No more excuses – time to join AFP today

What are you waiting for? With its great new membership categories and new pricing, it’s going to be hard to call yourself a fundraising professional if you aren’t a member of AFP.

• Under 30? The Young Professional Membership is just $75.

• A small nonprofit with a budget under $1 million and two or fewer full-time staff? You can now join with a Small Nonprofits Organization Membership, with benefits to one of your professionals, for the incredibly affordable price of $150. Which includes local chapter dues!

Why the pitch?

I am a very strong believer that as a professional, I have to take charge of my own learning and growth.  It’s my responsibility to keep up-to-date in my field, to read up and apply the latest research, and to hold the highest ethical standards for my profession.

Joining a national or international professional society provides access to the people and resources that can support your development in your field.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals has been an important part of my professional life since I joined in 1988. Over these many years, I’ve made many contacts and quite a few friends among my AFP colleagues near and far. I’ve benefited from their professional offerings including the International Conference and local chapter workshops, personalized free research through the Resource Center, discounts on materials, weekly alerts, and more.

I’ve been very active in my local chapter, chairing committees or serving as a volunteer, even serving on the board and a stint as chapter president. My very first published work was a booklet I co-wrote for the Ready Reference Series, Bringing a Development Director on Board, which is now available for free download to AFP members.

Because situations offer arise in fundraising that are very gray, I turn to the Code of Ethical Principles and Standards for guidance and promote them to my clients and to new professionals. I challenged myself to seek certification, first through the CFRE (which is now an independent agency) and earned my ACFRE, advanced certified fundraising executive credential, in 2002, a credential held by just around 100 people in the world.

There are too many benefits of membership to describe them in this blog, but you can read about them here.

And if you aren’t a fundraising professional, there are many other professional societies out there (for example, I also belong to the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, among others). Seek them out. Join the one that works best for you.