Your AFP Canada Board Is Hard at Work!

July 18, 2018

By Scott Decksheimer, CFRE

Hi, everyone! There is a LOT going in with AFP in Canada, with a number of different projects focused on advancing fundraising and supporting you and your job in so many different ways. If you’re interested in learning more about any of these projects, contact Lisa Davey, our new vice president, Canada, at lisa.davey@afpglobal.org.

VP Canada Hire

As announced in New Orleans at our International Conference on Fundraising, we have hired our new Vice President, Canada. Lisa Davey joined the AFP leadership team on June 18. Mike Geiger, AFP president and CEO, Lori Gusdorf, executive vice president of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy – Canada, and the rest of the AFP staff have been working with Lisa, and an announcement about her hiring went out in the June 13 AFP eWire Canada.

Canadian Leadership Retreat

The Canadian Leadership Retreat is being held in Edmonton, July 26-28. The retreat officially starts on Thursday evening, and will end at noon on Saturday. AFP Canada and AFP Foundation for Philanthropy - Canada board meetings bookend the event, and the AFP team will be providing updates when the retreat is concluded.

Strategic Planning

The Joint Strategic Planning Committee of AFP Canada, the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy - Canada, and our Canadian chapters has been meeting regularly, working on a shared plan that will focus comprehensively on our efforts across the country. Each chapter was asked to review the draft plan and complete a questionnaire by the end of June to provide input for the retreat discussions. The goal is to have a plan approved at AFP Leadership Academy, which is being held in Toronto in October 11-13.

Governance Task Force – AFP International

AFP International has approved governance changes put forward by a task force of volunteer leaders. This report included a reduction in the AFP International board membership to 24, with a redistribution of seats and removal of some board member categories. Prior to meeting in New Orleans, both the International Board and general membership approved the revised bylaws. Beginning in 2019, the chair of AFP Canada will have an allocated seat on the board of AFP International, along with the chairs of the Canada, US and Mexico AFP Foundations.

International Fundraising Summit

With the creation of AFP Canada, our country now has a seat at the International Fundraising Summit. As chair, I was pleased to attend as the Canadian delegate to the summit, which was held in London, England on July 4 and 5. The 2017 summit, held in San Francisco, helped to bring forward information on global leadership, negative media coverage and the impact of technology on our organizations. That meeting laid the groundwork for some of AFP Canada’s efforts on building a new narrative for fundraising. This year, the Summit focused heavily on the International Statement of Ethical Principles, including approval of some revisions to that document. I will report more about the Summit at our Leadership Retreat and in future newsletters.

Communications

Ken Mayhew is leading the Communications Committee on six priority areas for the coming year, including the value proposition for membership (in Canada), refining the Asking Matters document for other audiences and developing a planned annual communications calendar. Please note that the AFP eWire Canada will now be published once a month. We welcome your feedback on the content and its value to Canadian members!

Government Relations

The 2017 Day in the Ridings initiative was an outstanding success with over 70 face-to-face meetings. Dan Brunette and his committee are in the process of renewing work on this initiative for 2018. The committee has also been asked to set a process for consultation on our public policy priorities. We look forward to sharing more about that as the initiative moves forward.

Revenue Development – Every Chapter Counts

As a follow-up to our Revenue Development Task Force, we have sent a request to chapters for funds to support special projects of AFP Canada. These requests were sent by Lori Gusdorf, president of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy – Canada, in coordination with the foundation. Please let us know if you have any questions.

AFP International Conference meeting

Thanks to all the leaders who joined us bright and early for our meeting in New Orleans. While the meetings were a couple of months ago, please know I don’t take your support lightly. Thank you also to those sponsors who supported the Red & White reception. Once again, our event was the “go to” reception, thanks to the energy of the participants and the value the sponsors provided. Thanks to:

• Agents of Good
• Globalfaces Direct
• Social Blue
• ViTreo Group
• Blackbaud
• iWave Information Systems
• Len Gamache Consulting

Sectoral Relationships

As we learn more about the work of our chapters across Canada, we are hearing about local relationships with other professional organizations (e.g. CAGP, AHP, CASE). We want to understand the depth of these local relationships; and know how (or if) you partner in your community. If your chapter has these types of affiliations please let us know so we can determine how these relationships can fit into our national service to our profession.

AFP Canada Committee on Directorship (COD)

I will be chairing the COD for appointment of the 2019 Board for AFP Canada. We will be recruiting three or four other members from across Canada to support our work. Please continue to consider your role in 2019 and beyond. We can appoint a Chair-Elect who will serve as chair beginning in 2021.