Services to Supporters and Collaborators
Included on this page:
Motivation
A principal aspect, perhaps the very essence, of the coordinator's
responsibility in assisting the movement toward the long and
short term goals (See Get Involved)
of the Soul of Agriculture project is to assist supporters and
collaborators with whatever resources we have or will acquire.
Quite a bit of talent, time and personal energy were poured
into Soul from its very beginning. Those resources are still
very much at the disposal of Soul supporters to help you help
the project.
These resources are very often the sort that multiply
when used because they are related to the commitment and caring
of the active original planners and promoters of the projects
and the networks in which each of them reside. If you ask them
for help and they have it, they will not only provide it, but
will be more energized to continue. Your requests to them, directly
or through the coordinator, will help them know the Soul project
is alive and acting. And that knowledge will lead to their continued
support. So do not hesitate to ask. We assume you are enthusiastic
about the possibility of a national consensus on the values
and ethics of family farming and are eager to see that consensus
forming in your area or with the constituency which your group
represents.
Categories
Now or in the future Soul is equipped to help you with:
1. Contacts and Networks
2. Literature and other materials.
3. Training in facilitation/consensus formation
4. Models of Soul consensus formation activities(at Tools) and
personal advice from those who have led them.
5. Identity, i.e. a recognizable name and broader context for
your local activity.
6. Small financial helps
7. Larger financial support, mainly to "buy your time."
8. Grant application help
Contacts and Networks
One of the most valuable things you can bring to Soul is
your own self--you are a contact! And another is the network
to which you belong, whether formal or informal. But some of
you will be aware that you need local contacts and a network
to be effective. In many cases Soul will be able to help. Soul
is a network of networks and we have supporters in many parts
of the country already. We don't want you to work alone. It
is deadly to the spirit, yours and the project's! For certain
collaborators, who have become de facto regional coordinators,
we will post your comments on our Discussions
page and provide you with a full list of Soul Supporters who
have indicated a willingness to accept e-mail or other contacts.
But for now, contact me at [email protected]
(home 530-756-9679) and I will supply you with the contacts
we have.
Literature and Materials
Below you will find the list of regular literature we provide
by Snail Mail. (Prices are contributions to postage and reproduction.)
We will attempt to provide everything in down-loadable form
so that you do not need to wait for snail mail or a response
from us. Also this will enable you to edit literature to fit
your special needs or audience.
1.) The draft Creating a New Vision of Farming
is downloadable in PDF version here.
Snail Mail: $2.00/copy
2.) The 2 page
summary of Creating a New Vision.
3.) Earth
Ethics
issue devoted to Soul of Agriculture, $1.20/copy
4.) "Show of Interest" postcards. $1.00
for twenty cards. Useful for distribution at conferences.
5.) Handsome fold-out 60"(w) X 36"(h)
photographic display of Soul of Agriculture project. Free for
cost of Fed-Ex round-trip mailing.
Training in Facilitation
For now we can put you in contact with Minnesota and Wisconsin
supporters who ran Soul retreats and used a marvelous introductory
speaker and facilitator who can help you. As more consensus
formation activities are tried, different models will develop.
Models of Soul Consensus Formation Activities
See Tools page
Identity
Although Soul of Agriculture is new, it is already well
known in certain areas. In various ways and with various documents
we can provide you, your work in getting support, the use of
facilities, etc. will be made more smooth.Our Advisory Board
is impressive. See it at Who is
Soul of Agriculture.
Small Financial Help
Developing interest and recruiting help at agriculturally
related conferences is essential to spreading the Soul project.
On our modest budget, one way to do that is to have persons
nearby the conference site, or already supported to attend ,
carry Soul literature and set up a table. We can also help with
a small sum to pay registration fees or space fees and even
a very modest travel cost. Call or e-mail (leave a phone number).
Larger Grants
The principal focus of our current fund-raising activity
is to find funds to buy the time of local coordinator at each
the 15 sites where we have located an agency or non-profit home
for the coordinator to work. These local coordinators would
work directly at convening consensus formation groups. If you
are interested in getting right to the heart of the Soul project,
need to have your time compensated modestly and can find an
agricultural or agriculturally related (e.g. environmental,
farm animal welfare, rural church or civic organization, etc.)
institution/agency to be your network/home, then let us know
so we can include you in our pursuit of funds. Better yet, find
sources yourself and we will help you pull together a grant
application.
Grant Application Help
Many of you have grant writing skills. But what you may
lack is time. Grant writing is, in part, a pretty pedestrian
business. You try to get into direct contact with funders to
get a sense of what their written objectives really mean this
year. Then you just tell the funders what they ask, in the order
they ask it, at the length they ask, and truthfully. In part
it is creative, showing how the Soul activity can assist the
funders in their special goals, and emphasizing those parts
of Soul that seem especially likely to gain their attention.
We can provide most of the pedestrian part.
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