ICYMI: The Extension Foundation hosted "Upskilling Fundraising, Grant & Partnership Development for Extension Professionals," a monthly interactive series led by Nate Birt. Each session provided valuable tools and insights designed to help Extension professionals navigate the evolving world of grantmaking. Participants gained new strategies, tools and resources for streamlining their grant processes, improving efficiency and discovering innovative ways to enhance their work.
We extend a thanks to Nate Birt for his expertise and enthusiasm for hosting this series. His thoughtful approach and passion enriched each session, and we look forward to future collaborations. Nate remains a valuable resource, always ready to offer guidance and support.
You can access recordings of each session below!
1. Unlocking Your Potential
This session acted as a starting point to assess your fundraising and project implementation abilities. We delved into methods to evaluate and categorize your experiences, talents, and impact. This session also introduced valuable low- and no-cost tools to amplify the effectiveness of your analysis and provided a platform to address your queries and exchange experiences.
2. Navigating Ag Innovation Trends
Gain insights into the top trends driving agricultural innovation in 2024 and discover opportunities for teams delivering innovative solutions. This session consider how your Extension work, now or in the future, might benefit from using information, insights, or opportunities associated with those trends.
3. Ethical AI Utilization
Explore ethical approaches to leveraging generative AI in Cooperative Extension. Nate Birt leads participants through a discussion on identifying GenAI opportunities and threats, the urgent need for ethics guides, and surveyed legacy and emerging AI mindsets and resources for Extension professionals. Consider key questions Extension professionals can think through to prepare for AI’s future impact and shared where they are currently at on this journey. Nate also shared many resources and continued learning for this topic!
4. Diversifying Funding Sources
Explore novel sources of financing available to the nonprofit and academic sectors. Nate guided us in comparing and contrasting fundraising collaborations with for-profits, foundations, and nonprofits versus government agencies. Identified key questions to help seriously vet potential non-government funding opportunities and strategies for securing funding and building partnerships with corporations, foundations, and nonprofits, moving beyond government investment.
5. Crafting Compelling Proposals
Nate Birt led us through the power of RFA-driven budgeting, brainstorming via mind-mapping, and collaborative problem solving. He gave us strategies and tips for roughing out the first draft of a proposal without losing your mind and using echolocation to edit with finesse while meeting reviewers' needs. The session is designed to spark ideas and insights you can apply to the grant proposals development process.
6. Navigating Grant Challenges
Discover strategies for navigating the ups and downs of complex grant-funded projects to ensure resilience and positive outcomes. We review five hard truths and strategies for turning challenges into opportunities and staying true to the letter and the spirit of any grant project. Dive into leadership principles that help you work toward the outcomes and vision you’ve committed to reaching with kindness, grace, and well-being.
7. Resources and Reading Recommendations
During this session, Nate Birt shared a variety of valuable resources to support Extension professionals in making an impact. He recommends books, websites, and tools to help you grow your knowledge, stay informed, and take action. Attendees also contributed their own suggestions for resources and insights that have helped them both personally and professionally. This session offered a unique opportunity to gather practical resources and connect with each other.
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