Heifer International takes on its biggest project to date — an $800 million campaign to alleviate hunger and educate the world.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

“The Hope for the Future Campaign is a balance to the wide net that direct mail set out. We have projects all over the world that could fit [major gift donors’] interests,” adds Woodworth, whose job it is to coordinate Heifer’s national major gifts program.

Major gifts as a dedicated effort began in the fall of 2001, nearly 60 years into the organization’s history. After Sept. 11, 2001, Woodworth says, it became clear that it was time to encourage people to give what Heifer calls “transformational” gifts. It was then that Americans seemed primed to look at “the big picture” and were ready to make a difference in the world.