AFP Needs a Reality-Check
Time for our communities to be the priority
Dear Ones,
Are any of you attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)’s international fundraising conference (ICON) next week in Seattle?
I am!
If you are, hit “reply” or comment on the post and let me know. I’d love to make a point to meet up with you there!
Beyond that hope, I’m bringing up ICON today because I want to share some lessons about this year’s ICON… and ways in which AFP has been completely tone-deaf and counter-productive in its seeming disconnect from the reality we’re all living right now:
The current United States presidential administration has completely turned the world upside down, leaving us all reeling and struggling for footing.
Our economy is tanking.
People are being disappeared from our streets on the regular.
Our country is aligning with notorious despots around the world… while the beacons of democracy in the world are aligning in opposition to us.
The hatred and violence of White Supremacy has gained new prominence, after being granted permission to move out of the shadows.
Escalating trade wars mean that every business — from the smallest mom-and-pops to the largest corporations — is scrambling to survive.
And our world of nonprofits is absorbing one bomb explosion after the other, as not only our funding gets cut off, but the very values and missions that power our work are threatened with retaliation and vanquishment.
In short, something we probably never imagined could happen in our country — after the United States led the global coalition countering the violent fascism radiating out of Nazi Germany in the 1940s — is here.
We have become what we fought.
We need to acknowledge this reality — for only in seeing it clearly can we begin to effectively confront and foil it.
And just as important as acknowledging our reality, we need to be willing to challenge our colleagues, embrace conflict, and speak truth to power, if we’re ever going to get from where we are… to somehow surviving this perilous moment.
Survival is not a given.
We need to work for it…
… by being different than we’ve ever been before.
I’m sharing an example of how we can do that below.
With Love,
Cecelia 💗
Something that brings us here, to this space — and into our shared work in the world — is that we feel like our current world is… not the one we want.
We just know, intuitively, that it doesn’t have to be this way.
So we work for a better world.
We work for more justice…
… more peace…
… more love and care.
And here’s the thing that do-gooders like us don’t often want to face: if we care about creating a better world, the work to get there is not going to be all butterflies and sunshine and unicorns.
In fact, much of it will be hard. Heart-breaking. Confounding. Exhausting. And here’s one of the most difficult truths to accept: filled with conflict.
I don’t know about you, but here in Minnesota, where I live, the dominant culture is very much conflict-averse.
Conflict is seen as bad.
Conflict is scary.
Conflict should be avoided at all costs.
These are the implicit, subconscious, and sometimes even very explicit and conscious lessons we’re taught here.
But friends, conflict can be generative.
And if we do not embrace conflict, I can guarantee you: things will remain exactly as they are… our status quo will remain the norm… and the path we’re currently on will continue, as we slide into fascism.
Does that sound like what you want?
If your answer is no, conflict is your friend.
ICON Drama Emerges
In the past few weeks, international attendees of ICON — especially a large contingent from Canada — have been buzzing about how they don’t feel like they can/should cross the border into the United States right now.
Some of the buzz was more public…
… and AFP caught wind of it.
This is how AFP responded, on LinkedIn, at the start of April:
Dear Colleagues,
We have read the recent calls for AFP members from Canada to cancel attendance at AFP ICON 2025 and want to address these concerns directly and thoughtfully.
We deeply respect the position of those who believe Canadian fundraisers should not attend this year’s conference. Your concerns about the current political climate are valid, and we appreciate your principled stance.While we recognize and respect these concerns, we also believe this moment presents an opportunity to lead in a different way—one that upholds the unifying role of philanthropy in strengthening communities across borders.
We understand that some Canadian members may feel physically and psychologically unsafe entering the U.S. at this time. Personal safety and individual conscience is a right and we respect the decision of not attending to support their country's position. We encourage those considering attendance to consult current travel advisories for the most accurate information.We stand in solidarity with all organizations and members who have been impacted and we want to reaffirm our commitment to them.
We believe this moment calls for more connection, not less. AFP ICON is not an American conference that happens to allow international participation—it's a global gathering of our professional community that happens to be hosted in the U.S.ICON 2025 is a pivotal moment for AFP as an organization. Rather than withdrawing, we see this as an opportunity to reinforce the values of philanthropy—compassion, inclusion, and partnership.
At a time when political and social forces may seek to divide, we have an opportunity to model what true collaboration looks like. The challenges facing philanthropy today—whether in Canada, the U.S., or beyond—are not bound by borders. Issues such as food insecurity, healthcare access, education, and equity are global in nature, and our strength lies in learning from each other, working together, and advancing a shared vision of a better world. In times of political tension, these shared values become even more important to affirm.
We believe AFP ICON 2025 will be a meaningful experience that honors and recognizes all participants while acknowledging the complex realities we face. And we remain hopeful that our Canadian friends will join us at this important gathering of our global fundraising community.
Art Taylor, our new president and CEO, has already planned to visit Canada as soon as timing works for him and our other volunteer leaders.
We encourage thoughtful dialogue and continue to listen to the voices of our community. Philanthropy should never be a force for separation. It should be a force for bringing people together.
Respectfully,
Roger D. Ali, MBA, C. Dir., CFRE, Chair, AFP Global
Rea Ganesh, MBA, Chair, AFP Canada
Amanda Fritz, CFRE, MPNL, Co-Chair, AFP Foundation for Philanthropy - Canada
Muneeb Syed, CFRE, Co-Chair, AFP Foundation for Philanthropy - Canada
Art Taylor, President and CEO, AFP Global
As soon as I started reading this letter, I started shaking my head.
I saw a word salad with a bunch of platitudes…
… and a kind of communication that, if you really read the energy behind it, actively undermines its very words.
To my eyes and ears, the inherent message here — despite the words used — is something more like this:
“The thing we care most about is that you come to ICON. We have this huge conference that we’ve invested thousands in, and we need you to show up so we don’t lose all this money. So we’re going to use some flowery language to try to convince you to come, despite what your better judgement is telling you.”
Here is how I responded on LinkedIn:
With respect, AFP, I think this message really misses the boat.
I keep having these experiences, in my volunteer leadership with AFP, where this organization seems SO out-of-touch with what's actually happening, on-the-ground, in real peoples' lives, with real organizations connected closely to the communities they serve.
And it is frustrating. Very frustrating.
Yes, philanthropy ultimately unites us, embodies compassion, brings inclusion and belonging, grows community, etc. Ideally.
But we live in a very not-ideal world right now, and the U.S. government is currently creating VERY real harm. People are genuinely afraid. Coming here IS risky. For many, many people.
And I feel like if you're NOT afraid, or even hesitant, to come here? That is a pretty good sign that you have a great deal of privilege in this dominant culture — which is also a sign that you probably don't have a very good idea of what might be happening with others who lack your privilege.
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
- Desmond Tutu
I started writing this comment…
… and I couldn’t finish right away.
Once I posted it, and saw all the other comments that had shown up in my absence, I knew I needed to comment again:
OK, I have more to say.
I started my initial comment when this post was brand-new and there was only one other comment. Then I had to run to a meeting, and I came back to finish and post... and it was only then that I saw HOW MANY other comments were here — and what their content was.
I'm going to go ahead and state a transparent truth here. There is no reason why this should be a secret.
AFP Global is focused on their bottom line, here.
They have many TENS OF THOUSANDS in sunk costs for this conference that they will just lose if folks don't come.So they are trying to prevent that from happening. The rhetoric was just dressing that up, and that is why so many of you heard it as performative.
How do I know this?
Because a very similar thing happened when ICON was scheduled to be in Minneapolis on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder. Our local group knew how wrong it would be... and we tried to get them to move it... and there was SO MUCH drama and struggle to get there.
We had to push and push and push.
I could say so much more.
But I'll end with this:
I find it SO sad when an organization that supposedly serves the community... and philanthropy... seems to serve money far more than those things.
Here is the post on LinkedIn, if you want to see the original source with ALL of the comments and discussion (there’s a LOT!).
Speaking Truth to Power Brings Some Resolution
AFP was silent for a long time.
I didn’t see any responses from AFP Global’s leadership in the comments of that LinkedIn post, though I did notice AFP Global’s Board Chair “liking” the one or two comments — amidst dozens to the contrary! — in support of the message. I thought that rather odd and, again, out-of-touch.
But otherwise?
Silence.
More silence.
And then, nearly a full week later, AFP sent an email just to those of us registered for ICON (which completely side-stepped, and in effect gave the silent treatment to, all of those who had passionately engaged with the public message on LinkedIn). As far as all of those people are concerned, they still have not heard a peep from AFP — which is just wild to me.
The email said that AFP would offer full refunds to those who decided they could not attend because of the current political and social environment in the United States — or they could transfer their registration to ICON 2026.
YES!
This was one of the primary requests from AFP’s community.
AFP also said that they were working to see how they could create a concurrent virtual experience of this year’s ICON, if folks wanted to participate that way.
Again, YES!
This is what folks had been asking for.
Did that really need to be so hard?
Here is a video they shared with us, of Art Taylor, the newly appointed CEO of AFP, sharing a message of apology and resolution with us all.
True Community Starts at the Grassroots
Here’s the thing.
I’ve been involved with AFP for a long time now.
And since I first got engaged as a volunteer leader of this organization, I’ve noticed how completely calcified and out-of-touch-with-on-the-ground-reality this organization seemed.
For far too long now, AFP has been functioning in very corporate, top-down, hierarchical ways — which, to my mind, is pretty ridiculous for an organization that claims to serve individual fundraisers who are embedded in, and actively living and working in, communities all around the world. These people are not minions at the base of AFP’s castle. They are the life-blood of a pulsing ecosystem.
How can AFP effectively serve these fundraisers… in ways they actually need and want… if it has fashioned the organizational architecture in that corporatized, top-down, hierarchical way? Spoiler Alert: it can’t.
AFP is due for a reckoning… a re-organization… and a re-birth.
In responding to one of the other comments on the aforementioned LinkedIn post, I put my vision like this:
I've just finished a seven-year term on the board of AFP's Minnesota Chapter, and we decided to end dues for local membership during that time… and made all educational and other events pay-what-you-can, for many of the same reasons you're posing here.
We've been encouraging the Global org to move in a similar direction.
We saw a real need for us to serve the ENTIRE fundraising community, all of which can benefit from the education and support and community we offer — rather than just the few who could afford to pay many hundreds of dollars for this kind of professional development.
Gate-keeping indeed.We have been trying to remove all of the gates, one by one.
We want AFP to move away from being an exclusive club... to being a truly community-serving, community-based org.
AFP Global still has a LOT of work to do on that front — particularly with this ICON gathering.
In my mind, AFP needs to be a community-based org that functions from the grassroots-UP… rather than a staid corporate hierarchy functioning from an out-of-touch-and-remote-leadership-DOWN.
In short, AFP Global should be taking its marching orders directly from the communities, and their fundraisers, it claims to serve — and not the other way around.
Will this latest brouhaha help AFP get there?
Only time will tell.
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Thank you for being here!
💗
We’ll see you when you’re here in Seattle!
So well put, C. Such wise words. Thank you for sharing and being ready to respond to the of-the-moment needs of the community.