50 Years of Providing a Critical Foundation - Here's to AFP!

This post is written from an intense, jam-packed Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. More than 3,500 fundraisers from five continents are gathered for relevant, helpful educational sessions and inspiring speakers including Lee Woodruff, Peter Thum, Archbishop Desmund Tutu and Jeff Salz.

What's particularly significant about this conference is the milestone it represents in fundraising.  In 1960 in New York City, three philanthropists gathered for lunch and discussed the need for ethics to be the foundation of the good philanthropic fundraising work our country and our world would need to move forward effectively.

That lunch became the genesis for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The cornerstones of this calling to do good well are the Code of Ethics and the Donor Bill of Rights.  
Anyone generous enough to give any gift to a cause they feel connected to deserves nothing less.

Fifty years ago, AFP began with a focus on:
1. Honoring donor intent
2. Addressing the lack of ethics in percentage based compensation
3. Addressing reasonable and responsible fundraising costs 

Congratulations and thank you to the many amazing philanthropists who laid a critical foundation for today with the formation of AFP. If you're hiring for fundraising services, make sure your resource is an AFP member.