Cover Story : Teach a Man to Fish ...
Heifer International takes on its biggest project to date — an $800 million campaign to alleviate hunger and educate the world.
November 2004 By Margaret Battistelli
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Eight hundred million. It’s a big number and a lot of money. But if you want to grasp the real magnitude of it, give that number a human face.
According to statistics released by the United Nations, 800 million represents the number of people worldwide who are chronically hungry.
It’s also, coincidentally, the amount of money that Arkansas-based Heifer International is looking to raise by 2010 in order to bolster its work as an international hunger-relief and education organization. It’s a huge leap for Heifer, which just last year had a contributed income of $62.5 million, with 80 percent of that coming in through direct mail efforts.
And even though thousands of people support Heifer through its unique catalog- and Web-based giving program each year, it probably wouldn’t reach its goal through direct mail alone.
Which is why, on Oct. 23, Heifer introduced its massive Hope for the Future campaign, a highly concerted effort with specific goals, both financial and mission based. The announcement came amid a celebratory flurry hosted by celebs such as Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen — both supporters of Heifer. But don’t confuse all the revelry with frivolity.
The Hope for the Future campaign has been in the works for a few years and will involve every aspect of fundraising at Heifer. The main focus, however, is on its newly organized major gifts initiative. Until recently, major gifts was something of an ad hoc proposition for Heifer and responsible for a mere 3 percent to 4 percent of its contributed income.
“We’ve always received major gifts, but we haven’t had a formalized program with a dedicated staff,” explains Donna Jared, vice president of development at Heifer. “It’s only in the last couple of years that we’ve had the processes and policies in place. Revenue from major giving has doubled since last year, and we’re continuing to identify our prospects and work on cultivation plans for them. The difference is we’re now aggressively working our plans.”
Heifer closed FY 2003 with $1.44 million coming from major gifts; at the end of FY 2004, that number had increased some 50 percent to $2.16 million.
Still, most of Heifer’s donations come in from individuals who use the organization’s offline and online catalogs to “purchase” animals in the names of friends and family members. The animals then are given to families in needy communities around the world, along with education on how to care for them and use them to enhance the family’s quality of life. In turn, the receiving family agrees to give the first female offspring to another family in the community — “passing on the gift,” as Heifer calls it.
According to statistics released by the United Nations, 800 million represents the number of people worldwide who are chronically hungry.
It’s also, coincidentally, the amount of money that Arkansas-based Heifer International is looking to raise by 2010 in order to bolster its work as an international hunger-relief and education organization. It’s a huge leap for Heifer, which just last year had a contributed income of $62.5 million, with 80 percent of that coming in through direct mail efforts.
And even though thousands of people support Heifer through its unique catalog- and Web-based giving program each year, it probably wouldn’t reach its goal through direct mail alone.
Which is why, on Oct. 23, Heifer introduced its massive Hope for the Future campaign, a highly concerted effort with specific goals, both financial and mission based. The announcement came amid a celebratory flurry hosted by celebs such as Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen — both supporters of Heifer. But don’t confuse all the revelry with frivolity.
The Hope for the Future campaign has been in the works for a few years and will involve every aspect of fundraising at Heifer. The main focus, however, is on its newly organized major gifts initiative. Until recently, major gifts was something of an ad hoc proposition for Heifer and responsible for a mere 3 percent to 4 percent of its contributed income.
“We’ve always received major gifts, but we haven’t had a formalized program with a dedicated staff,” explains Donna Jared, vice president of development at Heifer. “It’s only in the last couple of years that we’ve had the processes and policies in place. Revenue from major giving has doubled since last year, and we’re continuing to identify our prospects and work on cultivation plans for them. The difference is we’re now aggressively working our plans.”
Heifer closed FY 2003 with $1.44 million coming from major gifts; at the end of FY 2004, that number had increased some 50 percent to $2.16 million.
Still, most of Heifer’s donations come in from individuals who use the organization’s offline and online catalogs to “purchase” animals in the names of friends and family members. The animals then are given to families in needy communities around the world, along with education on how to care for them and use them to enhance the family’s quality of life. In turn, the receiving family agrees to give the first female offspring to another family in the community — “passing on the gift,” as Heifer calls it.
Heifer International
What: An international hunger-relief and education organization
Mailing Address: 1015 S. Louisiana St., Little Rock, AR. 72203
Phone: 800.422.0474
On the Web: www.heifer.org
The Figures:
Employees: 305
FY 2004 operating budget: $60 million
FY 2004 contributed revenue: $63 million
The Mission (from the Web site): “Heifer envisions a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. Heifer’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.”
History: Midwestern farmer Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when he realized, “These children don’t need a cup; they need a cow.” West, who was serving as a Church of the Brethren relief worker, was forced to decide who would receive the limited rations and who wouldn’t — literally, who would live and who would die. He returned home to form Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training so that they “could be spared the indignity of depending on others to feed their children.” In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pa., for Puerto Rico.
What: An international hunger-relief and education organization
Mailing Address: 1015 S. Louisiana St., Little Rock, AR. 72203
Phone: 800.422.0474
On the Web: www.heifer.org
The Figures:
Employees: 305
FY 2004 operating budget: $60 million
FY 2004 contributed revenue: $63 million
The Mission (from the Web site): “Heifer envisions a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. Heifer’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.”
History: Midwestern farmer Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when he realized, “These children don’t need a cup; they need a cow.” West, who was serving as a Church of the Brethren relief worker, was forced to decide who would receive the limited rations and who wouldn’t — literally, who would live and who would die. He returned home to form Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training so that they “could be spared the indignity of depending on others to feed their children.” In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pa., for Puerto Rico.
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