Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders Group Protocols

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) Protocols

Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders (SAFSF) is a national working group of grantmakers that seeks to promote a more sustainable agriculture and food system. SAFSF does this primarily by fostering communication, engaging in shared learning and exchanging information about issues connected to sustainable agriculture and food systems.

SAFSF seeks to carry out its mission by:
Providing opportunities for collaboration.
Increasing awareness of the issues as well as funding needs.
Expanding beyond the current membership to increase support and funding for organizations that (i) promote sustainable food production; (ii) link to concerns about sustainability of our food system and/or (iii) connect food production with issues of environmental stewardship, diet and health and viability of communities.

SAFSF is neither an informal, ad hoc affiliation of interests nor a separate, independent, formal, incorporated organization. Thus, in order to guide its operations as a national working group in a clear and effective fashion, SAFSF has developed the following protocols. These protocols will be reviewed and revised, as needed, within two years of final approval.

1.0 SAFSF Values
SAFSF envisions a world in which food and agricultural systems contribute to personal, environmental, community and cultural health. We envision our organization as an expanding community of funders working to increase support and funding for programs and organizations that (i) increase the supply, demand, quality, and availability of sustainably produced foods; (ii) make our food system more sustainable and/or (iii) improve environmental stewardship, diet and health, and viability of communities.

SAFSF is guided by the following shared set of values:

1.1 Collaboration
The SAFSF values members who:

Use their philanthropic resources to effect systemic change;
Strive to learn from their experiences and that of their colleagues;
Support their work and the work of their colleagues through open, honest sharing of experience and knowledge;
Build relationships among and between colleagues that lead to more effective work by all;
Enjoy contributing to the body of knowledge around food and food-related grantmaking;
Believe in collaboration as a necessary condition for advancing the common goals of organization members and
Believe in active involvement and participation in an organization to make it successful.

1.2 Diversity
The SAFSF values food systems that encourage and enable:

Biological diversity;
Diversity of farm and food enterprises, including diversity of their ownership structures, scale and locations;
Diverse production practices adapted to the local ecology, producers' interests and community needs and
Economic and leadership opportunities for those working at all points in food and agriculture systems regardless of racial, ethnic, cultural and economic background.

1.3 Regionalization and localization
The SAFSF values food systems that:

Foster significant increases in the production, availability and demand for sustainably produced foods;
Capture and multiply economic, social and ecological benefits within locales and regions;
Reduce the distance food travels from field to fork, and
Enable closer and more transparent connections between consumers, producers and other workers in the food and agriculture supply chain.

1.4 Environmental Integrity and Stewardship
The SAFSF values food systems that benefit the environment through:

The reduction of chemical and fossil fuel use;
The promotion of biological diversity;
Humane treatment of animals; " The improvement of soil health;
Practices that create cleaner water and air and
Systems that contribute less to global warming.

1.5 Community
The SAFSF values food systems that enhance the viability of communities, particularly low-income communities, in rural and urban areas by:
Providing a fair return to farmers;
Providing just and fair working conditions for farm workers and laborers along all points in the farm and food value chain;
Supporting community-based food enterprises;
Supporting small, family, and independently producing farmers and
Providing accessible, affordable, culturally appropriate food.

2.0 Benefits and Responsibilities of SAFSF Membership

The following are benefits and responsibilities of membership in SAFSF.

2.1 Benefits of Membership
Networking, knowledge-sharing and collaboration with SAFSF peers.
Access to an audience of other funders and NGOs.
Ability to help shape the SAFSF agenda and work plan.
Eligibility to participate on the Steering Committee.
Discounted registration fees for SAFSF forums and events.
2.2 Responsibilities of Membership
Share perspectives and expertise with SAFSF colleagues.
Serve as ambassadors for SAFSF.
Provide financial support for SAFSF, its programs and initiatives.
Conduct outreach to other potential funders, speakers, and resources.
Participate in SAFSF activities.
Contribute to SAFSF's mission of cultivating sustainable food and agriculture systems.
Promote and support the sourcing of food for meetings, conferences, workshops and other events from local and sustainable sources.
Members may not use their participation in SAFSF for promotional purposes or for private gain.

3.0 SAFSF Membership Criteria

SASFS acknowledges the following categories of funders eligible to apply for membership: government, individuals, private, corporate, community and non-profit intermediaries or regranting organizations.

3.1 Criteria
Membership in SAFSF is open to organizations and individuals that:

Grant to sustainable agriculture and food systems projects and programs and related efforts. Related efforts might include land preservation, pesticide use reduction, farm worker support and so forth.
Function primarily as grantmakers, not grantseekers. (It is acknowledged that several current members are operating foundations that also raise funds to support their grantmaking programs.)
Demonstrate alignment with SAFSF's goal of increasing funding for sustainable agriculture and food system organizations. This will occur via screening process that includes grantmaking history and guidelines (see below).
Demonstrate commitment to SAFSF mission.
Show how their grantmaking advances the SAFSF's core values.
Seek to enhance the reputation of, and to expand opportunities for, SAFSF.
Support relationship-building, knowledge-sharing and collaborative enterprise within the organization's framework.

Please note that the SAFSF reserves the right to deny membership or remove a member if that applicant's or member's actions reflect poorly on the field and might harm SASFS's reputation. Lawsuits, federal or state investigations, consumer boycotts or other significant actions against an applicant or member would raise such concern.

3.2 Membership Fees
Recommended levels of support from each member organization are assessed on total grantmaking for sustainable agriculture and food system programs and initiatives in the last full fiscal year. The intent of such fee is to ensure the commitment of members, the continuing financial sustainability of SAFSF, the participation by all SAFSF members and to reduce the inefficiencies associated with ad hoc yearly fundraising. Suggested fees:

Total Annual SAFSF-related Giving Range of Fees

< $100,000 $500-$2,000*

$100,000-$499,999 $2,000-$5,000

$500,000-$999,999 $5,000-$10,000

$1,000,000-$4,999,999 $10,000-$20,000

>$5,000,000 $20,000-$50,000

*Please note for small funders, the annual dues will be determined by the coordinator and the Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee.

The form of the fees may be in annual dues, as an annual grant and/or as special support for particular activities, as long as the giving totals within the ranges stated above.

3.3 Application Procedures
The following materials will be used as part of the membership screening process:
A statement (no more than one page) explaining how the organization's grantmaking advances SAFSF's mission and values.
A copy of the organization's grant guidelines and/or a letter outlining the organization's goals.
A copy of the organization's most recent annual report (if one is published).
A list of the applicant's most recent two to three years of grants relevant to sustainable agriculture or food systems.

Applications will be reviewed by the Steering Committee after initial screening by SAFSF Coordinator. SAFSF reserves the right to request more information from applicants.

4.0 Communication among Members

In order to facilitate an open and collaborative discussion, members will:
Express his or her own views rather than speaking for others.
Not make personal attacks or issue statements blaming others for specific actions or outcomes.
Avoid grandstanding and digressions in order to allow others a chance to speak.
Stay on track with the agendas to move deliberations forward.
Communicate concerns, interests and ideas openly and to make the reasons for their disagreements clear. In the event that a member is unable to speak about a concern directly to another member, he or she can contact the coordinator and ask for assistance.

5.0 SAFSF Governance

The Steering Committee is the primary governance structure for SAFSF. The SAFSF Steering Committee may have up to eleven (11) members. The Steering Committee will be responsible for SAFSF's programming, finances, staff supervision and general operation. This leadership body will be comprised of committed grantmakers seeking to develop SAFSF into a stronger and more influential organization and to fulfill its mission. It will be a diverse group of stakeholders representing broadly the interests, organizations and institutions active in the field. Membership will represent grantmakers of varying size, geographic distribution and constituency and areas of interest.

5.1 Steering Committee Eligibility
Committee members must devote time, energy and resources to furthering SAFSF's mission and values of developing sustainable food and agriculture systems.
Committee members must be trustees, executives, individual donors or experienced program officers of a grantmaking organization working in the field.
Committee members must represent an organization that has been affiliated with SAFSF for at least two years.
Desirable candidates will have experience on other boards, a working knowledge of food system issues and both the resources and the willingness to fundraise in support of SAFSF's activities.
Steering Committee members may be chosen based on personal characteristics that are judged to benefit the organization.
5.2 Steering Committee Operation
Although the number of board members may vary, the membership total is designed to allow for effective governance.
Terms of service are for three years. Steering committee members may serve up to two consecutive terms.
Members are expected to pay for their own travel and accommodations for Steering Committee meetings and events.
Only steering committee members have voting privileges.

5.3 Recruitment and Selection of Steering Committee Members

When a Steering Committee member's term expires and the person chooses not to be reappointed or is term limited, the outgoing committee member will make a good faith effort to identify a successor either from their own organization or from a pool identified by the SC and the coordinator. The co-chairs will contact the candidate and indicate the SC's interest in having the person serve and provide information about responsibilities, start and end date of term of service, etc.

Otherwise, the co-chairs in consultation with the coordinator and the full committee will identify a short-list of potential new members. Recruiters will be selected to approach candidates with an agreed upon sequence of who is asked first, second, etc. Any member of the Steering Committee or the coordinator may be designated as a recruiter. New Steering Committee members will be ratified at the annual meeting, with their terms beginning officially on either January 1 or July 1 of a given year.

5.4 Steering Committee Co-Chairs

The Steering Committee shall have co-chairs serving rotating terms of two years. A new co-chair shall be selected by the Steering Committee prior to the end of the calendar year. Responsibilities include:
Provide leadership to SC and membership.
Serve as the immediate support of the SAFSF Coordinator in terms of executing the workplan, budget and advising on policy matters.
Cooordinate an annual performance review of the SAFSF Coordinator in concert with the steering committee.
Chair all meetings of the SAFSF steering committee in tandem with SAFSF Coordinator.
Serve as public spokespersons at SAFSF events and meetings in tandem with SAFSF Coordinator.

6.0 Decisionmaking

The primary decisionmaking body, as noted above, for SAFSF membership, protocols, strategy and workplans will be the Steering Committee. The SAFSF Coordinator is accountable to the Steering Committee for executing strategy, work plans, and other direction. SAFSF Steering Committee will make decisions by consensus.

The SAFSF does not intend nor will replace, substitute for or supplant the individual decision-making authorities and processes of each participating organization. It is recognized that members will and may pursue activities, strategies and tactics outside of SAFSF activities on issues related to sustainable agriculture and food systems.

6.1 Definition of Consensus
The Steering Committee will operate by consensus. Granting "consent" means that each Steering Committee member can live with the decision and support its implementation. Consensus also means that the process of decision-making will be inclusive, transparent, reasoned and strive to accommodate the interests of all.

Along with the right to offer consent or express dissent as member, comes the responsibility of making clear the reasons for dissent and making every effort to offer an alternative proposal satisfactory to other participants. Members should remain in the conversation during deliberations to hear the full discussions in order to make informed judgments when decision-making occurs.

Members may also choose to:
Abstain from that particular decision;
Not to consent on a decision but to stand aside without offering dissent or
Register their disagreement, but in the spirit of the larger collaboration and progress, agree not to stand in the way.

In order to ensure that SAFSF can act in a timely manner member's absence will be equivalent to abstaining in a decision unless the absence is noted beforehand to the coordinator and a particular decision is asked to be deferred.

To ensure transparency, the Steering Committee will strive to make decisions only on issues included and noticed in meeting agendas distributed ahead of meetings and decisionmaking calls.

Formal votes will not be taken. If consensus cannot be reached, all participants will seek in good faith to find alternatives that satisfy the greatest number of participants and interests possible. Should the members reach an impasse after good faith deliberations, the Steering Committee as a whole, or the Co-Chairs if need be, will declare the impasse. In such cases, the Steering Committee will use a simple majority vote, with each Steering Committee member having one vote, in order to move SAFSF forward, except in the case that the decision is to exclude an applicant or current member. Should the decision be to exclude an applicant or member, the Steering Committee shall use a two-thirds (supermajority) vote should they not be able to reach consensus on the decision before them.

6.2 Record of Decisions
Decisions will be recorded in one or more formats.

In the meeting or call summaries, preferably at the beginning of such summaries in a separate section entitled "Decisions Reached."
In formal resolutions that are written, dated with the names of members consenting duly noted.
In final documents such as protocols, work plans and budgets, with the approval date noted.

6.3 Consultation with Broader Membership
For those members who are not part of the Steering Committee, significant changes or additions to policies, strategies, protocols, financing and other important matters will be shared with all members by the Steering Committee prior to final decisionmaking. The Steering Committee shall generate drafts of key documents or decisions and circulate those to all members for comment with a date certain for return. Those comments shall be organized and summarized by the Coordinator to the Steering Committee in writing prior to making any final decision.

7.0 Coordinator

The SAFSF Coordinator is accountable to the Steering Committee. The Coordinator is responsible for:
Providing information to the funder network via the SAFSF listserv, website and other means;
Encouraging and facilitating funder collaboration, including with other funder affinity groups;
Serving to facilitate efforts to provide strategic information to funders regarding how to build and strengthen NGO efforts and leadership on sustainable agriculture and food systems issues
Planning and facilitating meetings and conference calls;
Coordinating outreach activities for members and non-members;
Fundraising and grant reporting; and
Reporting to and working with the Steering Committee.

8.0 Means of Communication

In order to ensure effective and on-going communication, the Coordinator will arrange for and maintain the following:
E-mail distribution lists of members, interested others and affinity group participants;
Shared calendar of events, workshops and meetings;
Meeting summaries and action items; and
SAFSF website (as clearinghouse for information).

Meeting summaries of decisions, action items, next steps or listing of key issues, will be prepared for each conference call or meeting. The meeting summary will be distributed in draft form to those in attendance for review and approval. Meeting summaries will generally not attribute statements by individuals or organizations. In order to encourage open, frank and informal dialogue, meetings will not be tape-recorded or videotaped. Notice of calls and meetings will be made by notifying participants via email.

9.0 Dispute Resolution

In the highly unlikely event that a very significant issue or issues cannot be resolved by the Steering Committee and that impasse substantially threatens the work and membership of the SAFSF, the Steering Committee will:

Identify and clarify the issue or issues at impasse;
Seek an agreed upon, independent, external party to assist the Steering Committee in overcoming the impasse. That party may be a highly trusted and respected retired individual, an individual held in high esteem by members and/or a professional mediator.
Participate in a dispute resolution process, within an established time frame, with the external party noted above, in a good faith in an effort to bridge differences and overcome the impasse.