30 Years of Supporting New York
Farms & Food Businesses

External Program Evaluator

The Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship (CADE) seeks a Consultant to provide external program evaluation. This consultancy will support CADE in monitoring and evaluating the results of our Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant. The goals of the program are to support beginning farmers with business development services, including land access, access to markets, business planning, and access to capital. 

 

CADE welcomes proposals from those experienced in program monitoring & evaluation, community engagement and organizing, and data analysis; background or experience in farms or food businesses is a plus.

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Learn more about the position here

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Proposals will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis, until the right vendor is found. This project will wrap by 12/31/2025, with a start date of no later than 06/01/2023.

 

No phone calls please. MWBEs or farmers, people of color, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQ+ individuals are encouraged to apply and will be given priority consideration for the position. 

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For follow up or additional questions, please contact Wendy Hunt at wendy@cadefarms.org

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Volunteers and Interns

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Individual Donor Cultivation - Volunteer

February 2022

 

The Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship (CADE) seeks volunteers and interns to join the organization’s fundraising and development team. The interns and volunteers will help support CADE’s Fundraising Committee currently made up of Board and staff members of the organization. 

 

POSITION SUMMARY: Are you someone looking to build your career skills in event planning or non-profit fundraising? Or are you a “people person” who likes to give their spare time to a worthy cause? Are you someone who just loves farmers and local food, and wants to “give back”? If you said yes to any one of these, this is just the opportunity for you!

 

CADE aims to recruit dynamic people to help implement our individual donation fundraising campaign efforts, “Sowing Seeds”, to bring financial gifts to the organization to raise $300,000 over 3 years. 

 

Below is a description of the type of responsibilities involved. Volunteer/intern candidates could take one or more elements based on their personal interest and/or capacity.

 

ABOUT CADE: CADE (www.cadefarms.org) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, whose mission is to increase the number and diversity of successful farm enterprises. Our goal is for farm and food businesses to compete and thrive, contributing to a sustainable regional food system and strong local economy. CADE strives to uphold and promote the following values as an organization and in our work with clients: Sustainability, Collaboration, Inclusion, Transparency and Innovation.

 

CADE’s office is based in Oneonta, NY. This position offers a hybrid-remote schedule or fully remote work option, depending on the preference of the volunteer or intern.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

Event Planning 

• Help organize and implement two fundraising events per year (July and December)

• Identify “rotating” locations and venues in Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie Counties

• Support outreach to connect with new individuals who care about agriculture, land conservation, etc., to cultivate relationships and donations

• Comfort with managing RSVPs with use of EventBrite or other software/systems

• Managing event logistics like liaising with venues, caterers, directing events, managing task lists, photographers, maintaining sign-ins, and all aspects of directing a successful event

• Follow up events with “thank yous” and/or tax write off letters to participants, hosts, sponsors, etc. and other wrap up

 

Sponsorships

• Support CADE’s outreach to the business community to solicit sponsorship advertisements in our upcoming 30 year publication

 

Donation Campaigns

• Identify opportunities for email/social media campaign pushes for donations, like Giving Tuesday, National Dairy Month, etc. and create copy for promotion

• Support CADE’s Communications manager in promoting campaigns

 

Outreach and Promotion

• Develop/Write ad copy for digital or print marketing; interest in storytelling on behalf of clients and writing with a marketing focus (why is CADE important)

• Support campaign promotional efforts vis-a-vis email blasts, social media, cold calls, mailers

• Identify target audiences, who may or may not be CADE’s clientele 

 

Donor Management

• Logging and tracking CADE interactions with donors or potential donors in CADE’s Client Relations Management system (Salesforce) for future and ongoing follow-up and outreach
   

Logistical and administrative support

• Participate in Board and staff Fundraising Committee weekly meetings (currently Wednesdays from 8-9am) to make decisions, guide, and implement the work

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Enthusiasm for CADE, farming, fundraising, event planning, networking, etc. and outreach to diverse audiences who care about CADE’s mission

• Ability to multitask, keep organized, and be collaborative and communicative is a must. 

• Comfort with EventBrite or other systems to support RSVPs 

• Outstanding writing, editing, and communications skills

• Comfortable with a variety of office technology or readiness to learn (e.g., spreadsheets/Excel, Wix, Squarespace, Salesforce, social media, GSuite, etc.)

• Self motivated and able to accomplish work independently as well as collaboratively

 

Salary and benefits

This is currently an unpaid opportunity, but depending on the success of CADE’s fundraising work, could lead to future employment. 

 

To Apply

Please submit an email outlining your interest in the position, what elements you might like to implement, along with a resume to phoebe@cadefarms.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. When applying, please include Individual Donor Cultivation Position in the subject line. 

 

Farmers, people of color, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQ+ individuals are encouraged to apply and will be given priority consideration for the position. 

 

CADE is an equal opportunity employer committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity laws. CADE prohibits discrimination against any employee and considers applications for all positions without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, military or veteran status, height and weight, religion, genetic predisposition or carrier status, arrest record, political/union affiliation, or any other legally protected status.

 

 

Interns​

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Imagine being part of team dedicated to building successful farming enterprises across Central New York, contributing to a vibrant regional economy. Imagine being part of an organization that celebrates agriculture as a pillar of our region’s history and culture. Imagine supporting local farms that produce fresh, healthy foods and food systems that reduce our region’s carbon footprint, contributing to healthier people and planet. Imagine being part of an effort to make our region one of America’s most recognized breadbaskets.

This is your opportunity to become a key player in a small, successful non-profit committed to scaling its impact. It will be your job to help us get there.

Join CADE’s Youth Internship Program

Our internship program is open to college students or recent graduates who wish to:

• gain “real world” job experience with an organization known as a regional and state leader for agriculture and economic development;

• channel their vision, creativity, and innovative spirit to achieving impact for our area’s farms, the regional agricultural economy, and the environment;

• receive mentoring and leadership development from a team ready to set you on an exciting career track--in agriculture, economic development, communications and marketing, advocacy, and more!

 

At the end of your internship, you’ll have a turbo boosted resume, a robust professional network, and a great job recommendation for your next endeavor. All internships will be based out of CADE’s office in Oneonta, NY, with the exception of a Marketing & Sales Internship which can be based either in Oneonta or New York City.

 

Types of Internships

We have a range of internships available.  Below are general scopes of work. Note that every intern will be invited to co-develop specific projects with us to make the internship experience as meaningful as possible.

• Program Administration & Office Management Intern

  Communications & Social Media Intern

• Development / Fundraising Intern

• Research, Monitoring & Evaluation Intern

• Marketing and Sales Intern (may be based in Oneonta or New York City)

• Agricultural Policy & Advocacy Intern

 

Benefits

This is an unpaid internship. A travel stipend is available. The intern may be eligible for college credit or work study. Speak with your internship coordinator or career counselor at your college or university.

 

Qualifications

Applicants should:

• be self-starters, hardworking, and enthusiastic--able to work independently and as part of a team

• Strong writing and communications skills

• See internship-specific qualifications below

 

To Apply

Internship applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Start and end dates of the internship are based on the intern’s availability, preferrably for a minimum of 3-4 months. Interns are expected to work at least 5 hours a week or up to 20 hours, depending on availability.  The intern’s weekly work schedule will be negotiated with a supervisor, and can include both in-office and remote work.

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Send a cover letter noting which internship you are interested in and your related qualifications, along with your resume and 1-2 page writing sample (i.e., essay, school report, powerpoint, short self-produced video clip, or screen shots of strategic social media messaging examples). Include "Internship Application" in the Subject line. Send your application to info@cadefarms.org.

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No phone calls please. Only selected candidates will be contacted for interviews.

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CADE is an equal opportunity employer committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity laws. CADE prohibits discrimination against any employee and considers applicants for all positions without regards to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, military status, height and weight, religion, genetic predisposition or carrier status, arrest record, or any other legally protected status.

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Scope of Work & Qualifications

• Program Administration & Office Management Intern

  • Support all aspects of CADE’s programmatic, operational, and logistical needs

  • Provide overall administrative support to the CADE program team

  • Provide executive assistance to CADE’s Executive Director, such as handling travel, conference registrations, expenses, etc.

  • Provide human resources assistance as requested by Executive Director

  • Assist with streamlining office knowledge management systems (a fancy way of saying you’ll help us with our filing systems--both hard and soft copies)

  • Assist in organizing CADE events, workshops, etc.

  • Keep office stocked with supplies

  • Provide support with preparing financial documents, board documents, or other paperwork

  • Take meeting minutes from internal or external meetings

  • Qualifications: You dream of centering your career in nonprofit management, handling all aspects of operations, finance, administration and human resources. You love the minutia and take pleasure in organizing every little thing. You’re a whiz with details--from setting up filing systems in your home office to using excel sheets. You enjoy working with a team and contributing to the overall mission. You’ll learn the rest on the job.

 

• Communications & Social Media Intern

  • Develop and implement a strategy for growing CADE’s constituency vis-a-vis social media and our email list--among farmers / farm businesses and among buyers and consumers, both upstate and down

  • Prepare an annual communications and social media / editorial calendar, marking specific days for promoting content (i.e., World Water Day to promote the Catskill’s watershed farmers, International Women’s Day to celebrate rural women farmers, national Dairy Month, etc.)

  • Serve as CADE’s “managing editor” for the website, email list, and social media, curating regular content (from collecting heartfelt stories from farmers to promoting their new products), and actively promoting CADE programs/activities, impacts, press, general agricultural news, funding opportunities for farmers, etc.

  • Prepare draft press releases or op-eds with support

  • Analyze CADE’s current marketing/promotional products (website, brochures, social media, etc.), make recommendations for how to improve them for target audiences, propose new promotional products (video, banners)

  • Manage production of printed collateral

  • Support communications for CADE’s Executive Director

  • Manage Google Ad Words for building CADE’s SEO

  • Keep CADE staff up-to-date on agricultural issues raised in mass/social media and identify when/how CADE might shift the national/state/regional discourse

  • Ensure CADE’s visibility as an agricultural leader

  • Help organize a pilot webinar of one of CADE’s Farm and Food Business Incubator educational workshops, recording it, and making it available on our website

  • Qualifications: You understand the value of communications and marketing for any business to succeed. You’re a social media junkie, creative, have solid “digital chops”,  detail oriented, and an excellent (creative) writer. You might be a business, journalism, or English major, or have an interest in graphic arts, or technology, or anything else under the sun. Basic graphic design skills (Photoshop/InDesign) and working knowledge of Wordpress and basic html a plus, but not required. You’ll learn the rest on the job.

 

• Development / Fundraising Intern

  • Search out prospective grant opportunities from federal and state entities as well as private foundations, keeping an updated log of contacts, due dates, and deadlines

  • Map CADE’s wealth contacts/networks and coordinate with Executive Director on creating a major donor giving strategy

  • Assist Executive Director with preparing grant proposal applications, articulating CADE’s work in a way that appeals to each specific donor

  • Assist Executive Director in preparing grant reports in collaboration with the CADE program staff and monitoring & evaluation intern.

  • Qualifications: You believe in the abundance of the universe. You’re an excellent writer. And through your writing, you understand how to frame issues in a way that attracts attention and captures the interest of your audience. You probably like the idea of doing grant-writing for a living. After all, there are 1.5 million nonprofits across the U.S. that need fundraisers!  You’ll learn the rest on the job.

 

• Research, Monitoring & Evaluation Intern

  • Assist with and coordinate research projects on behalf of CADE with area universities, such as SUNY-Cobleskill/Oneonta or Hartwick College (on such topics as farm business models that prove most profitable) in cooperation with CADE’s Executive Director

  • Assist CADE staff with creating surveys or other data collection tools, and collecting and organizing data about CADE programs or projects to assess impact

  • In close cooperation with CADE’s Executive Director, compile qualitative and quantitative information and conduct key informant interviews with CADE partners to document past programs impacts, and draft a 10-20 page report with findings

  • Compile data on CADE’s farmer constituents to document ways CADE has served them over the years, to help streamline future outreach and engagement

  • Write reports to document findings, capture learnings, and prepare recommendations to inform future programming based on what has “worked” and “not worked”

  • Qualifications: You are a proud research nerd. You’ve had experience preparing a survey, potentially with a teacher or professor’s help. Your brain experiences euphoria when you collect and analyze data. Once you’ve compiled and analyzed it, you contemplate, “how and why does this matter?” and take pleasure in writing it all up. Your writing style is straight and to the point. You have basic familiarity with SurveyMonkey and interviewing people for school research assignments. You’ll learn the rest on the job.

 

• Marketing & Sales Intern (Oneonta or NYC)

  • Assist with and coordinate sales research and outreach in target markets in New York City, Central New York, Hudson Valley and Capital Region

  • Assist farmers with using CADE marketing toolkit to be able to make sales outreach calls or visits to target buyers

  • Assist CADE staff to draft, design and distribute regional marketing materials - online and in print

  • Represent CADE and farmers we work with at in-store sampling events and other promotional opportunities

  • Track prospective buyer relationships at various stages using Microsoft Excel and Google Docs.

  • Qualifications: You are a people person and enjoy talking to strangers. You are always excited to help make connections for people. You love food. You will delight in describing the difference in quality between cow and goat milk or grass-fed and commodity beef. You are extremely organized and goal oriented.  Making money for farmers will keep you motivated. You’ll learn the rest on the job.

 

• Agricultural Policy & Advocacy Intern

  • Monitor federal and state policy or legislative trends in agriculture

  • Monitor the work of federal and state agricultural agencies

  • Prepare short updates on legislative trends for staff and potentially CADE newsletters, social media or other communication channels

  • Plug into the work of national or state-level organizations involved in policy advocacy work and alert staff when opportunities arise for CADE’s involvement

  • Help explore the potential for CADE to host regular political forums for government stakeholders and farmers, ensuring the voices of farmers are amplified among elected officials locally and regionally

  • Identify advocacy opportunities work with CADE’s communications intern and staff to identify opportunities for action in line with CADE’s mission

  • Brainstorm advocacy campaign messages

  • Help coordinate any advocacy activities in close collaboration with CADE’s Executive Director and partners

  • Qualifications: You follow politics; you’re interested in how politics and policy impact lives, sectors, and economies; and you “get” that the voices and interests of farmers need to be heard in our political system. You’re probably a poli sci or government major, or something closely related. You’re great at combing through information and identifying the bottom line. You’re detail oriented and a good writer.  The idea of monitoring draft legislation in congress or state assembly/state senate--and staying connected with advocacy groups to keep CADE informed of national or state trends--makes your heart throb. You love getting involved in advocacy campaigns, activism, or participating in online petitions. You’ll learn the rest on the job.