Strategic Plan

Seed Savers Exchange 2025–2030 Strategic Plan

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit built on the idea that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when seeds are shared and stories are passed on. This five-year plan builds on that foundation. It outlines four priorities that will guide our efforts:

1. Deepening participatory seed saving
2. Strengthening the systems that sustain our collection
3. Expanding the reach and relevance of knowledge-sharing and partnerships
4. Advancing mission-aligned resource development to secure the long-term future of our work

Each reflects a deliberate choice to ensure that the seeds we steward continue to thrive, connect, and inspire for generations to come.

When seeds are saved and shared, we keep alive a delicious living history—and safeguard important tools shaped by care, connection, and time.

For 50 years, Seed Savers Exchange, as a nonprofit, has worked at the intersection of preservation, conservation, and possibility. Through our network of members, gardeners, educators, and seed stewards, we’ve helped ensure that thousands of threatened heirlooms remain alive, in circulation, and in use. Our approach is participatory, community-centered, and grounded in the belief that biodiversity is safest in the hands of people.

This 2025-2030 Strategic Plan builds on that legacy. Here, you’ll find a clear path for how Seed Savers Exchange will deepen community-based biodiversity preservation, improve its capacity for regeneration and distribution, connect through knowledge-sharing and partnerships, and secure long-term mission sustainability through thoughtful resource development. Our future gardens depend on the diversity we save—and on our communities, where we’ve learned how to grow them.

This is our commitment: to regenerate what’s in danger of being lost, to strengthen what still grows, and to equip the next generation of seed stewards with the tools they need to carry this work forward.

Strategic Priorities

I. Community-Based Biodiversity Preservation

1.1 Strengthen Participatory Preservation Through Community Science Programs

This is where gardening meets community science. We will support our member-growers of all scales in gardening as a community resource—for pleasure, education, and biodiversity conservation, building seed trials and valuable data collection into the story of today’s growing experience.

1.2 Build Capacity for Co-Stewardship and Community-Centered Conservation

This work looks to the Exchange as a model: a dynamic, living platform where gardeners, farmers, and seed keepers share both seeds and knowledge.

II. Regeneration and Distribution Capacity

2.1 Prioritize and Regenerate Mission-Critical Accessions in the Collection

This goal will systematically apply clear accession and deaccession criteria to the entire collection. It will also integrate regeneration activities with documentation, viability testing, and planning systems so that preservation is efficient, scalable, and informed. 

2.2 Increase Public Access to Heirloom Seed Varieties

This goal will accelerate the processes that move seeds from preservation to public access—while maintaining quality, documentation, and stewardship standards. 

III. Connection Through Knowledge and Networks

3.1 Expand Access to Preservation Knowledge Through Digital Education and Partnerships

This goal connects broader audiences with our preservation expertise, cultural seed stories, and seed-saving resources through modern, scalable channels. Specifically, we aim to create a centralized, optimized hub for digital education that serves members, gardeners, educators, and the general public.

3.2 Connect Seed Systems and Communities Through Collaborative Initiatives

This goal expands technical support, shared resources, and practical training that empower others to preserve and exchange seeds within their own communities. 

IV. Nonprofit Mission-Aligned Resource Development

4.1 Strengthen Financial Sustainability Through Philanthropy, Membership, and Endowment Growth

This goal ensures that Seed Savers Exchange has a stable, diversified financial foundation to support its nonprofit mission in perpetuity. We will align fundraising and membership strategies with the urgent and ongoing needs of seed preservation, distribution, and public access.

4.2 Align Business Operations with Nonprofit Mission Impact

We will strategically coordinate sales and marketing systems to maximize revenue and support mission-driven programs.

Conclusion: Local Work, Global Impact

We save seed, but our real currency is the sharing. 

At its heart, this plan ensures the organizational capacity, collaborative partnerships, and financial sustainability necessary for Seed Savers Exchange—a nonprofit community seed bank—to thrive. By prioritizing community-based biodiversity preservation, strengthening seed regeneration and distribution, building partnerships across seed systems, and developing strong mission-aligned resources, we ensure a future where diverse, heirloom seeds and plants—and their cultural stories—are cherished, preserved, and shared. In this work, we’re creating resilient communities and ecosystems that will thrive for generations to come.