Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I often look at February as one of those dark months. It’s shorter than the rest, it’s cold and lends itself well to snuggling in and keeping our heads down in the wind, and it’s the last month before the hope and the hint of spring. I hope you’ll forgive my attempt at poetic symbolism (I’ve just listened to a keynote address about the importance of the humanities – and humanity), but I am hopeful that this spring will also be the start of a new season of change and hope for AFP Central Virginia.
I promised to keep you updated as we move through our journey to assess our AFP chapter’s commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA). We recognize that we are promoting fundraising practices that are harmful and are rooted in a history of white supremacy and privilege. We want to change. We want to be a welcoming chapter that promotes the principles of IDEA.
To that end, we have crafted a Request for Proposals and have sent those proposals to five organizations/groups that are also committed to IDEA and who have the expertise and tools to lead us through our process. The responses to our call for proposals are due at the end of this month, and in March, your AFP Central Virginia board members will review the proposals and choose a partner in our work. If you would like to read our RFP or learn which organizations we’ve contacted or have any questions about the chapter and our commitment to this work, please don’t hesitate to email me at lrobinson@reynolds.edu. We want to keep this process transparent, and I am happy to share with anyone who is interested.
Next month, I’ll update you again with our partner for this important process and with an initial timeline for the work we are undertaking.
Until then, stay warm!
Lindsay Lane Robinson, CFRE
AFP Central Virginia Chapter President
P.S. Here are quick links to help you navigate our website!
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Inclusive Fundraising Fellowship