Posts Tagged: gifts
Looking for a Clever Mother's Day Gift?
Our Succulent Gardening Workshop is happening just in time to make the perfect gift for Mother's...
Daniel and Sarah Hrdy create endowment to fund UC Cooperative Extension research
The Yolo County walnut growers will provide as much as $100,000 per year for “practical” research
The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) announced that Dan and Sarah Hrdy, owners of Citrona Farms LLC, a walnut farm in Winters, have established The Daniel & Sarah Hrdy Fund for UC Cooperative Extension Research.
The fund will provide as much as $100,000 in seed funding for early-stage research projects each year for UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists, as well as their academic collaborators. Dan, a former clinical professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at UC Davis Medical Center, and Sarah, a professor emerita of anthropology at UC Davis, created the fund to express their appreciation for UC Cooperative Extension's practical yet cutting edge research.
“Over the years, we have hosted a number of researchers from UC ANR, UC Davis and UC Berkeley studying topics related to sustainable agriculture, habitat restoration and wildlife conservation and have benefited both directly and indirectly from the UC Cooperative Extension network,” said Dan Hrdy. More than 20 years of UC research hosted at Citrona Farms is detailed on their website at www.citrona.com.
Research proposals will be selected by the leaders of UC ANR's Strategic Initiatives: Sustainable Food Systems; Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases; and Sustainable Natural Ecosystems.
Areas of special interest include:
- Sustainable Agriculture, with special regard to climate change
- Interaction of Natural Ecosystems and Agriculture
- Habitat Restoration and Conservation
- Wildfire and Forest Restoration
"The timing for this donation could not have been better as UC ANR is actively recruiting an extraordinary number of new UCCE advisors and specialists and support for their research is greatly appreciated," Wendy Powers, UC ANR associate vice president, said. “This is a great example of how local relationships build trust and support for UCCE efforts across the state."
The fund will be established with annual gifts as part of a payout from the donor's retirement account, along with a bequest that, when paid, will create a permanent endowment where the payouts will continue to fund this project. The Hrdys hope to make others aware of this method of charitable giving.
"We were able to use required payouts from a retirement account to set up this gift,” said Dan Hrdy. “I hope more people will look into doing this to help support Cooperative Extension.”
Investors who must satisfy a required minimum distribution from their retirement accounts may consider a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), said Greg Gibbs, UC ANR executive director of Development Services.
“A qualified charitable distribution is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity, like the UC Regents/UC ANR,” Gibbs said. “Once you've reached age 72, the QCD amount counts toward your required minimum distribution for the year, up to an annual maximum of $100,000. It's not included in your gross income and does not count against the limits on deductions for charitable contributions.”
Donors show strong support for UC ANR in 2021
Nearly $125,000 was donated for UC Cooperative Extension and the statewide programs, institutes and research centers that make up UC Agriculture and Natural Resources on GivingTuesday 2021, a globally recognized day of generosity,
“Our giving days are a small, but very important piece of UC ANR's annual fundraising,” said Greg Gibbs, executive director of Development Services. “In the last three months alone, we received two of the largest single gift pledges in our history – totaling $4.8 million to support research and extension.”
For GivingTuesday, on Nov. 30 this year, $40,000 was offered to incentivize giving to UC ANR projects and programs. This included $20,000 in matching funds provided by the California 4-H Foundation and donations from 4-H Foundation Board members designated for the 4-H program. It also included $20,000 awarded for programs that met challenges such as attracting the greatest number of unique donors on GivingTuesday. The prizes were drawn from funds raised throughout the year for UC ANR's Incentive Fund, which is used to encourage giving to all ANR programs.
Some donors left messages about why they support the programs, which collectively reach every county in California:
- “It's not always about what you have or get...it's more about what you give.” – Orange County
- “UCCE brings so much news we can use to the county. Thank you for all you do!” – Glenn County
- “4-H really helped me be a responsible person growing up. I am paying it forward. Thank you to all the adults who donate their time year after year.” – Sonoma County
- “Thank you for all your educational efforts to increase agricultural and native plant literacy!” – Ventura County
- “The 4-H Program helped our daughters develop their communication, leadership, citizenship, new skills and make lifetime friendships with others with the same passion. Our granddaughter enjoys it, too!” – Fresno County
- “UC ANR Elkus Ranch has been a foundational resource for my growing child and many children in the area. Thank you for this important work!” – Bay Area
- “Your work supports our business – flower farming in a way that works with nature. Thank you!” – UC Integrated Pest Management Program supporter
- “Thanks for keeping food safe and safely preserved.” – UC Master Food Preserver supporter
Examples of specific 4-H youth development projects made possible by the GivingTuesday donations include robotics in Placer County and leadership development, sheep and goat projects in Alameda County.
The UC Master Gardener Program will use the funds to develop a demonstration garden in San Luis Obispo County, the Sherwood Demonstration Garden in the Central Sierra, a sensory and pollinator garden in Stanislaus County and gardening projects in other parts of the state.
“These donations reflect donors' appreciation for UC ANR's work in their communities and we are so grateful for their support,” said Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
GivingTuesday is only one of many fundraising activities UC ANR conducts throughout the year.
To learn about other ways to contribute, visit https://donate.ucanr.edu.
Policies proposed for gifts and Native American cultural affiliation and repatriation open for comment
Employee comment: Classification of Gifts and Sponsored Awards
The University of California Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy on Classification of Gifts and Sponsored Awards.
The University has seen a significant increase in external support in the recent decade – especially from private foundations (including family foundations) and corporations. Though key concepts remain the same, the proposed policy provides greater clarity for properly classifying private support in contemporary circumstances. It also includes definitions, FAQs and a checklist with weighted criteria.
The proposed policy is posted at https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates.
If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than May 26, 2021. Please indicate “Classification of Gifts and Sponsored Awards” in the subject line.
Employee comment: Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation
The University of California Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy on Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation. The proposed policy substantively revises the existing Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Interim Policy (“Current Policy”). The policy pertains to the treatment and repatriation of Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains and cultural items under the University's possession or control and the University's compliance with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (“NAGPRA”), its accompanying regulations, and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (“CalNAGPRA”). This effort began in 2018 in response to AB 2836, a California bill that required the University to revise its previous policy.
On July 24, 2020, President Napolitano issued the policy as interim in order to allow tribes additional time for review due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the comment period was extended through November 15, 2020, with the intention that UC would issue a final updated Policy by December 31, 2020.
On September 29, 2020, AB 275, which made substantial changes to the CalNAGPRA, was signed into law, effective January 1, 2021. The prevailing concern communicated by the responding tribes and the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) during the extended comment period was that the interim policy did not reflect these new requirements. Respondents urged UC not to implement a final policy by December 31, 2020, but rather to delay issuance and allocate additional time to ensure that AB 275 could be fully incorporated into the policy. This revised policy now incorporates AB 275 requirements.
Below is a list of the significant changes present in the proposed policy from the interim policy:
- Definitions (§ II) have been added and revised where needed to align with CalNAGPRA.
- As required by CalNAGPRA, deference to tribal traditional knowledge, oral histories, documentation, and testimonies is now indicated when determining state cultural affiliation, identifying cultural items under CalNAGPRA, and making decisions related to the CalNAGPRA repatriation process (§§ V.C.1 and V.J.1).
- In consultation with California Native American tribes, Campuses must prepare preliminary inventories/summaries by January 1, 2022 for submission to the NAHC (§§ V.B.1.k, V.C.1, and V.C.5).
- The CalNAGPRA dispute procedures available to California Indian tribes have been added (§ V.I).
- The AB 275 procedures for submissions of claims under CalNAGPRA have been incorporated (§ V.D.3).
- The flowcharts and narrative previously described in Appendices A, A-1, and B of the Interim Policy have been removed. These documents were intended as visual aids in understanding the consultation, claims, repatriation, and appeals processes described in the Interim Policy rather than as a means of separately conveying policy requirements not described in the Interim Policy. However, as stated in the revised Policy (§§ III.C, V.B.1.i, V.B.2, V.D.1, V.D.3, V.I, V.J.3, and VI.1), UC will maintain these flowcharts on UCOP's NAGPRA website. This will allow UC to make more responsive ongoing updates to the flowcharts to clarify these processes as they are more fully implemented, based on feedback from tribes, committee members, and UC repatriation staff.
Please visit http://ucal.us/nagpra for the complete revision history.
The proposed policy is posted at https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates.
If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than May 26, 2021. Please indicate “Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation” in the subject line.
/span>
Garden Gift Ideas.
By Denise Seghesio Levine, U. C. Master Gardener of Napa County It seems like just...