Ten years ago the Nebraska FFA Foundation I Believe in the Future of Ag campaign began to serve as an outlet for local FFA chapters across the state to receive donations for innovative projects in their classrooms, leadership programming, community service projects and field trips to advance agriculture education in their schools.
I Believe in the Future of Ag started in the northeast part of the state with a couple of corporate partners that wanted a way to support local chapters in their territory and state programming. The program turned into so much more with the addition of an educational advertising campaign and statewide presence in fall of 2011.
The campaign has grown tremendously throughout the years. The first year of the program going statewide in 2011-12, nearly $57,400 was donated to local chapters with 68 chapters participating. These local chapter donations were received by chapters sending out letters with the I Believe donation cards, receiving donations online and other fundraising ways. By the 2015-16 year, the chapters received over $300,700 in local donations to their chapters with 74 chapters participating. Then in 2019-20 year, nearly $370,000 was donated to local chapters with 144 chapters participating in the campaign.
The 2021-22 I Believe in the Future of Ag campaign wouldn’t be possible without the following sponsors committing $20,000 each: LivestockMarket.com, Aurora Cooperative, BigIron Auctions, Central Valley Ag, Producers Livestock and CoBank. Other sponsors, contributing $10,000 each, include Bayer CropScience, DEKALB, Country Partners Cooperative, CPI, Farm Credit Services of America, Farmers Cooperative, Frontier Cooperative, Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, Pinnacle Bank and Valley Irrigation.
These corporate partners provide support for an educational campaign for FFA and agricultural education in Nebraska and support fundraising efforts at the local level. “Local FFA chapters and agricultural education programs play an integral role in growing and developing future leaders in agriculture and in our communities. I see this campaign as a very important tool to help those chapters have the resources they need to grow leaders and build communities,” says Stacey Agnew, Nebraska FFA Foundation Executive Director.
Donors to the I Believe in the Future of Ag campaign choose which chapter they support. One hundred percent of each local donation is sent back to the designated chapter at the end of the campaign and a portion of the $35,000 challenge matching pool will be distributed to participating chapters. To donate to a local FFA chapter, contact your local FFA advisor or go here. The I Believe in the Future of Ag campaign ends February 28, 2022.
