Promoting knowledge exchange continually since 1785 to further the understanding and appreciation of agriculture – historical, current, and future – is the mission of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, a non-profit and non-partisan organization.
In accordance with our mission, the Society aims to…
- Expand membership from a primarily agricultural audience to a broader range of interested people;
- Bring together leading authorities and the general public to share information;
- Support the career pathways that lead young people to occupations in the agriculture and food industry through scholarships, grants, and collaboration with others;
- Provide a mix of programming through in-person and virtual lectures, field trips, publications, and social media;
- Promote our historical collections of books and papers through our website and social media.
Strategic Objectives and Action Items with a 3-5 year planning horizon
- Assure the sustainability of the organization by planning for and implementing good management practices.
- Begin and complete the transition of the current Secretary to more sustainable staff leadership.
- Implement a process of succession planning for incoming officers.
- Provide multiple ways for interested parties – members and stakeholders – to contribute financially to the work of the Society.
- Review the investments of the Society to simplify the portfolio where appropriate while reducing fees and maximizing return on investment.
- Review existing corporate documents to ascertain the implications of desired changes (by-laws, incorporation, non-profit status)
- Develop and implement a Communications Plan that is reviewed annually.
- Implement a proactive program of outreach to colleague organizations and targeted audiences as a part of the Communications process.
- Initiate a process with current members to see that all are able to use and communicate with social media platforms.
- Extend and link lectures with our greatly improved website with various social medial platforms including YouTube, Facebook, and Linked In.
- Develop and implement a process for assuring that the information that lecture providers bring is available for distribution.
- Develop and share regular features related to our historical collections of books and papers via our communications channels.
- Develop and implement a membership recruitment strategy to increase and diversify the membership of the Society.
- Develop and implement an updated and sustainable model of membership that will allow for paying members and guests who are invited to virtual offerings.
- Continue to promote institutional membership as an option for connecting to the Society.
- Make a bigger push to involve groups and individuals from DE, MD, and NJ as well as PA in the life of the organization.
- Include diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in the program of outreach for the Society.
- Thoughtfully consider the mix of virtual and in-person programs along with field trips to meet the needs of members for networking.
- Support young people in their interests in farming, agriculture science, and technology as well as reaching out to organizations that address career development for students and young adults (college students, FFA, 4-H, Boy Scouts, and others)
- Invite organizations to become affiliate members of the Society.
- Provide financial support when possible to these programs.
- Sponsor competitions to challenge and reward individual agriculture and food students.
- Support and promote educational programming that stresses the school to work component of career pathways.
- Maintain the quality and diversity of the programs and field trips that are offered annually.
- Look for partnerships on the international, national, and regional level that could lead to joint programs and promotion.
- Continue to reach out to resources to bring programs on new technology and market developments as well as on parts of the industry that are being reinvented.
- Address the roles of agriculture production, food processing, agriculture education, and research and support roles in agriculture and food in program planning as possible.