Why only 250,000 tags?

Several members have asked why we only distribute 250, 000 tags each year since the demand for tags seems to exceed this number. The short answer is economics – the tagging program costs at least $60, 000 to run each year and we only recover half this amount from memberships, extra tags, etc. If we increase the number of tags, we lose more money. In other words, the tagging program is not self supporting and to pay for this program we have to sell educational and promotional items and solicit contributions from our members. Monarch Watch is not financially supported by the University, federal grants, foundations or corporations and we only receive $2,000 per year from the state of Kansas. At the beginning of the year we were NEGATIVE $32,000 and we are still recovering from this deficit. Even though the demand for tags might be higher this year (and the years to follow), we simply cannot take on additional costs until our financial situation stabilizes.