bats offer a truly phenomenal return on investment. The very things that make them vulnerable also make them the most cost-effective and beneficial to protect. In contrast to popular megafauna, millions of bats at a time can be saved by simply protecting or restoring a single roosting site. And these same bats can help protect healthy ecosystems and human economies for thousands of square miles around. All animals are important, but no group is easier to save, more valuable to conserve, or more often neglected in conservation planning.

Healthy ecosystems require healthy bat populations. Merely saving endangered species from extinction cannot meet ecosystem requirements. Millions of bats are essential to keep night-flying insects in balance, not to mention dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers essential to tropical forests, including many of the world’s most valued plants. 

Simple education can be invaluable. When Merlin explained the value of their precipitously declining bats, Buddhist monks in Thailand hired a game warden and ended poaching at their now famous Khao Chong Pran Cave. Due to this simple act, the protected colony grew by millions. Guano sales for fertilizer, protection of rice crops from insect pests, and income from tourists visiting to view the bats’ spectacular emergences are now valued at over $500,000 USD per year for one small community.

These are just a few examples of how Merlin Tuttle’s uniquely friendly approaches to conserving bats have benefited humans globally. Your donation can play a key role in preserving his priceless legacy and experience for future generations.

Left: Merlin teaching children about bats in Madagascar. Middle: Merlin holding Zuri, a straw-colored flying fox that served as his early mascot, speaking at a National Geographic press conference in Washington, DC in the 1980s. Right: Merlin teaching school children about bats in the Philippines.

Memberships

Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) portait from Canada. Portraits

Ambassador Member

$10

Annually renewed

Benefits include:
  • 80% discount on world-class photos (high quality, 150ppi)
  • Priority access to virtual Q&A events with Merlin and MTBC staff
An adult male eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) in Florida. Portraits

Supporting Member

$30

Annually renewed

Includes all Ambassador Member benefits plus:
  • Free access to 20 photo downloads of your choosing (high quality, 150ppi)
The Short-eared or Percival's trident bat (Cloeotis percivali) has a unique, three-pronged nose leaf. It is tiny, weighing just 4-5 gms, and is sparcely distributed from the Congo and Kenya to South Africa. It forms colonies of from 20 to 200 in a relatively few caves. These bats rely on extra high frequency echolocation (above 200 kHz) as an apparent means of escaping detection by moths which appear to be its primary or exclusive prey. Portraits

Leadership Member

$100

Annually renewed

Includes all Supporting Member benefits plus:
  • 10% discount on MTBC merchandise
  • Invitations to join Merlin for chartered bat-watching cruises at Austin’s famous Congress Avenue Bridge
  • Priority to submit questions before/during virtual Q&A’s
corner

Cornerstone Member

$500

Annually renewed

Includes all Leadership Member benefits plus:
  • Notification of opportunities to participate in field workshops and activities with Merlin
  • A free signed book by Merlin (new members only)
  • Recognition on our website
A grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) in Australia. Portraits

Partner Member

$1000

Annually renewed

Includes all Cornerstone Member benefits plus:
  • First notification of opportunities to participate in field workshops and activities with Merlin

All memberships automatically renew annually. As a member, you will automatically be opted IN for newsletter and Bat Flash emails. You can edit your personal and donation information and update your email preferences at any time here

Become a Bat Fan

Want to be involved with MTBC but can't donate right now? Sign up for our free Bat Fan membership to receive our newsletters and Bat Flashes!

Help Us. Help Bats. Help You.

Together, we can make the world a better place for bats. Here are some ways you can help us with our work:

  • If you see a need to help bats in your community, tell us.
  • If you have suggestions for how we can improve our efforts, let us know.
  • If you see an exaggerated story scaring people about bats or a great story promoting the value of bats, share it with us!

Contact us here, or send us snail mail at 5000 Mission Oaks Blvd #41, Austin, TX  78735.

MTBC is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, so contributions may be tax-deductible. After donating, you will receive a receipt by email. Please keep this for your records. If you would like to mail a check please make the check out to Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation and send it to 5000 Mission Oaks Blvd, #41, Austin, TX 78735-6744 USA. Our Federal EIN/Tax ID Number is 46-5077536.

Our promise

You will never receive high-pressure phone calls or mass mailings from us, or have your name sold or traded. You can update your preferences at any time. 

Michael Lazari Karapetian

Michael Lazari Karapetian has over twenty years of investment management experience. He has a degree in business management, is a certified NBA agent, and gained early experience as a money manager for the Bank of America where he established model portfolios for high-net-worth clients. In 2003 he founded Lazari Capital Management, Inc. and Lazari Asset Management, Inc.  He is President and CIO of both and manages over a half a billion in assets. In his personal time he champions philanthropic causes. He serves on the board of Moravian College and has a strong affinity for wildlife, both funding and volunteering on behalf of endangered species.