FundingYour Farm with Little to No Debt
Grants and Creative Fundraising Strategies For Farmers.
Fresh Roberson
Farming Chef
February 2023
Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference
Financial stress can be a big mental health burden on farmers. There are a variety of ways to incorporate money into your farm besides the sales of your products. In this workshop we will share several ways to fund your farm while minimizing or avoiding the stress of debt and loans. If you’ve been thinking of pursuing grants, crowdfunding, fundraisers, or investors, we’ll talk through some techniques we’ve used and also provide resources and entities to reach out to for support. Fresher Together Farms has raised over $250,000 in funding in their first three seasons and will be sharing strategies from not only their farm, but also other regional farmers who use grants and other debt free resources as a regular presence in their farm’s viability. Come ready with your questions and suggestions to add to the conversation and resource list.
What We Said We're Doing today?
What Do You Want?
Who I Am
Chef Fresh Roberson
they/them she/her
Ancestors Acknowledgement
Ancestors Acknowledgement
What we will cover during this workshop
Share Experience from both a personal perspective and the experiences of other farmers
Time Together ~1.5 hours
Tips and Tools for how to think outside of the box on funding ventures
Action : Brainstorming session where we will work through some of your current situations
We're Pretty Dope Alone, but we're Fresher Together.
AFRICAN PROVERB
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
A Collaborative Food and Farming Project for healing, economic development, training and retreat.
From soil to humans we create nourishing food and spaces that are restorative and support well-being.
Who
is
Our Work
Collaboration
Build
Grow
Cook
Heal
Four Pillars
Community
Well-being
Collective Liberation
Fresher Together envisions thriving land with accessible nourishing food, well-being, and community wealth.
What do we want
Are we ready to win
What are we building
Who are my people
Five questions to build our future
The framework for how we will talk about these topics is based on work written by Charlene Carruthers title "Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.
Who am I
"Creative" strategies to fundraising
Let's Talk
They aren't all hard, and a little adds up
Gifts - Friends and Family
Events, Stays, visits, Foraging, what else?
Grants
Ask for Money
Fully Utilize Land
1
2
3
"Creative" strategies to fundraising
Let's Talk
Swag, Stickers, other farm's products
"Is there a coupon?"
What are you good at that you're okay monetizing?
Add -Ons
Reduce Costs
Leverage Skills
4
5
6
"Creative" strategies to fundraising
Let's Talk
Slow Down, Movie Star, Repurpose, Gain insight from others
Many Hands
let's talk about it
Reimagine
Crowdfund
Sometimes Debt might make sense
7
8
9
Fresher Together
Profile
Resources we used to accomplish our goals.
Farming Community
Profile
Examples of other farms and how they received funds that were not loans
Time Check
To Be Safe- Track it all
Name and size gifts, date
W9
Is it a gift or a Loan- Be Clear -(or a purchase even)
What to document
Check in with your Accountant
Farm Commons
Additional Resources
The nitty gritty
Legal obligation around crowdfunding, gifts, etc
Note- This information does not replace professional strategy or information. Please make sure you also do your own research or consult your accountant, usda rep
Time Check
Questions last call
Comments last call
Wrapping up
Take the first step
This Presentation
Sample Grant Calendar
Resource Links
What else?
Resources
Visit FresherTogether.com/Marbleseed to view full list of resources covered in this presentation
Info@FresherTogether.com
www.FresherTogether.com
Connected
Let's Get
Here are some ways that we can connect online. For the full list, please visit FresherTogether.com/Marbleseed.
@cheffresh82
@FresherTogether
Fresher Together
Thank You