- Author: Emily Delk, Director of Annual Giving and Donor Stewardship
But it doesn't have to! UC ANR's Development Services team is here to partner with you. Whether you have a project that needs funding, need advice on a donor, or want to participate in a giving day campaign, our team is here to share best practices, provide tools and work with you to be successful.
The Development Services team wants to recognize the success of several recent partnerships — programs and individuals who see the potential impact of donor dollars in supporting UC ANR's important work.
Danielle Lee at Nutrition Policy Institute deserves a shout out for her new Research to Action newsletter format. It hits many of the highpoints that we look for because it makes supporters feel really good about the work NPI is doing, and it has a clear call to action, providing readers the opportunity to donate. It is not a solicitation, but it makes it easy for someone to take that step if they choose.
Giving Tuesday All Stars
The 2019 Giving Tuesday campaign was another opportunity to “lean in” to fundraising; we'd like to recognize just a few of the #GT All Stars:
Best 1st Time Performer: Sustainable Ag Research & Education Program
Best Use of Personal Network: Ricky Satomi, Forest Ed. & Outreach
Best Use of Campaign Materials: UC Master Gardeners of Los Angeles
Get On Board Award: Master Food Preservers, San Bernardino
Insomniac Award (most gifts after midnight): 4-H, Glenn County
Outstanding Photo: 4-H, Sacramento County
Team Spirit Award (matched her staff giving): Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty
In addition to these All Stars, we want to thank the Statewide UC Master Gardeners and 4-H teams for being “Perfect Partners” in working to promote Giving Tuesday across the state. And we recognize the President's Advisory Commission, senior leadership and the 4-H Foundation Board for being “Match Makers” and giving $40,000 in incentive funds to motivate and double donor dollars.
Yes, fundraising takes effort. But know we are here to help. We're grateful for your partnership, but the ultimate reward comes when we engage donors to support the work we do to improve the lives of all Californians.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
"We welcome an increase of $3.6 million annually for UC ANR," said Vice President Glenda Humiston.
She noted that more people are recognizing and giving credit to the research, public service and outreach UC ANR does to help Californians improve their lives and businesses.
The trade publication Growing Produce reported that Nick Davis, southern valley vineyard manager of The Wine Group, the second-largest U.S. wine company, said, “We don't really have an R&D arm, so we really rely on George [Zhuang] and Cooperative Extension to provide viticultural knowledge and methods to help us achieve our production goals.”
"I am grateful for Governor Newsom's support for UC in his initial proposed budget," Humiston said. "You all do fantastic work and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish in the year ahead."
UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez and UC President Napolitano issued a statement on governor's budget plan for UC as a whole, acknowledging that 'the governor's spending plan is an important step toward covering the funds necessary to meet UC's tripartite mission of delivering world-class education, conducting cutting-edge research and providing public service that benefits California and beyond.”
- Author: Mark Bell
Our digital journey: progress on video clinics, the Knowledge Stream blog and thematic websites.
Video clinics moving ahead - interested?
Stay tuned for two Strategic Initiative-sponsored "how to" video clinics in April - one in the north and one in the south. We expect to train around 20 participants per clinic.
What next? 5 steps to increased impact:
Step 1: an email to all from the SI leaders inviting indications of interest to participate
Step 2: a pre-clinic webinar to learn the basics of storyboarding, branding, titling and describing videos, and more (applicable to all)
Step 3: two days of hands-on experience, working with others on how to produce 1-5 minute branded “how-to” videos
Step 4: development of an online course and other resources to support on-going video production
Step 5: people share with colleagues, using what they learn and upload. Best practices for uploading to the UC ANR YouTube channel (Strategic Communications will begin some serious curating and reorganization of our YouTube channel to facilitate discoverability of content).
Currently available resources (please share if you have other good resources):
Strat Comm communications toolkit.
For more information about the video clinics, Contact David Lile and David Lewis
Trivia Question: What is our top-viewed video with more than 1.5 million views?
(Answer: Bed Bugs in Spanish)
Knowledge Stream blog and thematic websites
Join the movement: contribute!
The Knowledge Stream helps people find practical, "how-to" information. Submit a short story (200-800 words with picture and URL links) here. Stories will appear in the Knowledge Stream Blog and in the main web site Focus Areas. Stories may also appear on the home page tiles and in social media posts.
Focused, thematic websites like the UC IPM site are effective in delivering research-based, how-to information. Two other thematic sites are being further developed: Fire and Healthy Soils. Feedback and suggestions welcome. Please also share your suggestions for other potential thematic sites with the SI leaders.
For more:
Fire: Max Moritz or Ricky Satomi
Soils: Mark Bell
SI leadership team:
- Jim Farrar (EIPD)
- David Lewis (Water)
- David Lile (SNE)
- Deanne Meyer (SFS)
- Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty (HFC)
- Mark Bell (Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs)
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Congratulations to Placer-Nevada UC Cooperative Extension. The office's Staff Assembly Ambassador, Annette Cosgrove, submitted the winning entry to the Healthy over the Holiday's photo contest.
Cosgrove led the staff and academics at Placer and Nevada UCCE in taking five group walks, two Zumba sessions, a holiday party using reusable utensils and a hallway chair race on a rainy day. The prize is an assortment of California-grown healthy goodies from Circle K Country Store in Fowler.
First runner-up in the contest was a photo collage of members of the Houston Wilson lab at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Staff research associate Jessia Maccaro (pictured in the lower left corner of the photo collage) leads staff in a daily yoga practice in the winter to get everyone in the right frame of mind for working together inside the lab.
"Healthy over the Holidays was designed to remind us that wellness should encompass all pieces of our lives from mindfulness practices to dedicating time for meaningful relationships,” said Kaela Plank, chair of the UC ANR Staff Assembly wellness committee. “The feedback we have received from this year's program has been overwhelmingly positive. Our committee is excited to continue to improve this program in order to meet the needs of the ANR community.”
Individual participants took home prizes, while all 168 UC ANR staff who signed up to be Healthy over the Holidays were winners. They received weekly emails with encouragement to eat healthy, get physical activity and take care of their mental health during a time when many people set their health goals aside until the New Year.
Almost half of the participants submitted the completion survey. Of those, 87% reported making one positive change – such as practicing mindfulness, making time for their hobbies, choosing to eat more fruits and vegetables, and getting more sleep. Seventy-four percent of respondents said they enjoyed the holistic approach and 72% enjoyed the newsletter. One office has committed to continuing their weekly walks in 2020.
The individual winners of Healthy over the Holidays were picked randomly from the participants who filled out the completion survey. Javier Miramontes and Keilani Cordero won Fitbits and Elizabeth Gong won a bamboo cutting board.
- Author: Michelle Simone, Communications Strategist, UC Office of the President
UC ANR is unique in the UC system. Its advisors and staff work in 57 out of 58 counties in the state, supporting Californians with university-based research in the areas of healthy families and communities; sustainable food systems; sustainable natural ecosystems; water, including quality, quantity and security; and pests — endemic and invasive pests and diseases. Administrative staff support business operations, development services, resource planning and management and more.
Although there was a longstanding desire to create a staff mentorship program, ANR leadership realized that their organizational complexity would require a unique and focuses approach. They deemed creating a mentorship program a priority people goal in the 2016-2020 strategic plan, and after several years in the making, the first Mentor Orientation took place in December 2018.
“To develop the ANR Staff Mentorship Program, we adapted from UCOP, UC Davis and external organization mentorship program models,” explained Learning and Development Coordinator Jodi Azulai. These efforts led to a nine-month program, which consisted of three in-person workshops and monthly meetings between mentors and mentees — most of which took place via phone- or video-conferencing due to the geographic spread of their work locations.
July 23, 2019, marked the end of the successful pilot year. Since participating in the program, two participants have moved to advanced job classifications. A majority of mentors reported that their mentorship experience helped them to learn about themselves and would benefit their careers.
“The mentorship program granted me the privilege and honor of having an exceptional mentor — a leader, role model and friend who helped me gain the confidence and guidance I needed to grow within UC ANR and beyond,” shared one participant.
“We each have so much to offer one another, whether we serve as a mentor or mentee. The hard part is finding the time to listen,” said another mentee. “When someone makes time to feel, understand and relate to another person, we all grow. It has a ripple effect.”
Among the programs encouraging outcomes are the following:
- 100% of program participants found that the program benefits mentees
- 94% of participants found that one-on-one meetings were meaningful and that participating in the program enhanced their self-awareness
- 89% observed professional growth as a result of their participation
- 88% found that participating in the program grew their interpersonal communication, leadership, technical and other skills
- 84% have identified actions to enhance their development as a result of participating
“We understood the benefits of mentoring relationships before our program began, but we now have photos, data and personal feedback from attendees that reflects the significance for continuing this program,” Azulai said.
She and her team plan to send a six-month follow-up survey to 2019 participants in January to learn how mentees have come to regard their personal and career development and outlook since participating in the program. The second Staff Mentorship Program cohort will begin in January 2020.
This story was originally published as part of a series on staff mentorship programs in UCNet.