News
Announcing Our 60th Anniversary Fundraising Event
June 11, 2021
60 Days to Reach $60,000 – Support another 60 years of floral industry programs, research, and resources!
For the second year in a row, our annual fundraising event will be held virtually in order to assure the safety and health of the floral community. While we know many are ready to travel this fall to in-person events, many still are not. Since our annual fundraising dinner also serves as a donor recognition event, we plan to have a large in-person celebration in 2022 to honor our industry champions over the past two years. As donors, you can continue to support the industry from home and spare any unnecessary travel.
In honor of our 60th Anniversary celebration this year, our Board of Trustees and staff have set a goal to raise $60,000 in 60 days through sponsorships from Monday, June 14th to Friday, August 13th. This campaign will be held through peer-to-peer fundraising efforts, calls, and online marketing. With incredible investment to AFE’s mission, every individual board member has committed to a personal goal of raising $6,000 from their own networks and through their own fundraising website. The ultimate objective of this tremendous effort is to continue to help the floral industry flourish and grow through AFE’s many important programs.
For the past 60 years, and only through industry support, we have provided vital research, scholarships, internships, and grant funding totaling over $18 million giving back to the industry that we serve. It is only with community support that we will be able to expand funding to help the industry face new challenges and find new advances.
In 2021, we committed to funding over $800,000 towards:
- Research to produce healthier, longer-lasting flowers and plants to boost profits for everyone.
- Scholarships and Internships to recruit tomorrow’s leaders and provide and hands-on training for the next generation.
- Educational Grants to provide learning opportunities and knowledge to all industry members.
- Industry resources to recruit and retain top talent including a floral career center, resources to help train your employees, and more.
Contributions support this commitment and ensure that all AFE programs can continue to meet growing demands.
AFE Board Chairman, Laura Shinall notes, “It is our mission both as a Board and as industry members ourselves to invest in the future of floral. Through our first-ever virtual peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, we aim to bring more people into the Endowment’s network and broaden the impact of AFE’s programs – further raising awareness of all the resources that are available to our community.”
Sponsorship benefits include commemorative t-shirts, water bottles, advertising opportunities, featured job postings on the AFE Career Center, and recognition on our social media and newsletters.
Please consider the sponsorship levels below and join us in supporting sustainable growth for the floral industry for years to come! The deadline for sponsorship commitments is August 13th!
You can make a donation to any of the fundraising pages at endowment.org/60days.
In addition to the 60-day peer-to-peer fundraising event, we launched a year-long $60 for 60 campaign in January. Every donation of $60 or more received during 2021 will receive a commemorative t-shirt!
NEW THIS YEAR! Recurring donor recognition – Join the Friends of Floral as a sustaining donor! If you set up your $60 gift as a recurring donation, you will be listed separately on AFE’s primary donor page and given VIP donor treatment with extra giveaways.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to our Manager of Communications & Outreach, Karin Krause, at kkrause@afeendowment.org.
