Start a Chapter

Wish you had an organization like Monarchs Matter in your community?

Start your own local chapter with our step-by-step guide. When you’re ready, reach out to us at monarchsmatter.net@gmail.com, and let's work together to make it happen!

Determine Monarch Presence

Monarch butterflies occupy over 90 countries and islands, but only the migratory monarch butterfly species (Danaus plexippus ssp. plexippus) native to North America is vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Also note that there are two subpopulations of the migratory monarch butterfly: (1) the eastern species that breeds east of the Rocky Mountains in and overwinters in Mexico, and (2) the western species that breeds west of the Rocky Mountains and overwinters in coastal California.

Develop a Plan

Create a detailed plan outlining the activities, materials list, timeline, and budget. Set clear qualitative and quantitative goals in the short term (6 weeks), medium term (6 months), and long term (1 year and beyond). Current Monarchs Matter activities include distributing milkweed plugs, raising and tagging monarchs for the Monarch Watch Tagging Program, surveying milkweed sites for the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, funding and building monarch waystations in collaboration with the ReWild Community Gardens Program, and hosting educational webinars. Learn more about our main initiative, the Raise, Tag, and Release (RTR) Summer Program here.

Pilot Test

Start by testing your activities with a small group to gather feedback on what works well and where improvements are needed. This hands-on approach provides valuable experience and knowledge for future initiatives, from identifying caterpillar stages to teaching others how to raise and tag monarchs. For instance, in the summer of 2023, we successfully raised and tagged 30+ monarch butterflies, preparing us for teaching our 2024 RTR Summer Program students.

Secure Funding

Organize fundraisers in your school or community by selling food, beverages, or merchandise, or apply for grants from environmental organizations and contests, especially those focused on youth projects. Some that we applied to were the EarthEcho International OurEcho Challenge (2nd place winner, People's Choice Award) and the Bow Seat True Blue Fellowship (winner) and Ocean Awareness Contest (Senior Film Gold Award).

Build Partnerships

Reach out to other grassroots organizations to build meaningful programs, to collaborate on webinars and in-person events, and to receive additional funding. We gratefully thank ReWild Long Island and the Science Museum of Long Island for their ongoing support and the Baxter’s Pond Foundation and the Islamic Circle of North America Nassau for collaboration in community workshops.

Marketing & Outreach

Engage with a broader audience by using social media to spread our mission and publicize your events and programs. Host educational webinars and publish stories, resources, and videos on our Monarch Moments blog to expand reach. Through our online community, we’ve successfully expanded our impact internationally, reaching Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Kenya, and China.

Launch Initatives

This is where the action begins! Engage youth to witness the magnificent transformation of monarch butterflies, host events to tag and release monarchs with local communities, and document key moments with photos and videos for post-event publicity on social media and your blog. Carefully follow your outlined plan, but be ready to improvise when challenges arise.

Monitor, Evaluate, Improve

Reflect on your activities’ and programs’ impact and effectiveness by collecting both qualitative (e.g. testimonials, surveys) and quantitative data (e.g. number of monarchs tagged, number of webinar attendees). Use these insights to recognize achievements, to pinpoint areas for growth, and to adjust future plans.