• Use the EDEN executive committee's project priority list and budget to acquire funding from various sources
• Make contacts and develop relationships with potential funding sources
• Develop proposals or organize teams of EDEN delegates to develop proposals
• When funding is secured, develop requests for proposals to select lead institutions for each project and bring recommendations for lead institutions to the executive committee for final approval
• Report to the EDEN executive committee
• Work with the EDEN chair to maintain flexibility and make strategic changes to take advantage of unexpected funding opportunities
• Advise the executive committee on financial issues
• Bring reviewed project ideas to the executive committee

The committee will be appointed by the EDEN chair with delegates who have experience and connections rather than volunteers and will serve during that EDEN chair's term. The immediate past chair will be a member of the committee.

The Development committee chair and leader of each funded project will provide updates on each EDEN executive committee call. The Development committee chair will be a member of the executive committee as other committee chairs are.

Examples:

This would be similar to the process used for the eXtension funds. eXtension was an EDEN priority, so a small group wrote the proposal for EDEN to get eXtension funds. After EDEN was selected for funding, the group then developed the RFP to solicit a leader from EDEN member institutions. The project leader provides updates on executive committee calls.

This also might be compared to 4-H Foundation work in many states. The 4-H staff or a 4-H council sets program priorities and says this is how much each project will cost. The 4-H Foundation director takes that list and makes contacts with groups and individuals he or she thinks might most be interested in funding particular projects. When funding is received, in this case, a staff person usually is in charge of carrying out the project with the funds, though the foundation director stays in contact with both the funder and the person carrying out the project. The top program priority may not be the first to get funded and may not get funded at all, but the director's responsibility is to try to match the highest program priorities with funders who have similar goals.