AFP Cincinnati

Chapter Mission

AFP Greater Cincinnati Chapter, an association of professionals, advances philanthropy by enabling its members and nonprofit organizations to practice ethical and effective fundraising that changes our community for the better.

Chapter Vision

AFP Greater Cincinnati Chapter will be the recognized leader on fundraising and philanthropy in our area working to promote understanding of our profession and philanthropy in general. The Chapter will be inclusive and welcoming providing our members with the best educational offerings and professional development opportunities. We will strive diligently to understand our members’ needs and provide excellent service to each of them while creating and sustaining an efficient and effective operational structure that maximizes human and financial resources.

Chapter Goal Statement

The chapter’s goals are to advance the development profession in the Southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky region, as well as to serve as a professional resource. The Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the AFP invites all development professionals and community volunteers to become involved with the chapter to support the tradition of advancing philanthropy.

Chapter Strategic Objectives

To offer the highest quality educational programming to ensure ethical fundraising practices, comprehensive introductory as well as continuing education on fundraising topics, and the opportunity for networking amongst Cincinnati fundraising professionals.
To increase membership by promoting the value of joining AFP. To be an inclusive chapter that addresses and supports the needs of all our diverse constituents to include fundraisers across all levels (tenured professionals, emerging leaders in fundraising, and college students, as well as other non-profit professionals in other disciplines.
To honor leaders in philanthropy in the Greater Cincinnati area through National Philanthropy Day.
To ensure sustainability of our AFP Cincinnati chapter through strong financial stewardship, chapter fundraising, and robust Board succession planning.

Chapter History

Our local chapter was established in 1977 as the Greater Cincinnati Society of Fund Raising Executives. Spearheading the organization’s founding, and serving as its first president, was J. Patrick Ryan, CFRE. The seven other founding members were Diane Colonel, John Dreves, Kay Marsh Green, Ronald Keller, Walter Lincoln, Ed Maj, and Gregory Olberding.

By 1979, the organization had become the 20th chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. Chapter members, in addition to the founders, were Chris Dunworth, Marcia Goldsmith, Doug Heesten, Dick Klus, Joann Marksberry, George Mongon, Herbert Ostrov and Ann Parker.

Over time, our chapter’s membership has grown to include 95 members in 1986, 140 members in 1993, 235 members in 1998, and over 400 members in the beginning of 2017. With this growth has come a tremendous increase in the number and quality of educational and networking opportunities for our local members.

With our recent growth in the last couple of years, we are now considered a larger chapter by AFP standards and we are very proud of our distinction as a Ten Star Gold Chapter and a Friends of Diversity Chapter.

AFP IDEA – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access

Board Resolution adapted January 14, 2022, reaffirmed January 12, 2024

The mission of the AFP Greater Cincinnati Chapter, an association of professionals, advances philanthropy by enabling its members and nonprofit organizations to practice ethical and effective fundraising that changes our community for the better.

The vision of the AFP Greater Cincinnati Chapter is to be the recognized leader on fundraising and philanthropy in our area working to promote understanding of our profession and philanthropy in general.

We, the AFP Greater Cincinnati Chapter, will be inclusive and welcoming, while providing our members with the best educational offerings and professional development opportunities.

We recognize philanthropy requires a continuous renewal of ideas, perspectives, and practices that reflect the evolving needs and diversity of the communities in which its embedded through equitable participation of its members.

We strive to diligently understand our members’ needs and provide excellent service to members while creating and sustaining an efficient and effective operational structure that maximizes human and financial resources.

We will lead as an example in embracing and interweaving the principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) in alignment with AFP Global and is committed to:

Fostering attitudes, behaviors, and procedures that facilitate equitable access and inclusion – allowing individuals to maximize their contribution to the chapter, and communities we serve; and,
Applying an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access lens in the selection process and criteria for all, volunteer positions, board appointments, committees, awards & scholarships; and,
Providing innovative and relevant professional and leadership development training programs that address the need to increase the participation of diverse populations within the non-profit profession.

The national organization – by now an international organization – was renamed the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2001 and now includes over 33,000 members in 244 chapters worldwide.