Passing the Torch: My Last Mike’s Monday Message

After seven and a half years here at AFP, tomorrow, I pass the torch. 

Though I will be attending AFP ICON and will be accessible throughout the month of April, to ensure a smooth transition, April 1 is H. Art Taylor’s first official day as CEO of AFP. That makes this my last Mike’s Monday Message – so it will be a little longer than usual.

Welcome Art!  I’m excited for you, for the membership, and the sector – this is a great role and one you will love… most of the time, lol. I’m here to help you and support you in any way I can.

When I started these Mike’s Monday Messages I wrote, “Though I’m the one posting, it’s really your thoughts and views that we'll be posting, as much as mine—it's about the AFP community and the fundraising profession.” Now, as I look back through the 70+ pages of Mike’s Messages on the website in an attempt to sum up everything we’ve done together, I’m proud to say that this is still true today. 

We’ve used this message as a platform to lift up diverse voices and viewpoints, celebrate progress, as well as address the challenges our world, our sector, and our organization have dealt with over the last several years. 

I can’t summarize the entire seven and a half years, but here’s a sampling of the themes that resonated with me—and hopefully with you—during this time. 

When I started with AFP, both AFP Global and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy were in deep financial trouble. With the help of a great staff, we turned both organizations around and gave them a very solid foundation (no pun intended) on which to build. 

Leadership Development
A big sector-wide concern was the lack of qualified nonprofit leaders who were taking over the roles that retiring Baby Boomers and soon Gen X’ers were leaving vacant. We knew we needed programming that would equip fundraisers with the skills to advance their careers and claim a seat at the leadership table. 

As a result, in 2018, we reimagined the AFP Leadership Academy, taking it from an event focused on building AFP’s internal volunteer leader pipeline, to a true leadership conference for the fundraising sector—AFP LEAD. This event was a great opportunity to give a broad audience a taste of leadership training, but we wanted to do more. And wow, has it evolved! The numbers of attendees have more than doubled and more importantly the diversity of the attendees has broadened dramatically.  Then, over the next few years, beginning in June 2019, the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy, in partnership with CARTER and Bridge Philanthropic, conducted research and developed the curriculum for the AFP Leadership Institute, which launched in 2023. 

The small-group, cohort format of the Leadership Institute allowed participants to dig deeper, developing personalized leadership development plans tailored to their skillsets and goals. They also quickly became their own sub-set of the AFP community, with cohort members leaning on one another for support long after the week-long program was over. 

These types of sustained connections are what AFP is all about. I can’t wait to see where the next phase of this initiative leads (pun intended).

COVID-19
We just recently passed the five-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which somehow simultaneously seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago, with how rapidly things have changed. AFP was gearing up to host AFP ICON that month in Baltimore, but quickly were forced to pivot, along with the rest of the world, to a virtual event—the first of two virtual ICONs, as Minneapolis in 2021 became fully virtual as well. We were the first in our sector to pivot such a large event from in-person to virtual and, in an effort to help others, we wrote a white paper on our experiences and distributed it widely.

Now in 2025, as our sector grapples with the impact of policy changes and a world full of adversity, I’ve found myself revisiting a lot of COVID-era messaging—phrases like “challenging times” and “uncertainty.” In 2020, AFP’s goal was to provide you with support, whether that be education on how to adapt your fundraising strategies, mental health resources, or, as was often the case, much-needed human connection—a virtual community to stand by your side. Our challenges today are different, but a lot of our sector’s needs are similar. Community is still paramount. We are still all in this together. #OneAFP. And even as circumstances beyond our control threaten our missions, we find ways to carry on. 

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
IDEA principles have long had a place at AFP, but in the last few years, IDEA has grown to be a value that is incorporated throughout our work at every level, including in our strategic plan. 

In 2018, we launched the Women’s Impact Initiative to address issues such as gender discrimination, the pay gap, and sexual harassment. The research we conducted with The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and later The Ohio State University, ultimately led to the Speaking Truth to Power Toolkit, a guide to understanding and addressing sexual harassment in the fundraising profession. 

As part of this work, we pushed the sector to publish salary ranges and to not require four-year academic degrees if life experiences and past jobs made a candidate equally qualified. Why did we do this? It was clear to us that women and historically underrepresented communities were harmed and further disadvantaged by these practices. It pleases us greatly to see that many others have now joined our call.

In 2020, movements for social justice, such as Black Lives Matter, brought IDEA even further to the forefront, sparking conversations within AFP about racism and its impact on philanthropy. 

We created affinity groups to serve as safe spaces for connection and discussion. We updated our Code of Ethics and created a Member Code of Conduct to provide a pathway to report unacceptable behavior. As an organization we made mistakes and I issued an apology from the general session stage at AFP ICON 2023 in New Orleans, specifically addressing an incident of racism that occurred at the Greater Toronto Chapter. And in 2024, Nneka Allen interviewed Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the 1619 Project, as our opening keynote at AFP ICON in Toronto, continuing the dialogue about race. 

As a white male, I relied heavily during these conversations on Birgit Smith Burton, AFP Global’s first Black female board chair, who served in 2023 and 2024. I learned a lot from her lived experience and I’m grateful for her collaboration, because it has positioned AFP to be in a much better place today – much more work to do for sure.

Even as DEI measures come under attack, it is my hope that we continue to be a vocal advocate for IDEA so our community can remain a place of belonging for every member.

Advocacy 
As the association representing the fundraising sector, AFP advocates on behalf of legislation that will incentivize charitable giving and positively impact nonprofits. Since 2019, one of our biggest priorities has been passage of the Charitable Act, a bipartisan bill which provided a charitable tax deduction for individuals who do not itemize their taxes. The Charitable Act was included in the CARES Act in 2020 but was not renewed in 2022. Since then, AFP has been advocating for it to be reinstated, as it incentivizes giving from small individual donors. 

Your chapter can help us advocate for the Charitable Act during this year’s Lobby Week (June 16-20, 2025), a week in which AFP encourages chapters to meet with their local Congresspeople to share with them the impact of legislation on their communities. AFP started Lobby Week in 2021 as a way to introduce our concerns to new members of Congress elected in 2020. It has continued every year since, with both virtual and in-person meetings. This work has helped with passage of some key legislation including the Legacy IRA Act, which expanded the IRA Charitable Rollover, incentivizing giving for seniors. 

In today’s volatile political environment, it is more important than ever for nonprofits to get involved in advocacy on behalf of their missions and their communities. I encourage everyone to use the form on AFP’s website to contact their Congresspeople and remember to support and collaborate with one another, as we work as an industry to fight for our causes.   

Member Experience and Benefits
This one is a bit of a catch all, but at its core, AFP is here to provide the fundraising sector with valuable education, resources, career support, and networking opportunities, so I wanted to share some of the ways that we’ve accomplished this. 

• Facilitating Connection: In 2018, we launched AFP Connect, a discussion forum for members to ask questions and get advice from fellow fundraisers. Connect is still going strong today with new posts being made daily.
   
• Promoting Ethical Fundraising: In October of 2019, AFP held its inaugural Ethics Awareness Month, reminding members of the importance of promoting ethical fundraising practices. This was followed by the formation of a committee to review and update the Code of Ethical Standards. The new code went into effect this year and includes updated language that makes it more inclusive and representative of the experiences of our entire member community.
   
• Supporting Career Development: In 2019, AFP partnered with Korn Ferry to launch AFP360°, a career management tool which now includes digital resume analysis, traits assessments, and interview practice. In 2020, we launched an upgraded career center and, as mentioned above, began requiring salary ranges on all posted jobs as part of our broader efforts for transparency and equality in compensation.
   
• Research for the Profession: In addition to our Compensation and Benefits Survey, AFP has conducted several other surveys over the last few years including a series of fundraising confidence surveys, the survey on sexual harassment which resulted in the Speaking Truth to Power Toolkit, and an IDEA survey, all of which have provided valuable benchmarks for the fundraising profession. Meanwhile, in partnership with GivingTuesday, the AFP Foundation has continued to support the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, which produces quarterly reports on fundraising trends. These reports have been a vital resource in understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent inflation on charitable giving.
   
• Cutting-Edge Education: During COVID-19, AFP greatly expanded our virtual education offerings with a new Spotlight Session series focused on healthcare and an AFP ICON Summer Series, which augmented our virtual ICON conference with additional sessions focused on the challenges fundraisers were facing. Since then, we’ve consistently hosted numerous complimentary webinars, as well as Deep Dives, an Emerging Leader Virtual Workshop, and micro-learning videos.
   
• Fundraising Around the Globe: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention AFP Canada and AFP Mexico, both of which are constantly working to support our members in their respective countries. I had the pleasure of attending several Congreso Hemisférico meetings, including presenting with Birgit Smith Burton at last year’s event. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with Lisa Davey, vice president of AFP Canada, facilitating their growth and supporting efforts such as their push for a dedicated secretariat for the charitable sector and recently, an IDEAA audit that AFP Canada is conducting.
  
  The wonderful relationships I have built with my Canadian and Mexican colleagues and communities only deepen the sadness that I have for how current U.S. policies are affecting them. The economic impact of these policies has and will continue to have dramatic effects on you, our members, and your ability to succeed for your organizations and causes. There will be irreversible and damaging long term impact that we likely won’t recover from for quite some time. But through it all, I know that our members will lean on each other and support each other, and together we will get through even this. AFP will continue to fight for you and support each of you as we live through these very difficult times. #OneAFP! We see you, hear you and we are there for you – unequivocally and unwavering.

Final Thank Yous
It's impossible to sum up seven and a half years in one message; this barely scratches the surface of everything that has happened and all of the work that we’ve done together during my time here. Through the ups and downs, I’m immensely grateful to have gotten this opportunity to be a part of this community. 

I want to thank all of the board chairs that I’ve had the pleasure of serving with—Ann Hale, Martha Schumacher, Kevin Foyle, Birgit Smith Burton, and for the last three months, Roger Ali.

I’d also like to thank the AFP Global staff who did the hard work of implementing and managing the day-to-day operations of all of these programs. We could not have accomplished everything we did without their daily dedication and flexibility. I was blessed with an incredible group of human beings – a group that made the good times amazing and the tough times manageable and a group on whom I leaned probably more than they leaned on me – thank you, Team!

Thank you to all of the donors to the AFP Foundation; your generosity has facilitated numerous programs on behalf of our profession. And finally, all of the other volunteers who have served on AFP’s various boards, committees, and task forces—thank you for taking the time to be a driving force for our organization. 

It has been a privilege to support and champion the work that you do and see the profound impact that work has had on our communities and our world. 

As I turn over the reins to Art and our volunteer leaders, I am confident that the future of philanthropy is in capable hands.

With heartfelt gratitude,
Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA