From the judges: Well organized proposal that does a great job of explaining the impact of an endowed chair, and highlighting the potential for the donor family's legacy. Offering different options for ways to give, including planned giving vehicles, was a smart touch.
Advancing Indoor Farming to Feed the World
Category
Fundraising > Targeted Campaigns
Description
Award: Gold
Institution: University of California, Davis
Title of Entry: Advancing Indoor Farming to Feed the World
About this Entry: This tailored proposal, “Advancing Indoor Farming to Feed the World,” was created to solicit a donor family for a $2 million gift to support vertical indoor farming research and education at UC Davis. The specific philanthropic opportunity was to endow a faculty chair in vertical indoor farming within the Department of Plant Sciences—a top priority for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences as part of the university’s comprehensive campaign. The future of vertical indoor farming is fundamental to the future of food security on our planet, and a key goal for the college is to proactively advance healthful and high-tech methods of agriculture that can continue to support both people and our natural world. These goals are in line with the donor family’s philanthropic passion and goals for their legacy.
The proposal took care to explain the power of endowing a faculty position at a leading public research university for a donor audience familiar with the industry side of indoor farming. Input from the professor leading UC Davis’ research in vertical indoor farming also shaped the text, particularly language about the timeliness of the opportunity and indoor farming’s transformative potential in agricultural and food systems. This professor was prominently referenced and quoted, given he and the donors had a preexisting relationship and the donors had supported the professor’s past research.