CEO Update: Q2, 2023
Operational highlights for Q2
Your quarterly inside track on the work of the World Scout Foundation from Mark Knippenberg, CEO.
2022 Annual Report
Have you seen our first-ever digital Annual Report? This year’s report reinforces donor recognition and features the Foundation’s Strategy; a range of impact stories featuring Scout initiatives in Niger and Kenya; Ukraine; USA; Bolivia; Algeria and the Philippines with enhanced storytelling via videos and photos; optimised graphics throughout, and detailed financials and governance sections. If you know someone who is interested in World Scouting and would like to find out more about our impact, please do share the report!
Meeting of the WSF Board & Committees, Portugal
Our Board and Committee Members met in Cascais, 22–24 April 2023, for a series of governance and fundraising Committee meetings; a vibrant Scout evening to discover Portuguese Scouting; a dinner for volunteers and staff including a welcome opportunity to recognise four new BP Fellows and two Honours Programme Members; and the 75th Meeting of the Foundation Board. An overview of the event, composite activities and topics discussed can be found in this web news. Thank you to the Federação Escutista de Portugal (Portuguese Scout Federation) and to all who participated in our activities and meetings, both in person and remotely, providing valuable inputs toward the implementation of our 2022–2030 Strategy.
BP Fellowship Reception at the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) National Annual Meeting, USA
On 31 May, several members of the Board, the new Pilot US Chapter and I hosted a reception at the National Annual Meeting of the BSA in Atlanta, Georgia. The Foundation recognised five new BP Fellows and was pleased to welcome pledges for several more BP Fellows and Members of the Honours Programme. Are you interested in learning more about the new pilot Chapter? Get in touch with us at [email protected]
Partner Roundtable
Representatives from the Foundation and the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) gathered for the first engagement with seven existing and prospective institutional partners including Alwaleed Philanthropies, IFRC, SAP, Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens, Accenture and Akshayapatra, on 9 June in Luxembourg. The team is following up individually with the partners to explore each opportunity and potential for collaboration, as well as to solicit feedback from the meeting(s) and use the findings to plan for the next set of partner events in September 2023 in New York.
The next Vision and Strategy for Scouting
Nicole, Mischa and I participated in the WOSM workshop in Pforzheim to draft the next Vision and Strategy for Scouting, which will serve as WOSM's guiding compass for the next decade. This includes a complete refresh of the WOSM brand to make it more dynamic, modern, and digital for today's generation of youth. As we increase our fundraising efforts, the brand refresh will also serve to increase the visibility of Scouting, opening more doors to promote our impact, tell a consistent, powerful story, and make making us more effective in our outreach to donors. You can read more about the workshop and outcomes here. A special thank you to Board Member and BP Fellow, Siegfried Weiser, for hosting the event!
Progress against goals
The Foundation aims to raise USD 10 million in 2023. To date, we have raised USD 2.1 million and welcomed 34 new BP Fellows and 11 new Members of the Honours Programme into our network!
We’re excited about our extensive fundraising efforts coming up in the second half of 2023, including our 2023 annual appeal and our 75th BP Fellowship Event in Kandersteg. We count on your continued support to World Scouting via your pledges and participation in our annual appeal and fundraising activities, so we can provide the necessary resources to contribute to the development of 100 million young, active citizens worldwide.
You are at the heart of everything we do, and we value your support to strengthen and grow World Scouting — refer a friend, join the Honours Programme or donate online today! You can find out more about ways to contribute here.
Donate to World Scouting today here. Thank you for your continued support!
Annual appeal
In June, we began planning for the 2023 Annual Giving Appeal, which will kick-off on 6 October in Kandersteg, during the 75th BP Fellowship Event. As our campaign slogan says, we cannot do it alone! In addition to your regular contributions, we are looking for volunteers to help in several specialised areas to make our appeal a success, including graphic design and videography/video editing, plus we are also looking for people with Salesforce expertise; social media influencers and Appeal champions!
If you are interested in supporting us in any of these areas, please contact Mischa Rychener: [email protected] or +41 76 467 07 25
The new Scout Donation Platform is live!
The Scout Donation Platform is a dynamic crowdfunding solution to support local Scout groups all over the world with the resources and a space to fundraise for their local projects and give visibility the diverse ways that Scouts are transforming their communities with big ideas and grassroots projects. The refreshed platform, jointly developed by the Foundation and WOSM, went live on 4 May and, to date, there are 10 projects online, with many more in the pipeline. Visit donate.scout.org today!
Upcoming 2023 Engagement opportunities with BP Fellows and Partners
UN General Assembly
This year marks the mid-point for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Did you know that Scouting represents the world's largest coordinated youth contribution to the SDGs? Find out how Scouts around the world are transforming their communities by taking action for peace and sustainability here. During the week of 18 September, our Chair, HRH Prince Guillaume, together with colleagues from the Foundation and WOSM, including Global Youth Representatives, will be present in New York for the high-level week of the UN General Assembly to engage with existing and potential partners and make Scouting and its contribution to the SDGs more visible.
75th BP Fellowship Event in Kandersteg
Registration opened for BP Fellows at the end of May and, in an unprecedented turn of events, reached capacity in under 24 hours, testimony to BP Fellows’ interest in meeting up with friends, old and new, in the great Fellowship network, as well as in Kandersteg, Swiss Scouting and Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC)! A waiting list has been maintained since and we’ve worked hard to identify options to increase venue capacity for key activities, which should allow for some (limited) additional participation and as communicated to individuals, we will follow up as soon as possible. For those who are not able to attend this time, we look ahead to an exciting event in Hong Kong, in April/May 2024 (dates to be confirmed).
Honours Programme Field Visit
There are still places available for our exciting Honours Programme Field Visit taking place 28 September–1 October 2023 in Split, Croatia, on the beautiful Dalmatian coast! This is your opportunity to discover, up-close, the impact of your support and enjoy time with fellow Honours Programme Members. Join us to experience Croatian Scouting; participate in the largest European volunteer reforestation campaign “Boranka”, to reforest areas destroyed by wildfires; discover projects to skill up young people, promote nationwide volunteering and grow Scouting in Croatia.
Please contact Nicole Gooderson ([email protected]) for more information!
Education Congress
The 4th World Scout Education Congress will take place 1–3 December in Paris, creating a unique opportunity for Scouting to come together to explore major themes facing young people in non-formal education. Together with WOSM, we will engage with external partners with the goal of securing interest and further investment in Scouting. Additional information about the event can be found here.
Join us!
