Mike’s Monday Message: AFP is YOUR Advocate

March is Women’s History Month, and today, for International Women’s Day, we celebrate the achievements of women throughout history. As I reflect on what this day means and I review the amicus brief that we’ve signed on to for a critical Supreme Court case involving donor privacy, I am reminded of one of AFP’s key but often overlooked roles: advocate.

If you’re like most members, you joined AFP to benefit from our education and networking opportunities. The roles of educator and convener are two of AFP’s primary roles, and they continue to be the most popular reasons for joining and remaining a member. Other popular aspects of AFP that members also mention include ethics, research and collaboration.

Advocacy isn’t one that’s referred to often, yet it’s an increasingly important aspect of the work AFP does every day.

When you hear the word “advocacy,” you might think of government relations, and that’s definitely a critical component of our advocacy work. As your professional association, we need to be advocating for you before the government. The amicus brief that we supported and signed onto for an upcoming Supreme Court case involving disclosure of Schedule B of the Form 990 is a landmark moment in our advocacy work as we advance the views of our members.

But wait, there’s more! We are also advocating on your behalf on a number of other issues, including the universal charitable deduction, the IRA Rollover, postage reform and likely a comprehensive privacy bill—and that’s just in the U.S.  In Canada, we’re pushing for additional COVID-relief funding and giving incentives, as well as the elimination of the capital gains tax on charitable gifts of private company shares and real estate, among many other proposals.

That said, our role as your advocate extends far beyond just government relations. We serve as an advocate for you in all environments and all settings. To be an advocate is “to offer support to those who feel they are not being heard and to ensure they are taken seriously and that their rights are respected. An advocate does not represent their own views but amplifies that of the person they are supporting.”

I like that definition because it encompasses how we need to approach advocacy—that AFP Global is not telling members and others what to do, but that we’re listening to what our members need, involving them in the process and understanding how we can best offer support. Those principles serve as the foundation for our Women’s Impact Initiative that we celebrate this month, along with all of our IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access) and anti-racism work.

We have made a commitment to be strong advocates for our members, our donors and others who rely on our organization’s programs. It has required a shift in our thinking and how we operate, both strategically and on a tactical, day-to-day level, that hasn’t always been easy. But that work has made AFP a stronger, more effective and more equitable community, even as we acknowledge that we still have much progress to make.

So when we introduce the latest groundbreaking research on harassment in the profession through the Women’s Impact Initiative; when we point to greater representation of Black people and people of color on our boards; when we launch the Emerging Leaders Initiative to ensure the voices of young fundraisers and those new to the profession are being heard—those are the results of our new advocacy approach. We are listening with the intent to understand how we, AFP Global, can best support our members, our chapters and the profession.

Because my goal is to ensure that everyone—no matter your background or any particular characteristic you may possess—can find success, however you define it, in our profession. And we achieve that goal by focusing on our critical work as an advocate for you and the fundraising community.