AFP Connect Online Chat Forum

The AFP Connect Online Member Community is an AFP Global program.  Every AFP chapter has its own member community along with access to the AFP Global community (known as "Open Forum") that reaches over 30,000 members.  If you're not sure whether to ask your question in the LOCAL community or the GLOBAL Community consider who you are looking to get answers from, only your local community, or other professionals worldwide.

Using the "Cross Post To" dropdown field you can opt to cross-post your message to the local, global, or another topic-interest group you belong to when submitting a discussion. We encourage you to cross-post your questions to the GLOBAL community to the LOCAL community.
 

We are excited to introduce new Topic-Specific Interest Communities as well as Affinity Group Communities you can now join!

All AFP members may participate in these new communities but will be required to join each one. 

To join go to the "Communities" tab, select "All Communities" and then search or filter for "Special Interest Communities" or (for the Affinity Groups) "AFP Task Force & Working Groups" to find and join them!

If you previously posted something or shared a document in the Open Forum regarding one of these popular topics that you feel is still important, or if your question went unanswered, please consider reposting your original post and uploading any related documents to the library in the new topic-related community.

As you use AFP Connect, please be sure to post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise." In the future, and as this community discussion platform becomes more popular, we may add additional topic-focused communities.

If your question doesn't fall into one of these new communities, then be sure to post it in the Open Forum!

SPECIAL INTEREST COMMUNITIES INCLUDE:

Boards & Volunteers
Direct Response/Marketing
Donor Relations/Stewardship
Fundraising Policies
Online Fundraising
Planned Giving
Software/Technology Recommendations
Special Events

AFFINITY GROUPS INCLUDE:

African American
Animal Welfare
Arts & Culture
Asian
Association Foundations
Education
Faith-Based
Food Banks
Francophone
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)
Health
Hispanic
International Fundraising
Jewish
Public Radio/TV
Rural
South Asian
Special Events
Young Professionals
Small Nonprofit
Youth in Philanthropy
Zoos & Aquariums

How do I know if another member already asked a similar question to mine?  Or, whether there is already an answer or resolution to my question on AFP Connect?

Type in a keyword of your question in the search toolbar and click on the search icon and the results will pull from all the discussions already posted based on the communities you belong to (e.g. the chapter community, the Open Forum community, and any Interest or Affinity communities you have joined).  Search results can be filtered by community on the left-hand side of the results page. 

You may be surprised by the number of results! The search function is a useful tool.
 

Click "Discussions" in the upper-left-hand corner of the main navigation menu above.  Select "Post a Message" from the drop-down menu. Choose which community to post your question, complete the form, and click "Send".

Posting anonymously is as easy as checking off a checkbox in the Post message screen. Click on the Post a Message button, and you will be brought to the Post a Message screen.  In the "From" field, your member name will be automatically inserted UNLESS you check the "Post Message Anonymously" box underneath the "From" field.  Once you check that box, the member name is stripped and replaced with Anonymous. 

Click "Discussions" in the upper-left-hand corner of the main navigation menu above.  Select "Discussion" from the drop-down menu. Select which thread you want to respond to.  Click "Reply" on the right-hand side under the thread you wish to respond to.  Enter your message in the form and "send".

Click "Discussions" in the upper-left-hand corner of the main navigation menu above.  Select "Discussion" from the drop-down menu. Select which thread you want to respond to.  Click "Reply" on the right-hand side under the thread you wish to respond to.  Choose "Reply Privately" from the "Reply" drop-down menu. Enter your message in the form and "send".

You will receive an email notification when someone replies privately and/or publicly to their post.

Just like email, when starting a new discussion, or responding to a discussion you will have the option to upload a document or image when completing the form.

If you do have a document to share, please consider posting in the Library section of the community of interest. You can also find all shared documents there! And by posting in this manner, we cut down on threads where everyone posts about wanting the same document (and save the document-sharer a lot of time instead of emailing each particular person!).
 

This forum is for AFPSEWI members-only. Only current chapter members can access and participate in this chapter discussion forum - access is with your existing AFP Global website login. Remember your log-in is controlled and administered by AFP Global, so you'll need to contact them at 800-666-3863, or, you can reset your password through the AFP Global website, www.afpglobal.org.

Click on the profile icon in the top right-hand corner to update your profile, include a photo, and more!
 

The interface is streamlined so you can also view and participate in the AFP Global forums as well as the AFPSEWI chapter forum all in one spot. Click on the profile icon in the top right-hand corner to toggle between your communities.

AFP members can opt-in or opt-out of any particular AFP Global email communication at any time. Visit and sign in to afpglobal.org, then visit your "My Account" page under your name, select the "My Communication Opt-in/Opt-out Preference" page, then check/uncheck your preferences.

If you would like to change your digest and communication preferences for your AFP Connect online forum communities, please visit AFP Connect and then go to Profile > My Account > Community Notifications.

Under Notification Settings, locate the appropriate forum (for your Chapter forum, locate your Chapter under the Community column)

In the associated Discussion Email field drop down box select one of the following:

• Real Time: Receive an email each time a new message is posted to the selected forum.
• Daily Digest: Receive one email per day compiling all posts to the selected forum over the previous 24-hour period.
• No Email: No emails from the selected forum.

Clicking on this top menu item will take you to afpglobal.org, AFP Global's website, not the AFPSEWI chapter site.

Below you'll find the Community Guidelines as set by AFP Global.  In addition to these guidelines, the AFPSEWI chapter will not allow jobs advertisements and similar postings on the forum.  Any jobs posted will be removed.  Information on posting a job on the AFPSEWI website can be found here https://www.afpsewi.org/submit-a-job.

Thank you for being part of the AFP Connect community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your fundraising profession peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to us via the Contact Us link on this site.

Upon logging in for the first time, we will ask you to review and agree to the terms of the AFP Connect Code of Conduct. You may also refer to the Code at any time (link top left) should you have any questions about the use of the community.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and constructive dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there's no such thing as a stupid question.

Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you've found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.

Use caution when discussing products. The information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.

All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.

When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It's also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.

Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

AFP welcomes your questions and posts on AFP Connect, and appreciates your efforts to continuously build upon our community's knowledge base. At the same time, AFP is very mindful of our members' expectations and privacy, and would like to guarantee this forum remains a safe, communal experience for all without any such worries.

Of particular concern are posts that promote or link to external events, resources, discussions or other opportunities (for example, webinars or meetings conducted by the poster or non-AFP organizations, Zoom calls, webinars, Facebook groups, new reports and studies, and the like).

Before posting, please note the following rules and ensure that your external opportunity or resource:

• Is timely, useful and relevant to the discussion at hand or the current fundraising environment;
• Does not charge or require a purchase of any manner to access or participate;
• Is free and open to anyone interested; and
• Does not require the entry or provision of any personal information (such as name and email), or - if so required for registration/downloading/access - explicitly states that this information will not be used outside this sole purpose and will not be used for any marketing purposes (this includes professional email, newsletter and mailing lists) nor be sold to any other entity. The poster should note in their post that the website linked to or material requested will be asking for personal information in order to access the documents. If the poster is interested in adding the requesting individual's email to their professional email, newsletter or mailing list, they must first explicitly ask the requester for permission to do so, and provide an unsubscribe/remove option, otherwise be in violation of these guidelines.

Any posts that AFP deems to violate these requirements - whether in actual terms or in spirit of a trusting community - may be removed by AFP staff from the forum.

In addition, so that the AFP community as a whole can benefit and build its knowledge base, we do ask - as a condition of utilizing this forum for promotion - that if you do promote/conduct any such external meeting, event, or resource, that when completed you post back to the community (whether by actual post or upload to the Library) either a recording or copy of the event, discussion or generated materials, or a link to said product.

Please Note: The following types of posts are explicitly prohibited:

• Self-promotion. Any posts that are purely self-promotional in nature and attempt to advance the services and products of the poster for the express sole purpose of generating business opportunities will be removed from open discussions on AFP Connect. This determination will be made by AFP staff and removal at the sole discretion of AFP. If you are interested in advertising and promoting your services with us, please visit https://afpglobal.org/advertise-afp. 
• Job postings/openings. Any job openings posted will be removed from open discussions on AFP Connect.  If you wish to post a job opening, you may do so at https://afpglobal.org/career-center. 
• Soliciting. Any posts requesting contributions or donations (whether of funds or material goods) - no matter the cause or initiative - will be removed from open discussion on AFP Connect.

State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.

Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.

Do not send administrative messages, such as "remove me from the list," to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.
 

This site is provided as a service for the members of Association of Fundraising Professionals.  Association of Fundraising Professionals is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Association of Fundraising Professionals or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Association of Fundraising Professionals be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants Association of Fundraising Professionals and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

Association of Fundraising Professionals does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, we will take all appropriate action.

Association of Fundraising Professionals reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of those who use this website, or use related products and services.

This site compiles conventional log files to monitor and assess activity including traffic and visits on, and related to, the site. This activity does not specifically identify any individual user without prior notice to the user through use of the site.

We do not use or disclose information about your individual visits. Neither do we provide the information you give us on this site to outside companies, without your approval. The information we collect is used to improve and enhance the content and services of the AFP online experience.

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Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.