American Floral Endowment Update - Fall 2003
Endowment Committee Updates
Fund Raising
Thank you! Thank you! Endowment donors have contributed a record amount during the past fiscal year. Even in a slowing economy, the EndowmentÕs support has continued to increase reaching on of its highest totals This can be attributed to several fundraising efforts including contributions to the phone-a-thon a five year pledge program that continues to raise record amounts. This is a significant accomplishment as annual contributions historically decline. Individuals this past year also contributed Major Gifts. which are defined as large onetime contributions. Due to increase in these types of gifts, the Endowment board recently established a Major Gifts Committee to help identify and cultivate these contributions.
Education
At the EndowmentÕs annual meeting, the Education committee met to review allocate educational grants. Again, due to the poor investment performance, there were no new grants made, and current project allocations were reduced:
- FFA-National Horticulture Proficiency Award
- Intercollegiate Flower Judging Contest
- National Floriculture Forum
- Pest Management Conference
- IR-4
Additionally, the Educational Grant Application has been modified. The following statement has been added: "Educational grants must provide a benefit to a broad geographic area (preferably national in scope), and for a broad industry constituency within the United States." Finally, all three internship programs continue to flourish. Employers are always needed to host students interested in a floral career. If you are interested in hosting a student, please contact the Endowment office.
Endowment Video
The Endowment has just completed a short video depicting the mission of the organization. The video may be borrowed for showing at industry events. This project was made possible through financial support from Telefiora.
Career Brochure
Make People Smile Ñ Grow Your Future in the Floral Industry brochures are available for a small cost plus shipping and handling. The brochure contains information about the floriculture industry and its diverse career choices.
Public Relations
Most notable has been the increase in the number of users for the Endowment website. In July of 1999, www.endowrnent.org was receiving only 711 users per month; by June of 2003 it had increased to more than 8,000 users per month. The increase can be attributed to the updating of the website, the constant diligence in keeping it current. and its submission to major search engines. The site is easy to navigate and offers a vast amount of information: one can find reports on funded scientific research projects, scientific research grant applications, internship applications, educational grant applications, special report notebooks, and a link to wwwfloralinks.org, which consists of links to other floriculture scientific research sites and has become one of the most comprehensive floriculture websites.
Special Report Notebook
This Scientific Research Reference notebook was mailed to donors in 2001. Each year, donors are mailed floriculture research reports of the past year. The annual updates will be distributed to donors in the near future. The office staff is collecting final reports from each of the projects ending this past year. Reports in the notebook are written by some of the industryÕs most respected researchers and are designed to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the projects, their results, and how the results can improve floral business practices.
