Farm Viability – Thinking BIGGER

Key Points Farm Viability is linked to (and often dependent on): Farmland Protection Farmland Access Environmentally-sound Farming Practices Specific Farm Viability initiatives could realize greater impact if broader and strategically integrated

Discussion Consensus around this systems approach? Perhaps (to some extent). Yet following this approach in practice can be hard. We often see the simpler connections (though in many cases, only recently). But our actions either lag or are limited. And the deeper and/or subtler connections are often lost on us. How can we take the work to the next level?

One example of Convergence (a hard-to-not-see convergence) Land Trust community increasingly realizing that protecting farmland is not enough Farm Viability community increasingly seeing economic advantage that protecting farmland brings to farmers Existing farmers Beginning farmers

But deciding on best actions can be hard The Land Trust May not use the right farmland protection tools May not understand farming May not understand the economic landscape Is seldom in a positon to provide, control, or influence Farm Viability services Operates in a space of limited and competing resources

But deciding on best actions can be hard Farm Viability service provider May not understand easement complexities May not understand conservation landscape Is seldom positioned to influence Farmland Protection, either the strategies or details Operates in a space of limited and competing resources

That’s hard enough. Yet ideally, wouldn’t we also think about: Environmentally-sound Farming Practices Direct bearing on goal of protecting the land Direct bearing on economic viability Farm Succession/Farmland Access Issues

Complicated Stuff! That is complicated further because: many examples are more complex we are in a time of experimentation

37 years… And still figuring it out

AFT’s Unfolding Story Farmland Protection Sound Farming Practices Keeping Farmers on the Land

AFT Delivery: Direct Programming Demonstration Projects Policy Research & TA

Recent Report Releases Why does growth slow down? This is why it is painful to not have acquisition ongoing and to just pulse it. We have grown tremendously, but the retention rate for new and repeat donors is not equal. The line here is meant to demonstrate that had we not invested in membership, our pool of dedicated multiyear donors would have continued to decline. For AFT they would continue to decline at a rate of 32% a year. This is compared to the industry standard of 40-50%. That decline is nothing to be ashamed of. It is natural. As donors lives change, their kids go to college, the go on social security, the pass on, heaven forbid someone close to them is stuck by a deadly disease and they shift their giving to a new cause. Now you can see that we have added to the file significantly. Of our current count 37% have been on the file for one year or less. New donors retain at a different rate than multi-year donors (for aft this is 33-36% compared to 25-30% industry standard. It will be several years before our ratio of new to repeat donors starts to shift in favor of the base of dedicated repeat donors. This is where all those other elements of a successful membership division come in. A steady beat of communication, cultivation, appeal, through as many channels that we can leverage will help us bind these donors to us. It is also important to note that while new donor retention is less favorable than multi-year retention. A lapsed donor is not necessarily a lost donor, and the lapsed pool of donors becomes a rich environment for file growth in future years at a reduced cost to acquisition. That is to say that we will continuously have more opportunity to grow the file at a reduced cost (compared to acquisition) in the coming years. It just takes time for this whole machine to operate. It took AFT 9 years to decline from 50,000 members to 11,000. We have climbed back nearly 30K in two years, but it will take patience, a holistic view of fundraising by which I mean a focus on maximizing the file for major and planned gift opportunities, and commitment to not slide back down.

Farmland in the path of development

State of America’s Farmland The most comprehensive data collection and mapping project ever undertaken of US farmland and farming. Retrospective and prospective. Powerful interactive tool that can support policy-making, land-use planning, economic development, business decision-making.

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Don’t let this happen to our farmland!