Changing Our Culture, One Step at a Time

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

One of the things I’m committed to at AFP is change. If you are not changing, odds are, you are falling behind.

Ever since I came to AFP, we’ve been going through a whole process of change—reviewing everything we do, every program we offer and every resource we provide.

Some of these changes will be more obvious and affect some of our well-known programs, such as the new website we’ll be unveiling later this Fall. We’re also in the process of revamping our entire educational programming—you may have seen our recent Request for Proposals for new educational ideas and content. You’ll also see a lot of changes to our upcoming Leadership Academy in Toronto and our 2019 ICON (International Conference on Fundraising) in San Antonio.

Other changes may not be so obvious but are just as important. Recently we just changed policies regarding our employment process. When we post jobs at AFP, we will always be including the salary range for the position. For applicants, we will no longer ask for salary requirements and will begin accepting work or other appropriate experience instead of a college degree.

I’ve also just instituted, through an outside firm, an anonymous staff hotline for reporting violations of conduct at AFP. The purpose of this service is to ensure that any employee wishing to submit an incident report can do so anonymously and without fear of retribution. Any reported incidents will not be sent to me, but to two board members, Scott Decksheimer, CFRE and Vivian Ann Smith, CFRE, for further investigation.

I want AFP to be an effective, innovative, ground-breaking and future-looking organization, with its work grounded in a culture that incorporates the values that we all share: transparency, integrity, respect, cooperation, equity, inclusion and many more. We need to demonstrate our values and principles in everything we do, whether it’s putting on the largest conference of fundraising professionals in the world or having a one-on-one phone call with a member.

If you ever feel like we’re not living up to these values and principles, let me know! I want to hear from you. We might disagree, but I’ll always listen and then explain our views and why we’re doing what we’re doing.

This is how the best organizations move forward—listening, talking, debating and changing. This is the kind of organization and community I want AFP to be. Thanks for being part of it, and let us know how we can best serve you.