Wolfe’s Neck Center has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years, with our programs and campground at capacity. Our infrastructure, an old beef production farm, does not meet our current needs. The aging buildings prevent further growth and limit opportunities to fully connect people to this special place.
We are in the midst of a Capital Campaign that is raising the funds needed to bring our facilities in line with our vision. With new and renovated buildings, we will provide year-round place-based education, farmer training, and immersive experiences for people of all ages. As part of the campaign, this summer we are launching our first crowdfunding campaign.
The money raised through our crowdfunding campaign will bring our new Discovery Gardens to life. These gardens will be build as part of the new Smith Center for Education, which will begin construction in 2019. The garden will be designed with the child learner in mind, and will reside next to a demonstration kitchen, used to bridge the connection between what’s in the garden and what’s on your plate.
We are seeking AMBASSADORS to serve as the momentum-builders for this campaign. This select group of individuals will play a critical role in commencing our fundraising efforts — but don’t worry: YOU decide how much you feel comfortable raising. The main goal is for ambassadors to tap into their robust social networks to help get the word out about the campaign, and recruit other individuals who might want to fundraise on Wolfe’s Neck Center’s behalf. The more people who are involved in fundraising, the better our chances are of reaching our goal.
Growing food, harvesting, and eating are perhaps the most primate, intimate ways that we connect with nature. Food connects us to the soil, earth, and animals.
Studies show that when children are directly involved in growing food in learning gardens, they are more likely to try and taste new vegetables and appreciate the food that they have grown. Planting and eating from a garden fosters compassion, patience, and care for the earth. It is through this learning process that children cultivate an appreciation for community, deepen their sense of place, begin to think systemically, and recognize the importance of a healthy lifestyle, for themselves and the planet.
Wolfe’s Neck Center will be fundraising using Peer-to-Peer Crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is simply the term used to describe the collective effort of pooling money together to fund an initiative.
When hosting a crowdfunding campaign, an organization sets up a campaign page and accepts donations, hoping to achieve a set goal. You’ll probably recognize brands like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which are crowdfunding sites largely geared towards technology, art and personal projects.
Peer-to-peer fundraising a multi-tiered approach to crowdfunding. This means individuals can create personal fundraising pages on our campaign’s behalf. This then feeds revenue back to our organization. The individual shares his or her page with friends, family and community members for donations (hence “peer-to-peer”). This ability to draw on our network’s network can increase donations and allow us to reach new pools of donors that might have been inaccessible otherwise.
Ambassador commitment, training, and initial crowdfunding setup
Soft Launch of the campaign: $20,000 goal before July
Hard Launch Campaign Party: Let the fundraising begin!
Get out there and crowdfund!
Official close of the campaign: $75,000 goal reached!
Your tax-deductible gift supports a better future for farming, our children, and the planet.