Mike’s Message Takeover: Education Overview: What’s New in 2024

A core purpose of AFP since its founding over 60 years ago has been to provide relevant and high-quality education to the fundraising community. 

How we define education, both the content and the format, has evolved throughout that time, to meet the changing needs of our profession. 

In 2024, AFP plans to continue to update our education offerings to maximize the value that participants receive and the accessibility of our programming. 

Complimentary Webinars
Nonprofit budgets are often tight, which means many fundraisers don’t have the support to attend paid continuing education opportunities. 

In 2024, AFP will work with our partners in the fundraising space to offer around 40 complimentary webinars, making our education more accessible, and allowing fundraisers to have access to the best practices and skills they need to make an impact. 

As always, our commitment to quality education remains. The partners that we choose to present these webinars are industry experts with valuable insights to share. They have been selected based on their ability to address the topics that our professional development staff and volunteer committees have identified as essential to current and future fundraising skill development. 

In addition to these complimentary webinars, we will also still be offering 12 premium webinars throughout the year. We know many chapters have purchased webinar bundles from us in the past. These bundles will still be available with this year’s premium webinars. 

As these webinars are scheduled, you can find them on the AFP Events Calendar, alongside a number of other educational offerings including more than 20 virtual Deep Dive workshops, Faculty Training Academy, AFP’s Train the Trainer program, the Leadership Institute, AFP’s new leadership development program, designed to provide the next generation with the skills they need to claim a seat at the leadership table, AFP ICON, our cornerstone event and the largest fundraising conference in the world, AFP LEAD, our annual leadership conference, and much more. 

You can also find past and future webinars on the webinars and conference recordings page. As in years past, in 2024, AFP members will have access to a $100 (USD) professional development credit that can be used on any of these webinars or conference recordings. 

Digital Badges
Best practices are constantly changing, and employers want to see that a candidate is committed to keeping up with the latest advances through continuing education. Digital badges are a way to demonstrate this commitment and signify the skills you’re competent in. 

One of the programs that AFP will be offering a digital badge for is our Leadership Institute. This week-long in-person program offers participants the opportunity to connect with a small group of aspiring leaders and develop a career plan based on their unique goals and abilities. 

This is a program that requires significant commitment and the willingness to reflect deeply on your strengths and weaknesses in order to truly grow as a leader. A digital badge is a tangible recognition of that work, that signifies to employers and other stakeholders that you possess the skills needed to take the next step in your career. 

We’ll be offering two Leadership Institute cohorts in 2024. Applications for the next cohort, which will be held in Sunnyvale, California, May 5-10, 2024, and the accompanying scholarship application, are open through January 29 if you are interested in joining this program. 

Digital badges will also be available for participating in AFP’s Faculty Training Academy. The program will be offered July 23, 25, 30 & August 1, 2024 (virtual) and November 7 & 8, 2024 (in-person at AFP Global offices in Arlington, VA).  

We are looking forward to being able to provide greater educational value to a broader audience of development professionals because of these programming updates. If you have any questions, please reach out to the professional development team at professionaldevelopment@afpglobal.org.