Miss AFP LEAD 2023? Our President-Elect Reflects on Time in Philly

On behalf of the AFP Greater Madison Chapter, Mike Sweitzer Beckman attended AFP LEAD on October 19–21, 2023 in Philadelphia. Learn more about Mike’s experience at the conference and his key takeaways below.

At AFP LEAD, there were some 450 attendees from around the world, and the time together kicked off for me with all–day meetings with other chapter leaders.

I went with a lot of questions, primarily rooted in: What is the value of the AFP Greater Madison Chapter membership, as well as the AFP Global membership to the fundraising profession? It was helpful to be in a room where I wasn’t the only one trying to articulate answers to these questions.

There was some sobering statistics shared about the nonprofit industry domestically:

1. Nonprofits lag their for-profit counterparts, promoting to the C-suite from within at half the rate of the for-profit sector.

2. Despite women comprising 75% of the nonprofit workforce, women lead only 22% of organizations with budgets north of $55 million.

3. Only 20% of organizations with budgets exceeding $55 million are led by a BIPOC identifying person.

These are tremendously problematic stats that affect our ability to create spaces where all people truly belong. I don’t think we can correct them individually, or even as a chapter. It will take a global reckoning.

My short answer to the question of value of membership is that there is still work to be done to answer these questions of value at the local and global levels, but being a part of a global network reminds me that the profession has a lot of voices and a lot of impact for change around the globe. Networking with leaders in other chapters helped me realize how much passion there is to strengthen our profession, make it more equitable, and help people thrive in the pursuit of connecting donors to passions and change.

I had the chance to network with a range of people, including one person who has served as Chapter President of two different chapters, and another who is considering disbanding their chapter from AFP Global. It was also interesting to hear how other chapters generate revenue. The AFP Greater Madison Chapter relies heavily on event sponsorships, a model that helped the chapter thrive before COVID and has been challenging since 2020. I spoke with one chapter leader who has found a way to generate more revenue through event attendance registration fees, and another chapter that has generated more revenue from their job board and resume review services.

Another challenge I came with seeking answers to is that AFP Global tracks all membership rosters and dues for its 25,000 members. They recently migrated their membership database to a new platform, and it has been messy with lots of inaccurate data available. Some members have lapsed because no renewal notices were sent, or other members received notices of payment due when they had already renewed. Currently, we do not have an accurate tally of our chapter membership base but estimate it’s around 150.

I am passionate about this profession and supporting both the people who have found a home in it and those looking to find one. If you have ideas on creating more value for your AFP membership, I would enjoy hearing from you.

Mike Sweitzer-Beckman, CFRE serves as President-Elect of the AFP Greater Madison Chapter and started in June 2023 as Director of Development for the College of Letters and Science at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association. He can be reached at Mike.Sweitzer-Beckman@supportuw.org.

Mike Sweitzer-Beckman (center) with two other chapter leaders at AFP LEAD 2023 in Philadelphia: Jenny Colvin, president-elect of the AFP Quad Cities chapter, and Liz Wollenberg, president-elect of the AFP Northeast Wisconsin chapter.