When making a gift to any organization, do not overlook the benefit of a gift to be used at the discretion of those responsible for running the ministry. Most donors are not aware of the difficulties sometimes caused by too high a percentage of giving being designated for special projects. For example, on November 1, 1995, ECHO had $68,000 in the bank. But all but $700 of this was designed for special projects. We are very careful to make sure gifts are used only for the purpose designated. This means that on that day and until more gifts came in, we had $700 to use for such essential items as postage, printing, salaries, electric bills, emergency repairs, insurance, phone, etc.

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The annual "ECHO Agricultural Conference" here in Florida has quickly become the key event in ECHO's life each year, and one of our most effective ministries. It is an opportunity unique in the world, where delegates meet and learn from around 200 other delegates with similar agricultural projects or ministries. Attendance is open to anyone working with small-holder farmers in the Third World regardless of their faith, but we emphasize both technical subjects and their integration into the spiritual ministry of the Church.

Registration fees have deliberately been kept way below actual expenses so that any missionary or national who can afford to travel here, can easily afford the conference also. As funds are available, scholarships are also offered to qualified organizations. Local churches provide nearly all the meals, but smaller gifts can be designated for specific needs, such as bringing in a special overseas speaker.

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One of the most significant ministries of ECHO is our internship program in Third World small-farm agriculture. This program gives college-educated Christian students a rare opportunity for an in-depth exploration of the possibility of personal career involvement as a specialist in missions and community development. It is a year of work, study, and stretching to master new technical subjects and people skills. Interns work for $350 a month plus housing, utilities, health insurance and some food from the farm. Agricultural Interns are directed by ECHO's Farm Manager, Danny Blank.

Overseas Portion of the Internship

When the year is up, the next three months are spent in Haiti. We ask interns to raise half of their expenses for this time (in part to give them experience in personal fund raising, a necessary task in non-profit work). To make their fund-raising easier, ECHO has in the past offered them a "matching gift program" in which we match every dollar that is raised (up to the cost of the 3 months). The total cost of the overseas portion of the internship is about $3,500 per intern.

Internship in Non-Profit Public Relations

This internship is a relatively new position at ECHO. The PR intern provides needed assistance to our development staff, enabling us to be more efficient in raising support for ECHO's ministry. At the same time, it provides an unusual opportunity for a recent college graduate to develop skills and credentials in development/public relations (a skill in great demand by non-profit organizations all over the country). They are deliberately involved in many aspects of development and public relations, accompanying staff to meetings, attending workshops, etc. Their time is directed by ECHO's Director of Development, Mike Sullivan, and his assistant for public relations, Carole Maddox.

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ECHO staff depend upon our technical library to answer questions asked by our overseas network and to provide ideas to share in ECHO Development Notes. Visiting missionaries and students find this to be an invaluable source of information. Interns depend on the library for their personal study and preparation for overseas work. We are selective in what we purchase, but need support to continue to acquire up to date materials, periodicals, and media (video teaching tapes, etc.).

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THE ACTS FUND - (AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCES, TRAINING AND SCHOLARSHIPS)

This flexible fund is a combination of the previous designations and allows ECHO to direct your gift toward the greatest current opportunity for impact in the three areas of conferences, training and scholarships. Past uses have included scholarships to cover conference expenses for missionaries and development worker and book scholarships to allow us the option of providing a key book(s) that will further the ministry of people studying at or corresponding with ECHO. It might also be used to provide a scholarship to cover all or part of the expense of a missionary or intern spending an extended time studying at ECHO. (In the past year, a German missionary to Chad, a Japanese missionary to Nicaragua, a Christian worker with the agricultural extension in his home country of Ghana and an American couple assigned to work in Costa Rica have spent from 10 days to three months learning at ECHO.)

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Your contribution can go a long way by funding the growth and sending of under-utilized food crops.  We send up to ten, trial-size seed packets to workers overseas for free. This is an ongoing expense that can also be covered by a designated gift.

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ECHO Development Notes is the gateway to ECHO's overseas network. It costs about $2,500 to research, write, print, and mail each of the four annual issues of EDN (plus volunteer time to handle the mailing). We would like to have designated gifts to cover each issue. A credit will appear in the issue naming the organization or person who covered the costs of that issue. This is an excellent group project or a memorial gift. ($2,500 for full issue; $1,000 for postage only).

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