Welcome to 2021!
Happy New Year (what a WEIRD start, amirite?)!
In an effort to increase transparency, and just share what’s going on with the organization, I’m excited to start sharing a modified version of what our board sees every month with you! Basically a general “this is what happened since we talked last.” The modifications will include nicer formatting, pictures, and more context for you! If there’s ever any information that you’re curious about, or that you think is missing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can always reach me at heather@portlandfruit.org or by phone at 503-284-6106.
Things are going along fairly swimmingly. We ended 2020 in the black after a very successful year end appeal and we did a pretty great job on the strategic plan.
We said success looked like:
6-12 months operating in the bank at the end of 2022 - we are at this point now, so just need to sustain it as we launch all of these new projects!
Harvest goals (50) are met (and budget) - we exceeded 50, but didn’t meet the original budget goal. It worked out due to bringing in more in other places, so still a success.
DIY resources promoted/adapted as needed - materials were updated and we’re still thinking of ways to increase people’s skills and resources. There is a full DIY track of the new tree care program.
People come to us for food justice related resources and we can provide them; increased diversity on all fronts - we have lots of room to grow here, but made important steps through our work with the consultant we’ve begun working with, and the direction of 2021 programming. By March we should have a draft equity statement, we’ll continue doing our homework, and with the help of our amazing intern team we’ll get more information out to current supporters.
Frequent communication with orchards and other major partners, increased donors, growing social media numbers, and increased open rates in emails - we worked closely with Parkrose and Sabin orchards on volunteer recruitment. We’ll continue that in 2021 with Sabin. We saw substantial growth in new donors and lapsed donors coming back. Social media numbers have consistently increased along with our mailing list numbers. Open rates have increased or stayed level, and we’ll continue surveying folk on what they want to see.
On the whole, there’s always work, but I think we should be pretty proud of what we managed to pull off during all of those unprecedented times (remember precedented times? Those were awesome).
2021 strategic planning - We’ll be continuing on a similar path and once we have it wrapped up, we’ll be sure to share it with you!
New Volunteer Staff!
We’re getting a ton of interest from interns right now. This crew of stellar young folk are focusing primarily on marketing and equity related tasks and all of them are just incredible. With their help, we are getting a ton more done than we could get done with just our small numbers. Stay tuned for introductions to them and their projects! We love being able to let PFTP be a laboratory for people building their resumes and are excited to see where all of these capable and committed folk do.
On a perhaps more boring note, I’m working with a couple of volunteers from a corporate partner on restructuring our document storage. It’s not super splashy, but it’ll help us function more efficiently into the future.
Last, but certainly not least, the Tree Care program has launched and we’ve been busy keeping up with demand and trying to set up smart practices off the bat. It certainly feels like we made a very smart choice here with 35 consultations scheduled, one completed/sold out workshop (with several more scheduled) and people joining our DIY email series.
Having a reliable source of income directly related to services we provide is going to help us stay a sustainable organization and help fund all of the awesome projects that we dream of.
I hope that all of the folk reading are as excited about the progress as I was while writing it, and again, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch or comment here!
And don’t forget to join us for our first Virtual Happy Hour of 2021 focusing on community service, with Friends of Trees and Metropolitan Family Services!