Posts Tagged: Big Dig Day

Dig into the Big Dig Campaign-In-A-Box toolkit

Your Campaign-In-A-Box toolkit is available to begin promotions for Big Dig Day, ANR's statewide giving day, on June 4. 

Check out these resources in the Campaign-In-A-Box:

• Save-the-date flyers for each program
• Peer-to-peer templates: Want to invite your friends/family/colleagues to support you and donate to your campaign, but don't know how to ask? Use a template to send a personal email or social media post!
• Press release template: Send to your local media outlets for additional promotion

Happy McGivins is our Big Dig Day mascot. You will find a "Flat Happy" cut out in the toolkit. Take Flat Happy with you to your garden, workplace, virtual club meetings, etc. and snap a selfie! Then post it on social media with a message that says, "I dig (INSERT PROGRAM NAME) because...(FILL IN THE BLANK!") #BigDigDay #GiveBack

Webinar recordings: 

ANR: "Big Dig Day & Social Media: Strategies for Success"

4-H: "Big Dig Day & Social Media: Strategies for Success"

Master Gardener: "Big Dig Day & Social Media: Strategies for Success"

If you have questions, contact Emily Delk, director of annual giving, at eddelk@ucanr.edu or (916) 564-4862.

Start planning for Big Dig Day June 4

Big Dig Day is June 4. The 24-hour online fundraising campaign is an opportunity to collect supplemental support for UC ANR programs and research. 

In an effort to better communicate campaign plans and resources with participants, UCCE offices, RECs, programs and clubs are asked to register. Registered Big Dig Day participants will receive The Scoop e-newsletter with campaign updates and links to webinars and tools.

Register by filling out this 3-minute survey.

On May 3, the Big Dig toolkit will be available on Box.

Happy McGivins is our Big Dig Day mascot. You will find a "Flat Happy" in the toolkit that can be printed. Take Flat Happy with you to your garden, workplace, virtual club meetings, etc. and snap a selfie! Then post it on social media with a message that says, "I dig (INSERT PROGRAM NAME) because...(FILL IN THE BLANK!") #BigDigDay #GiveBack

On May 5, at 12 noon, there will be a Master Gardener webinar "Big Dig Day & Social Media: Strategies for Success."

If you have questions, contact Emily Delk, director of annual giving, at eddelk@ucanr.edu or (916) 564-4862.

Donors dig deep to give UC ANR $99,000 for Big Dig Day

BIG congratulations! Together we raised over $99,000 in new support across the state with our second annual Big Dig Day campaign. This is an increase of more than three times the individual giving tally from last year. In these unprecedented times, this show of support demonstrates the impact UC ANR is having in our communities and the value that donors place on our work.

More than $82,000 of support was designated to 50 counties and research and extension centers. We received 843 gifts from 738 donors.

We thank all of our donors for their participation, which extends our reach and helps us fulfill our mission for a healthier California. Please view our thank you video and share it with your contacts!

The following are the top recipients of Big Dig donations.

Top 5 counties:

1.   San Luis Obispo

2.   Sonoma

3.   Contra Costa

4.   Orange

5.   Sacramento

Top 5 programs:

1.   UC Master Gardeners

2.   California 4-H

3.   UC ANR

4.   UCCE

5.   California Naturalists

Find your 2020 gift reports by county and by program at https://ucdavis.box.com/s/opup3bdtb98nrntqzzxs6s5pjb6h3b6r.

Happy McGivins thanks you for sharing your Dig Deep messages! With several outstanding entries in these counties, Happy is sending gift cards to these winners!

1.   Lauren Hull, UC Master Gardeners

2.   Ventura County, 4-H

3.   Stanislaus County, MG

4.   San Mateo/San Francisco, 4-H

Show your UC ANR pride on Big Dig Day, June 5

Greetings! I'm reaching out to you in preparation for our UC ANR divisionwide, online fundraising event: Big Dig Day on June 5.

In times of crisis, and beyond, it's important to share that the work of UC ANR is critical; Big Dig Day is an opportunity to highlight our work and seek philanthropic support from the community. If you need examples of the impact ANR has, see the recently completed 2019 Annual Report, Working for the Benefit of All Californians, produced by Program Planning and Evaluation. 

I'm asking you to join me and do three things to help support this unique campaign:

1. Save-the-Date: June 5—follow UC ANR on social media channels for updates and share what makes you proud to be part of the UC ANR team.
2. Consider making a personal gift on June 5 to your favorite statewide program, county or REC at ucanr.edu/bigdig
3. Invite your friends, family and network to join in supporting you and the work of UC ANR by making a gift. Donations of any size will have an immediate impact.

I've been so encouraged by the can-do spirit of our colleagues and volunteers in the face of adversity and uncertain times. The worst of circumstances often brings out the best in people. I know Big Dig Day will be another example of how together we can rise to the challenge.

Thank you,  

Glenda

P.S. – Download and print “Flat Happy McGivins,” our Big Dig Day mascot! Take Flat Happy with you to your garden, workspace, virtual club meetings, etc. and snap aselfie! Then post it on social media with a message that says, "I dig (INSERT PROGRAM NAME) because...(FILL IN THE BLANK!") #BigDigDay #DigDeep —and earn the chance to win a $50 gift card in a raffle.

UC ANR and AgStart receive $500,000 to cultivate the VINE

California is constantly being challenged by pest invasions, obesity, labor shortages, water scarcity, food insecurity, climate change and more. To accelerate the development and adoption of technologies that address these challenges and advance food, agriculture and natural resources in California, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and AgStart will receive a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to cultivate the Verde Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship (the VINE).

Like a grapevine, the VINE will connect existing clusters of innovation across California and link entrepreneurs with mentors, advisors, collaborators, events, competitions, education and other services to turn good ideas into products and services people can use. 

“We want to make sure every Californian has the support system to take a novel idea and commercialize a new product or start a new business,” said VP Glenda Humiston. “They don't have to be a university inventor, they could be a farmer or a young person.”

AgStart itself was established with an EDA i6 Challenge grant to assist agriculture and food technology entrepreneurs in the Sacramento Valley region. Since 2012, AgStart has supported more than 58 entrepreneurs and their companies.

“In 2016, of the 16 entrepreneurial companies that AgStart assisted, eight resided outside our region, and leveraged AgStart's program to make connections into our Sacramento Valley region,” said John Selep, president of AgTech Innovation Alliance, AgStart's sponsor. 

“The VINE will expand this AgStart model of connecting entrepreneurs to the resources they need to be successful, to enable entrepreneurs residing anywhere in California to connect to the clusters of resources, contacts, mentors and potential partners that have emerged across the state,” said Selep.  

Gabriel Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer, said the VINE won't recreate the wheel. 

 “There are many wonderful regional innovation hubs in food, agriculture and natural resources so we plan to bring value by amplifying their efforts, connecting regions and organizations into a more cohesive ecosystem, and bringing value-added resources that ultimately benefit all Californians through the innovations affecting our economic prosperity, food supply and environment,” Youtsey said.

UC Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors, who work in every county, can provide insight into real-world conditions that entrepreneurs should consider in the development stage. UC ANR's nine research and extension centers can provide locations to field-test products and demonstrate their effectiveness. For example, start-up Blue River is testing its technology by flying a drone over sorghum crops to collect data at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier.

“The VINE is really exciting because of its potential to unite all the regions of California in an innovation ecosystem for food, agriculture and natural resources,” said Youtsey. “Not only will it help bridge the Silicon Valley and Bay Area with California's food-producing valleys, but it will bring opportunities for our innovators and entrepreneurs in rural communities in every part of California to participate.”

For the last two years, UC ANR has hosted the Apps for Ag hackathon and has introduced the winners to mentors, tech industry advisors, farmers, funders and legal experts who can advise entrepreneurs on business structure.

The VINE, which is working with UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health and Valley Vision, is being structured to complement other efforts to establish food, agriculture, and natural resources incubation and innovation resources in cluster locations around the state, such as the BlueTechValley Regional Innovation Cluster, the Western Growers Innovation & Technology Center, UC Merced's VentureLab and others.

Youtsey and Selep are seeking more VINE partners with expertise across the business spectrum.

“If our vision is successful, the VINE will make California the most fertile region in the world for entrepreneurs in ag and food technology to establish themselves, to prosper and grow,” Selep said.

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