Drummers led guests into (the coveted air conditioning of) Cipriani.

“If we succeed, more New Yorkers will know about the Nature Conservancy,” Bill Ulfelder, the New York director of the conservation nonprofit, told The Observer yesterday.

The deafening drum circle dressed in bright colors that greeted suit-clad supporters of the Nature Conservancy as they entered Cipriani and caught the attention of passerby on the usually quiet corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue was definitely hard to ignore.

Outside New Yorkers panted their way through the 96-degree heat, but behind the doors of the famed venue, supporters of the Nature Conservancy found sweet refuge in cold drinks, good food and, most important, central air-conditioning. Close to 70 tables decorated the restaurant floor as about 620 guests filed into the organization’s Global Gala, hosted by Meredith Vieira, honoring Robert W. Wilson and spotlighting the Nature Conservancy’s recent partnership with the Dow Chemical Company.

Joel Papo, chair of the Conservancy’s Young Professionals group, told The Observer he wasn’t expecting the booming welcome. “I said, ‘Who let some guys bang on a can in front of our event?’” he said. “But it turned out it was our people actually making the noise and being festive.”

The gala, which raised $2.72 million dollars, began with a reception, with hundreds of Nature Conservancy supporters and trustees milling around. Ms. Vieira was taking pictures with CEO Mark Tercek at the front of the restaurant.  She told us that Mr. Tercek was an old friend who asked her to appear at the event. “I didn’t hesitate,” she said.

Ms. Vieira said the cause was close to her heart. “Maybe it’s because I’m a mom and I look at my kids and I want them to inherit a better world and learn to appreciate the natural wonders,” she said. ”And if we don’t work together that’s all going to go away.”

A room full of environmentalists couldn’t help but notice the sweltering heat outside.

Mr. Ulfelder said he was preparing for the weather by encouraging people to think about how the Conservancy can target the environmental issue. “Really that’s what we’re all about, how do we invest in nature as a plan for our climate-changing world?” he said. But then he quickly added, “And I’ll be going out to Long Island and enjoying some of our beaches at the earliest opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Tercek had his own advice for those nervous about the heat wave. He smiled as he told us that people shouldn’t panic. “The heat wave is scary since we’ve had our warmest spring in history,” he said. “The best way to stay cool? Be cool. Keep calm and have your wits about you.”

Holding fancy galas at New York City restaurants is not standard fare for the Nature Conservancy multiple guests informed The Observer. Chief Marketing Officer Geof Rochester told us slyly, “Think of us as the biggest story you never heard of.”

Mr. Rochester said they never really thought much about press attention either, like other attention-grabbing environmental groups. “We focused on corporations. We focused on policy makers. We focused on philanthropists. But we didn’t really focus on Joe Six-pack,” he said. “With all the problems the world is going to face by 2050, we need everyone to be engaged and active.”

Businessmen and trustees were not the only ones who rubbed elbows over miso-glazed cod and constantly refilled glasses of wine. Four high school and college students involved in the Conservancy’s Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future program, which places urban students in paid internships in the wilderness, told The Observer that they had never been to a gala quite like this one before. Nineteen-year-old Nicodome August, now a student at SUNY Kenton, told us, “Its opening doors for me, so I’m enjoying myself,” even if the bellini he picked up on his way in was snagged by a watchful organizer.

The evening's program focused on the many projects the Nature Conservancy, the biggest conservation organization in the world, is involved in. In addition to looking at how the partnership with Dow Chemical has been successful, the presentation thanked retired New York City hedge fund manager Mr. Wilson for his generous contributions.

Mr. Wilson took the stage to explain to the crowd why he gave away 70 percent of his net worth in his old age, a large portion of which went to the Nature Conservancy. He said he wanted to get rid of the money before he died. “As luck would have it, I’m not dead yet,” he said.

While other speakers enumerated the many successful ventures of the Conservancy, Mr. Wilson gave his own memorable version of the foundation’s history. “Simultaneously,” he explained to a laughing audience, “A lot of well-to-do people bought country houses and they thought, I don’t want so many buildings next door to me.”

Mr. Wilson encouraged everyone to donate to the Conservancy. “People who die without giving that money away will turn in their graves seeing how it is managed,” he said as he urged laughing donors to contribute.

“And I,” he told them, reflecting on his millions of dollars of donations to the work of the Conservancy, “will rest in peace.”