Day in the Ridings (DITR) Initiative – Thank You!

Thank you to our members who participated in our annual Day in the Ridings (DITR) initiative! Our members’ efforts were key in creating awareness of the role and value of professional fundraising to our federal government.

Over the past two years, 140 AFP members met with 164 MPs, Ministers, and government officials in 338 ridings across Canada to bring forward our “case” for AFP’s role in public policy development and asked elected officials to support three important policy priorities:

1. A home in government for the charitable sector;
2. an ongoing investment in data collection on the charitable sector; and
3. consideration of tax exemption for gifts of private shares and real estate.

Thanks to this work, AFP’s message about the value of professional fundraising and the importance of an enabling environment for charities has spread across the country and across party lines.

By and large, members reported that government officials were receptive to our case and members were able to identify many as champions for our sector. At members’ requests, a dozen MPs went a step further, writing to The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development and The Honourable Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance, to declare their support for AFP policy priorities.

Meanwhile, over the past 18 months, the Senate of Canada has been undertaking a comprehensive consultation process on the charitable sector, hearing testimony from AFP leaders Andrea McManus, CFRE; Scott Decksheimer, CFRE; Krishan Mehta, Ph.D and Juniper Locilento, MPNL, CFRE, as well as many other sector leaders from coast-to-coast. On June 20th, the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector released its report Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to A Stronger Charitable Sector.

We are delighted to report that all three of AFP’s policy priorities were included among the 42 recommendations to strengthen the charitable sector.

On behalf of our 3,500 members in Canada, we thank those who participated for their commitment and leadership. None of our government relations activities would be possible without the support of our members.

We invite members to remain engaged in AFP’s GR efforts as we advocate with the federal government to implement the Senate Committee’s recommendations, and as we move towards the next federal election and beyond.

Sincerely,

Paula Attfield
Chair, AFP Canada

Lisa Davey
Vice President, AFP Canada

Jessica Wroblewski, MPNL, CFRE
Chair, Government Relations, AFP Canada

Juniper Locilento, MPNL, CFRE
Vice-President, Public Affairs, Greater Toronto Chapter