AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
“We’re asking APEGA Members who want to support a worthy cause to make room for an investment in Alberta’s youth. Your investment will help sustain the professions by exposing youth to rewarding careers and removing financial barriers.”
Similarly, Aboriginal peoples are underrepresented in Professional Engineering and Geoscience. It’s estimated that fewer than 100 Aboriginal people in Alberta are members of the professions. If they were represented to the same extent they are found in Alberta’s population — 5.8 per cent, according to the 2006 Statistics Canada census — there would be about 3,000 Aboriginals using APEGA designations.
ACTION PLAN
These are the new goals of the foundation, but how to achieve them? To start, the foundation plans to hire an executive director and an assistant to enhance its fundraising capability and capacity. It is hoped the new director will be in place by late 2015 or early 2016. Until then, the foundation’s dedicated volunteer board will continue to work on an action plan to increase the number of donors and the amount the foundation invests. The aim is to increase the number of donors from 4,000 to 5,000 and to increase their average donation from $75 to $100. This would have an impact of $200,000 annually. Successful implementation of this plan will depend on the generosity of APEGA Members, who have shown increasing support over the past several years. In 2013, individual donations topped $262,000. This was almost double 2011, when donations totalled $133,000. But there’s still some work to do if the foundation wants to meet its long-term goal of $400,000 a year in individual donations. “We’re asking APEGA Members who want to support a worthy cause to make room for an investment in Alberta’s youth,” says Mr. Motyka. “Your investment will help sustain the professions by exposing youth to rewarding careers and removing financial barriers.” If you make a donation of over $200, don’t be surprised to get a thank-you call from a foundation representative. “Funding is about building relationships,” he notes. “We want to make a personal connection with donors and let them know the impact their donations will have.” Board members will also be cultivating new relationships by either calling or meeting face-to-face with potential donors in their network. “It’s about creating awareness,” says Mr. Motyka. “Once people know about the foundation and what our mission is, they’re more likely to make a donation.” The foundation is also asking corporations — APEGA Permit Holders in particular — to invest in the education of our province’s future P.Eng. and P.Geo. workforce. The goals of the foundation — to attract vibrant, smart young people into the professions — overlap well with the goals of engineering and geoscience companies, who depend on the availability of skilled professionals to help their companies prosper and grow. “With Professional Engineering and Geoscience labour shortages forecast for the long term, Permit Holders have a stake in the education of young engineers and geoscientists,” says Mr. Motyka.
DAN MOTYKA, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) APEGA Education Foundation President
DONATIONS ARE IN GOOD HANDS
The foundation works directly with leaders in post-secondary education and outreach organizations to make sure donations are invested wisely and go where they’ll have the biggest impact. “Members who have an interest in growing the professions but are unsure how to invest in it will find that AEF is a useful tool — we remove the guesswork,” says Mr. Motyka. Your investment in the future of the Engineering and Geoscience Professions will live on — not only through the endowments created and built through your support, but through the meaningful work of young people entering the professions, creating wealth, sustaining the environment and enhancing the quality of life in our communities.
HOW TO GIVE
Giving to the APEGA Education Foundation is straightforward. There are four donation options. • Attach a cheque for the foundation to your annual APEGA membership renewal form and mail it in • Donate online any time through the APEGA Member Self-Service Centre • Donate online or begin monthly donations through CanadaHelps.org • Download a donation form from the AEF website at apega.ca/AEF and mail in a cheque
74 | PEG SPRING 2015
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