Beyond Grants:
The PFI Leadership Campaign
Robert Karp
Recently the PFI board of directors and staff came
to an important realization. We recognized that PFI was being called
to play a much larger and stronger leadership role in the state of
Iowa than we have played ever before. Agriculture is in crisis, as
you well know, and many more people and organizations have begun to
look to PFI for sensible solutions, credible research and creative
ideas. Decisive changes need to occur soon if the small and medium
sized farmer will remain a part of the Iowa landscape – not to
mention clean air, water and soil. More and more people can now see
that this is the case.
| This leadership campaign
has and will involve reaching out to a wide variety of
organizations and individuals. In the coming year it will
also involve reaching out to you – the PFI members. |
One other thing we recognize, however, is that for
PFI to play this larger role, we will need to diversify our funding
sources beyond the usual government and foundation granting
agencies. Just as farms need diversity to be sustainable so do
organizations. Recognizing this need, we have decided to embark on a
campaign to secure upwards of $300,000 in non-grant funding over the
next three years. This money will be used to move PFI to a new level
of leadership in Iowa by strengthening existing programs and
services, by communicating more boldly and effectively to the public
at large the knowledge and wisdom of our members, and by expanding
into new program areas. This leadership campaign has and will
involve reaching out to a wide variety of organizations and
individuals. In the coming year it will also involve reaching out to
you – the PFI members.
In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that PFI
has already received its first gift in response to this effort. This
past May the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation announced that it would
support PFI’s new Executive Director position over the next three
years with $50,000 a year. This money comes with no strings attached
other than that it be used to help PFI move into a stronger
leadership role across the state by strengthening its current
programs and expanding into new program areas. This is exciting news
and I hope you will find an opportunity to join me in thanking the
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation for their generous support and their
vote of confidence in PFI.
This particular gift, coming as it does from the
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, suggests that some new bridges are
being built here in Iowa that bode well for the future. These are
the kind of bridges that will be required as we seek to bring the
issues and concerns that have long been close to the hearts of PFI
members more strongly into the mainstream of Iowa agriculture.
I trust that over the next year we will be able to
make many more such announcements to you as more people and
organizations choose to help PFI become all we can become in the
years ahead.
Obviously, it will take more than money to move PFI
into this new leadership role. This summer the PFI board and staff
held a two day retreat to revise our strategic plan for the coming
year and I look forward to sharing with you more about our emerging
sense of direction for PFI in the next issue of the newsletter. In
the meantime, if you have ideas for how we can create a more diverse
base of financial support that will allow PFI to move boldly into
future, or want to assist us in this effort, please don’t hesitate
to contact me.
