A Message From Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA
As fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, no matter our cause, we are part of the solution to making the world a better place—by listening, empathizing, inspiring, raising funds and taking action.
AFP stands for and fights for the values of inclusion, justice, diversity, fairness, generosity and compassion. Fundraising unites people—there is no place for exclusion, racism and oppression.
AFP members raise funds for thousands of different causes, but stamping out institutional racism must be a priority for all. Every donor we inspire, every dollar we raise, every colleague we support, every action we take—is another vital step on the journey to eliminating hatred and racism.
Most importantly, regardless of our race, gender, socioeconomic circumstances, sexual preferences, geography or any other applied labels, we must ALL act and we must all act TOGETHER.
AFP continues to create its long-term plan in conjunction with our IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Committee, volunteer leaders and different voices in the profession. In the short term, AFP is:
- Supporting organizations working on issues of equality, racism and racial justice through monetary donations. We’ve identified Bryan Stevenson (a past speaker at our AFP ICON) and his Equal Justice Initiative as one recipient, and are looking at two other organizations, including one in Canada.
- Developing a series of panels and webinars on the issues of racial justice, diversity and equal pay.
- Creating a bundle of webinars and resources about these issues that we’ll be offering at no cost to all members.
More information will be coming soon, and in the meantime, you can read my previous message—along with the comments of Birgit Burton, Martha Schumacher, CFRE, ACFRE, MInstF, and others—here.
Please contact me with your thoughts on all these issues at Mike.Geiger@afpglobal.org.
Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA
President and CEO
Association of Fundraising Professionals
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